Spiritual warfare
Ephesians 1- 2:7; Colossians 1:13-29; Colossians 2:1-15
A. We were created to walk in God’s authority over the powers of darkness here on earth, but we lost the right to do this through the sin of Adam and Eve—the Lord Jesus Christ recovered this authority and restored it to us.
1. We were created to rule over the earth and all God had made in it.
Genesis 1:28—And God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
2. Through Adam and Eve’s belief in the words of the “enchanter” they (and we with them) lost their position of authority given by God. They believed and put their faith in the lie: that what God had given was not good, not complete, and that they needed to reject His authority to attain God-likeness. They desired “false discernment”, the knowledge of good and evil, rather than true discernment that comes with a personal relationship with God. Read Genesis 3: 1-7
[Many Scriptures will be presented throughout this study. Please take the time to look them up read and meditate on them, and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you personally about them. Write down your insights in the margins. This will allow the Holy Spirit to apply the Truth to you personally.]
One result of this was that man was unable to do what God told Cain he must do regarding his spiritual enemy, which was to “master it”.
What was this enemy? _______________
Genesis 4: 7—“If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
Note: If you said “sin” is the enemy that must be mastered you are correct.
4. Another consequence was that the entire world that God had created and put under man’s rule was subjected to bondage under a new illegitimate ruler.
Who was this illegitimate ruler? ___________. Read Romans 8: 19-22. Note: If you said “Satan” or “sin bondage” you are correct.
B. The Lord Jesus Christ would come and recover this stolen authority over the earth through His express mission to “destroy the works of the devil”. 1 John 3:8
1. This mission was expressed in Jesus’ life in several ways:
His Name
His introduction to ministry
His Words His deeds
Literally means ‘Deliverance’
Sent to set captives free
Had authority
One third of Jesus’ recorded ministry was engaged in direct confrontation with evil spirits.
“For it is He who delivers His people from their sins.” Matt. 1:21
“...proclaim release to the captives...to set free those who are oppressed...” Luke 4:18
“for He was teaching them as one having authority...” Matt. 7:29
“For He had been saying to him, “Come our of the man, you unclean spirit.” Mark 5:8
2. This recovery would be ultimately accomplished when God raised Christ “from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion...and He put everything in subjection under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 1: 20-23
The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, its honor, its reputation, its announcement, and its glory is in God’s hands and in ours. We are called to be co-heirs with the Lord God of hosts and to participate in spiritual warfare for the souls of mankind.
We are given our position in Christ when we accept Him as our personal Savior, submit to Him as our Lord and are "born again". The Holy Spirit then indwells us and gives us the power to live victoriously from our position in Christ in the heavenlies. We take our position when we appropriate what we have been given! We have received the following:
New Family
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His Name." John 1: 12 New Power
"In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation - having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory." Ephesians 1:13-14
New Authority
"But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons, and because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God." Galatians 4: 4-7
New Kingdom
"For He has delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Colossians 1: 13-14.
New Position
“God raised us up with Him (Christ) and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2: 6
Application:
Make a list of all the spiritual blessings you can find in the previous verses and the following four passages. Then ask God to open up your spiritual eyes to understand how to apply these truths to your life.
1. We have been given "fullness" in Christ, because we are His Body. His life gives us resurrection life so that we have everything we need to live a victorious life when we have Christ.
Ephesians 3: 19 “ and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.”
My spiritual blessing:
_____________________________________________________
___
2. We are filled with the Holy Spirit and partake of His divine nature through our union with Christ in every area of our life that is given to Him and is free from enemy control.
Where are we with respect to Christ?
God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2: 4-6 tells us that “God being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) , and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus.”
My spiritual blessing: _____________________________________
D. Jesus Christ transferred His authority to us in the Great Commission. In Matthew 28: 18 & 19, Jesus tells His disciples, "....all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore..." These words clearly imply the transfer of His authority to us, His disciples.
1. Jesus called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure all diseases. What did the disciples do with Christ’s authority ? ___________________________
Luke 9: 1 Mark 6: 7-13
2. Christ's authority was designated not only for the twelve disciples but also for other disciples who had submitted to Him as Lord and were commissioned to go out in His Name and minister.
The Seventy were given authority to minister in His Name.
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