Knowing God and Understanding the Enemy

There are times when we are the ones who make life hard for others and ourselves, and times when others make life hard for us. When there is conflict, it affects the innermost parts of our beings—our spirits, or souls. We need to understand that when the door to the spiritual realm opens, we will then deal with a force outside of the natural realm, which yet affects our physical realm.

Paul warned us about opening the door and the danger that comes from that realm. He wrote, “In your anger, do not sin, do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the Devil a foothold … For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 4:26–27; 6:12 NIV).

Once we enter a “spiritual battle,” we must have an understanding of the players and their capabilities, as we go through many types of trials. We win or lose a spiritual battle based on our knowledge of our allies and our understanding of our enemy. Once we fall into the spiritual battle, we need to understand three things.

The most tangible person of the Living God is the Son, also known as the Christ, Son of Man, Jesus, and the Word. Christ took on the flesh of a man to enter our world as the High Priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5:6). To understand the complexity of Christ, we first need to appreciate the significance of Melchizedek. So who is this Melchizedek? There are only two references to him in the Old Testament: Genesis 14 and Psalm 110. Genesis 14 reveals him as the king of Salem and states that he met Abram (before he became Abraham) after Abram’s great and victorious battles. We also know that Melchizedek was a priest of the God Most High, who is the Creator of heaven and earth, and that Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything he gained as victor of the battle. Yet who is this Melchizedek and where did he come from that we can say Christ is in his order? The writer of Hebrews makes it known that Melchizedek is without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, and that he remains a priest forever.

. We win or lose a spiritual battle based on our knowledge of our allies and our understanding of our enemy. Once we fall into the spiritual battle, we need to understand three things.

First, we need to understand the people we are dealing with as we enter this realm. Do they cause us frustration by their attitudes? Are they sensitive to the way people talk to them? Are they people of faith? Are they people of action? And we need to realize that how we speak and react to those that are involved with us will directly affect the outcome of the spiritual battle.

Second, we need to understand what our true relationship with God is. We may have an idea of what we would like it to be, but have we truly looked at the reality of that relationship? Third, we need to understand the enemy. The enemy is the one who the apostle warns us about in the gospel of John.

“A thief [the devil—Luke 8:12 MSG] is only there to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10 MSG). Satan will use situations of strife in a relationship, selfish people, false teachers, and those God refers to as blind and lacking knowledge to do his damage (Isaiah 56:10 ESV).

We continue to fall into the traps that the evil one sets for us, but that does not mean we have failed. The peace that Jesus promises is in the context of our inability to be perfect. We will stumble and make many mistakes along the way, but the Spirit continues to work in our lives so that we support, encourage, and walk with each other when we do fall. This intimate walk we have with each other (a shared unity), derives from the work of the Spirit in each of us. We ourselves are not capable of bringing about the true unity of spirit in which two hearts become one or understanding the true needs of others. It takes giving over the control of our own lives to the one who has the perfect plan for us all. It is the art of losing ourselves, giving God control, embracing God’s justice, and offering Him praise. This type of restraint requires our discipline and action, and it takes reckless abandonment of our human ways. It also requires laying down our pride and false sense of control and giving ourselves to the one who promised He will “give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you [and] remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26 NIV). We are not alone in this journey. Countless numbers of other believers and the Holy Spirit guide, encourage, and, when needed, convict and correct us along the way.

Paul expresses the reality provided for everyone to experience transformation by the one constant, Christ. “For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as shall walk by this rule, peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. Henceforth let no man trouble me; for I bear, branded on my body, the marks of Jesus” (Galatians 6:15–17 ASV).

From this day forward, we can be transformed and begin to use these characteristics, personalities, attributes, and spiritual gifts for the purpose of our creation, as members of the whole body. We can now bear the marks of Christ rather than being labeled for the burdens of our pasts.