Ephesians 6: 10-18
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints”
It’s easy to just read these words over and over again and miss out on their full meaning. There is a supernatural battle going on for the souls of man and as flesh and blood we have no way to combat that of our own accord.
In Romans 1:1 Paul declares,
“Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called
as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God”
What is so awesome about these two passages is that they tie together in a very powerful image. What we translate as “bond-servant” is not “slave” or a worker etc. The greek word actually translates as “valliant warrior.”
That gives us as Christians a whole new insight to how God wants us to stand for His name and how He wants to use us. Knights, in feudal times, are the best depiction of what Paul is referring to. Knights served their Lords and they did so as bond-servants. Lords entrusted Land and even money to their Knights and in return, Knights would give a portion of their return as well as their service in the military. When called upon to serve at a moments notice, Knights would ready themselves for battle.
The best part is, there were a LOT of Knights under the command of these Lords.
Is that not a great picture of a piece of our relationship with Christ? He is our Lord and we are all his Knights/bond-servants who get to wear His FULL armor, branded with His insignia, and fight in HIS army against the supernatural forces around us.
That being said, His full armor is the only thing that can protect us from the forces of the evil one. On top of that, we only have one attack weapon: The Sword which is His word.
There’s more….
John 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Needless to say, our only attack weapon …is Jesus Christ. While painfully obvious in some ways, we also tend to miss this quite a bit. Our attack and defense are Jesus Christ. It’s not how well we polish our armor, or how well we prepare. It’s not how smart we are, how much of the word we know (though all these things definitely help and are acts of obedience).
The real battle is coming to an understanding that we know nothing.
We are holding but a thimble of water (our knowledge of God) next to the endless, infinite ocean that is God’s knowledge.
1 Corinthians 1:25
For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
We have an awesome God and that’s an infinite understatement. Don’t forget that and always remember, that is infinite and powerful as this God is…He LOVES us and wants to be so intimate with us that there’s no comparison to anything else.
How incredible.
Worship.Obey.Serve.Love
