Ephesians 6:10-12; We have already won.Sunday February 20,2022First, I want us to know that we possess the very armor of God.
God has a belt about His waste, Isa 11:5.
Isa 11:4-5 But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. 5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.
God has the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation, Isa 59:17.
Isa 59:17 And He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head;
God has the sword.
Isa 49:1-3 Listen to Me, O islands, And pay attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called Me from the womb; From the body of My mother He named Me [prophecy of Jesus]. 2 And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me, And He has also made Me a select arrow; He has hidden Me in His quiver. 3 And He said to Me, "You are My Servant, Israel, In Whom I will show My glory."
God has shod His feet with the Gospel of Peace.
Isa 52:7 How lovely on the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who announces peace And brings good news of happiness, Who announces salvation, And says to Zion, "Your God reigns!"
I think we all feel the paradox of possessing such incredible and powerful gifts and being witness to times that our own failure reveals how short of the mark we come. One of the Greek words for sin means to miss the mark.
All of us fail to live up to our calling at times. God impels us to keep reaching ahead as those who are forgiven and victorious in Christ.
Paul’s final doctrine concerning the life of the new self is the spiritual warfare we find ourselves in.
After spelling out in masterful discourse what God has made us to be and the gifts He has given us, most importantly our so great, eternal salvation by grace, and after detailing for us the divinely ethical life that accompanies that calling, including the church and the home, then Paul tells us of the prince of the demons and his plans to weaken us and the church.
The import of this final passage is to reveal to us the urgency and intensity of what we are called to. And remember, at times you are going to fail to live up to the call, and it is true that Satan can use those failure in some small way for his nefarious plans, but remember, Satan has already lost and you and I have already won.
We are to go at this life as those who have already defeated our enemy through Christ.
Our studies of late have brought us into the full light of what we are called to be. It is a holy, perfect life. Depending on where each of us are in our spiritual walk, some of us accomplish more than others. The book of Romans and 1 Corinthians makes it clear that some Christians are weaker or stronger than others. It has also been made clear to us in Ephesians that we are all going to be conformed to the image of Christ at some point. We are still one, we all possess the same body, Spirit, calling, Lord, faith, baptism, and Father.
We must go at this new life and stand strong in the mighty power of God as those who know they are sons and daughters forever, forgiven and justified and victorious already and forevermore.
Rom 7:24-25 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.
He struggles and he can only conclude that he is a wretched (miserable) man. But he must continue to pursue Christ.
Most of all we have to understand our standing before God. It is the blood of Christ alone that gives us our standing. Perhaps without our struggle to live this holy life and becoming deeply convicted that we are miserable people, we would never really understand that we standing boldly in the presence of God only because of the judgment upon Christ and His perfect atonement.
Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.
Rom 8:1-11 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so; 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10 And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.
“you (all) are (present active indicative -2nd plural) not in the flesh but in the Spirit …” Not will be, might be, have been, could be … “you are!” |