That in and of itself is spectacular if you think about it.............God is willing to arm us with everything we need for Life and Godliness! But it gets even more spectacular when you look at Isaiah 59.
Look some of those words......righteousness as a breastplate, the helmet of salvation.....sound familiar? Ephesians 6 doesn't just describe armor from God... it's literally the armor OF God. God is giving His people direct access to His personal arsenal.
Its power described in Isaiah 59 is supernatural! Honesty could not enter, justice and righteousness stood far off, truth could not be found, and whoever shunned evil was immediately targeted for destruction. It sounds pretty impossible. But God still stepped in. In His own strength, He saved His people. He turned injustice on its head, and restored righteousness. He conquered destruction.
And? Paul says that power belongs to us, too, in Christ. In other words.....if you are truly in Jesus, you have His victory.
Why don't we as Christians live this way? We have free access to this arsenal. Why in the world don't we use it?
Maybe one of the answers can be found in the climax of time, when these weapons were put on the display to their fullest extent by God's own son. When He single-handedly took on the authorities and power of this dark world and the forces of evil in the heavenly realms, and defeated them. In this amazing scene, portrayed in all four gospels, Jesus stood His ground, with the belt of truth buckled around His waist. Despite having every reason to doubt, He trusted that what His father had planned for Him was not a mistake. God's word is fact, not a suggestion or opinion. He was sinless, with the breastplate of His own righteousness in place. His feet were ready to fearlessly walk the Via Dolorosa and fulfill the gospel of peace. He extinguished the mockery and flaming arrows surrounding Him with faith that His father knew what He was doing. He donned the helmet of salvation, so that He could bring it to the world, and fulfilled the word of God.
This scene was the cross itself.
I think this highlights an important aspect of the Armor of God: using it is no easy call. In fact, it is almost guaranteed to hurt at some point. Because God has an Enemy. And when we take up God's armor? We go into direct combat with that Enemy. And that means we're going to be under attack.
It all comes down to what I think are Satan's two greatest weapons against the church of Christ: Fear and Apathy.
Some of us are afraid to take up this armor. We're afraid to follow wherever God might take us, and we're afraid to carry our crosses. We've convinced ourselves that when justice stands afar off, and honesty cannot enter, that we can't enter, either. But God proved otherwise. If you are in Christ? You have His victory. Period. It doesn't matter who you are, how weak you are, or what you've done. All you have to do is get into Christ Jesus, and you are equipped with His power over sin and death.
Most of us are probably on the other side of that, though. We're too apathetic to even want to fight Satan. We're so comfortable in our own lives and situations that the fact that there's an Enemy out to destroy the world isn't really a major concern. We're so far removed from the battle that we can't even see it. We're falling right into Satan's trap. He doesn't want us to care. Because if you do care, as a Christian? If you really, really care enough to take up the full armor of God, get into Christ Jesus spiritually, and never leave? You have the power of Jesus Christ. The power that defeated death, and the power that defeated Satan.
Let's take a look more specifically at what's in this supernatural arsenal:
The Belt of Truth
Your God is Truth. He's fact. He can't change. No matter what Satan says, no matter what doubts he tries to place in your mind, God is still there. He is Truth.
The Breastplate of Righteousness
You've made mistakes. More than you can count. You have sinned against the living God of the universe Himself, and you deserve hell. But He died to save you, and give you His righteousness. There is NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ. You are no longer a slave to sin and death. You don't have to live that way anymore.
Feet Fitted with Readiness
You are living on a battlefield, and there are millions of lost, dying souls who don't know Truth. God has a plan for you - your job is to be ready to go. Wherever it is. In God's strength, you can have the courage and readiness to follow wherever He calls you.
Shield of Faith
Satan is going to attack you. And some of those attacks are going to be BIG. Some of you have already felt the weight of those attacks, and may have even questioned God's goodness. You can't see God, and you can't touch Him. But He is still Truth. (If you want to have a conversation on how we know God is real, I would love to engage in that with you, just email me!) In God's strength, you can carry this shield immovably, and the Enemy will have no access to your heart.
The Sword of the Spirit
You only have two offensive weapons; this is one of them. When Jesus was subject to temptation, He quoted scripture. Although this may not seem powerful, this is one of your strongest weapons. The gospel of Christ can change lives. This immovable book has survived the test of time for thousands of years, and has the power to save.
Prayer
This is your second offensive weapon, and if we're honest, it probably seems like one of the weakest. But that's only if you haven't witnessed the power of world-altering, wrestling prayer. This topic is so deep and powerful, and is too much to get into with just a few sentences. More next week!
No comments:
Post a Comment