Men’s Group 2004
Introduction
We are all in the midst of an intense spiritual struggle between the forces of darkness and the armies of light (Phil 2:15). This struggle is essentially over who is king – Satan or God (Col 1:15).
It is the essential nature of kings to take ground in conflict. Victory is measured in terms of who takes the most ground. This can be thought of in terms of a variety of spaces. Physical space is not the most decisive; this was the case even in the Old Testament, when Israel was never a major empire on the scale of Babylon or Rome.
Victory is best thought of in terms of personal space. For example, who has lordship over the thoughts that fill our minds, this can be Satan (Acts 5:3) or Christ (2 Cor 10:3 -6).
The Battle for the Ground of Creation
Even though the battle for our souls is spiritual and invisible it is conducted primarily within the sphere of our earthly relationships. This was so in Eden.
Adam was commanded to “till and keep” (Gen 2:15) the ground God gave him in the garden of Eden. If he had proved faithful to this command he would have successfully established the presence of God across the face of the earth through his own life as the image of God. Thus he would have fulfilled what he was originally commanded (Gen 1:26-28). This conquest or dominion would have mirrored the heavenly kingship of God upon the earth.
Adam and Eve however gave place to the devil because they refused to “stand their ground” (Eph 6:13). In this case the violation of the principle, “first comes the natural and then the spiritual” (1 Cor 15:46) applies. The original couple had been given dominion over all the earth and over every creature (Gen 1:26-28), this included the form of the serpent in which the devil manifested himself (Gen 3:1).
There is nothing in the text to suggest that Adam had been explicitly given authority over evil spiritual powers, or even knew of their existence. He was confronted with a flesh and blood being that he was familiar with from everyday life, a snake. He had no way of recognizing the being of Satan, nor did he need to at this stage of the human journey. The only resource Adam needed was the Word God had spoken to him concerning the tree of knowledge, adherence to this would have adequately guarded his mind from evil (Gen 2:17). As long as the Word ruled in the man’s heart he was co- ruling with God and shared in the divine freedom (cf. Rom 8:17; Col 3:16).
The Satanic temptation was for the first humans to move outside of the realm over which they had been given authority into the supernatural dimensions of the divine life (Gen 3:5). This was apparently presented as a realm whose boundaries, both within a person and beyond them, are set by one’s own personal judgement. That is, Adam believed he could now make up his mind for himself both about what he would think and how he would enact these thoughts. This would be genuine “autonomy” (self – rule) for the first time in human experience. The appeal of self – rule appeared vastly more attractive to that of the rule of God.
In practice, Adam lost his autonomy in two ways. He listened to the voice of his wife instead of listening to God, her thoughts became his and so he lost relational authority (Gen 3:17). Secondly, mediated through Eve, his mind had been taken captive by the thoughts of the devil, he now thought as Satan thought (Gen 3:6; 2 Tim 2:26).
The Fall
Instead of experiencing freedom Adam and Eve found themselves trapped by inner states over which they had no control. In particular, fear and shame simply manifested in them internally without their conscious initiative (Gen 3:7-8). From now on this would be the usual state of human affairs. A whole array of emotions, attitudes and desires came into human living over which there was no personal sovereignty (Paul’s struggle in Romans 7 exemplifies this). Our awareness that we are not masters of our own inner world witnesses to us infallibly that we are under the control of evil powers beyond us. This is the dominion of darkness (Luke 2:53;Col 1:13).
The Old Covenant
The principles God established in Eden remained true for Israel. The land is a possession to be guarded and kept by the Word God imparted to the nation at Sinai. As long as the covenant is obeyed the title to the land is safeguarded (Ex 19:5;23:20-32 etc.). This finds most concentrated expression in the rituals surrounding the temple where the habitation of God is located (Ex 26 -31; Lev 1 -7 etc.). Failure to keep the commands of God would lead to the loss of the national inheritance (Lev 26:27 -39 etc.)
Land is not a commodity to be traded or usurped as it belongs to God (Lev 25:23). The boundaries of the tribes were carefully set by divine decree (Num 34:3- 12; Josh 13- 19). It was a serious offence to move a neighbour’s boundary stone because the limits of inhabitation had been set by God (Deut 19:14; 27:17; Hos 5:10). This has typological significance.
Although the issue of spiritual warfare is latent in the Old Testament it is not unknown (Job 1-2; Zech 3:1 -2). Beneath the surface the constant struggle over idolatry is motivated by demonic powers (Deut 32:17; Ps 106:37; 1 Cor 10:20) that stimulate Israel to covet that which is not given to them from God (Col 3:5). The end result of rebellion and idolatry is that Israel, like Adam, is driven out of the land God gave them.
Jesus and the Lordship of God
Jesus’ first open encounter with the ruler of this world (2 Cor 4:4) is in the wilderness. Here Christ refuses to give ground to Satan, at the possible cost of his own life. Unlike Adam in the garden and Israel in the desert he allows himself to be ruled solely by the Word God speaks to him (Matt 4:4). This is the source of his triumph.
Something dynamically new appears with the ministry of Jesus, it is the ruling power of the kingdom of God (Mark 1:15). The issue of spiritual warfare becomes open as the hand of the devil is forced through the presence of Christ (Mark 1:21- 28 etc.). Everywhere the kingdom of God advances forcefully (Matt 11:12) against the strongholds of evil. Jesus identifies this ground – taking activity with the power of the Holy Spirit (Matt 12:28).
Jesus was the King in action because Satan had nothing in him (John 14:30); this means that his inner life has no space ruled by the power of evil – no sin means no guilty fear and shame. The explanation behind this is not that Jesus is sinless as God, but that he only ever does what he first sees the Father doing (John 5:19). He is the most ruled ruler. For this reason Jesus has been called the “kingdom in himself”. This truth explains why when he is present “the kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (Luke 17:21). In the person of Jesus the reigning of God is complete.
This means that Jesus is only ever responsive to the Father, he is always in submission and so “a man under authority” (Matt 8:9). It is important to note that it was a military man who said this (he understood the principle of rule)and he was commended in a way beyond anyone else in the Gospels (Matt 8:10). Jesus interprets the significance of the words of faith spoken by the Roman centurion as an outstanding insight into the nature of the kingdom of God. He sees it as a sign from the Father that the Gentiles will inherit the kingdom of God.
(Shockingly, many of the natural heirs of the kingdom of God, his covenantal children, fail to understand that the kingdom is not theirs by birth-right but only through a relationship with Jesus. Because they will not come under the rule of God in him their end result is misery (Matt 8:12).)
Christ had perfect discernment of evil (John 6:70) because he desired to be ruled by only by the one power of good – God (Mark 10:18). His response to Peter (Matt 16:23) reveals that he is not at all covetous as Israel and Adam were before him. This was illustrated in the life of Jesus by his response to the devil concerning the kingdoms of this world (Matt 4:8 -10) and his refusal to be made king by men (John 6:15).
Whilst the rule of God is complete in and for Jesus, this does not prevail as yet for the inner life of other men. The cross is the place where “the ruler of this world is cast out” (John 12:31).
The devil has no space in Jesus through which he might claim (illegitimately) authority over him. This is because the sinless Christ has no need to fear death as the judgement of God (Heb 2:14-15). Internally, he is completely free from sin’s guilt and shame which are the ground the demonic presence has taken up in fallen human life. Nevertheless, Jesus must endure the wrath of God as a condemned person who deserves to die as cursed (Gal 3:13).
In bearing our guilt – as - punishment Jesus must be immersed in the fullness of the human condition where the will of Satan and the will of God seem to agree, this is the state human perishing apparently outside of the divine ruling power of love. In Jesus experience of the cross it is as if all ground belongs to the forces of darkness and no ground belongs to his Father (Mark 15:34). For him, this is hell, that is, the situation of not willing not to be ruled by God. This experience of dereliction of divine rule is the price he pays to take aware our condition of alienation so that we might accept reconciliation with God (2 Cor 5:21).
The resurrection reveals that Jesus died as one under the rule of God, and so righteous, rather than as a sinner (Rom 1:4; 1 Tim 3:16). Now he has all the ground in the universe to place under his rule on behalf of his Father in heaven (Matt 2:19). This is a dominant theme to do with the Lordship of Christ in the New Testament (Acts 2:35-36; 1 Cor 15:25; Phil 2:9 -11; Heb 1:13; 10:13 etc.). Eventually, God’s eternal purpose that humanity rule sovereignly with him over all things will be fulfilled: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he will reign for ever and ever” (Rev 1:15).
To be involved in this movement with, under and for the Lordship of Jesus is the purpose of Christian living.
Living as a Ground Taker
Believers are to function in the present time, no matter how brokenly, as “kings and priests to God” (Rev 1:6). They are to “reign in life though one Christ Jesus” (Rom 5:17). This is not a triumphalist episode, for it involves the continual rhythm of sharing in Christ’s death and resurrection (2 Cor 4:11 – 12; Phil 3:10 etc.).
In practice, we are to refuse to give ground to the devil in any area of life (Eph 6:13). At the centre of this struggle will be the challenge to accept our status before God as people who share in the righteousness of Jesus (2 Cor 5:21; 1 John 4:17). The way we give ground is to accept the devil’s accusations that we are people who internally are in a state of guilt and shame. This is equivalent to a state of condemnation, the exact opposite of our true condition in Christ (Rom 5:1; 8:1). The challenge is to realise that the space which we gave over to Satan now belongs to the indwelling Jesus. This is the significance and meaning of being indwelt by the Spirit (Rom 8:9 -11). By title of rule as Lord, Jesus now fully occupies the ground that is our lives. (This is not to say that we always are conscious of this as real.) It is his pleasure to protect those who are his (2 Tim 2:19). The truth in the old song “God will give us the ground that we claim” is that we are claiming what belongs to Jesus as the gift of the Father (Ps 2:7-8).
The struggle for control is concentrated, as it was for Adam and Jesus, in our minds (2 Cor 10:1- 6). To have “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16) is to “live by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7). This means to focus on the reality of Jesus and not the content of our experience of ourselves. To do this we must “submit then to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7).
The great danger, especially for Western believers, is to personalise our feelings and responses. We see and experience the struggles of life as issues solely or predominantly to do with our own individuality rather than as centred in the great conflict between Satan and God. This both trivializes our significance as being made in the image of Christ (Rom 8:29;Col 3:10) and opens us up to endless deception.
The truth is that the conflicts and criticisms of life are not a matter primarily of flesh and blood but of a struggle with evil spiritual rulers (Eph 6:12). These powers are not so much interested in us but in stopping the kingdom of God coming with power through us. The real issue is not our life experience but the greater glory of God. To live in this way is to open ourselves up to a much greater panorama and to live in the actual experience of reigning with Christ in the heavenly places (Eph 2:6). This is why we should not give ground to the devil, for Jesus’ sake.