Discovering Purpose: Ours and Satan’s

If I’m A Solder, Where’s the War?—Part 2

It is amazing to me how many times we refer to “Christian Soldiers”, not only in the Scriptures, but in our songs. Yet, typically, these references are not given much more credence by our minds than a mere poetic thought.  However, this is not what the Scripture pictures for us.  Rather, the Bible uses specific language that describes a real battle of mind, will and spirit.

Two important sections of Scripture will draw our attention in this article, specifically, Ephesians 6 and 1 Peter 5. So, let’s look at them now to see what conclusions we can draw from them.

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the ruler of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Eph. 6:10-11).

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walks about, seeking whom he may devour” (I Pet. 5:8).

From these two short portions of Scripture we can draw four conclusions: 1) There is a battle going on; 2) you will either be strong or weak in that battle; 3) if you’re going to be strong, then you must be strong in the Lord; 4) There is a definite enemy—Satan.

However, as we showed in the last issue, important questions arise from such conclusions and must be dealt with in a credible way. Those questions come about like this: If there is a God (and there is), and if He can do anything (and He can), then why does He allow Satan to pester, frustrate and tempt His people? Why doesn’t God just call “Time Out” on the field and expel Satan?

Discovering Purpose: Ours and Satan’s

To understand this, we have to start with other information. We must understand God’s purpose in all creation, His purpose for human beings, in particular, and His purpose for the beings in the spiritual world (angels and demons).

The easiest way to do this is to look at the “final product”, just as we would look at the final product in a pizza shop. You might ask, “Why is all this cheese here? What’s the purpose of the workers behind the counter? Why are all the onions and pepperoni kept the way they are?”  Or you might ask similar questions of an automobile plant: “What’s the purpose of the big buildings? Why are all these people here? What’s the big idea of all the charts on the walls, the paint in sprayers and the grease in tubes?”

Both purposes are easily discovered by looking at their end-product. That is, the purpose of all the “makings” in the pizza shop is to produce a pizza. And the purpose of all the workers, paint, grease, etc. in the automobile plant is the car that rolls out at the end of the assembly line.

In the same way, we can look at the end product of creation to find its purpose and the end product of mankind to discover his purpose.  There, in the book of Revelation, we find at the close of this world, that God’s purpose in creation is to prepare a people for Himself. It was not to create a perfect world, with perfect people inhabiting it; rather it was to prepare a people that will be conformed to the image of Christ.

It would seem logical to say that God knew what He was doing and that He had a purpose in all that He did. Therefore, if God knows what He is doing and has a purpose behind His actions, then it must be within His purpose for Satan and the rest of the spiritual world to be around and to have impact on our lives!

Our goal now is to discover God’s purpose in allowing Satan, demons and other spiritual forces to have such an influence upon us. For certainly, if we understand God’s purposes, we will be better prepared to deal with all the trying times and difficult situations that confront us.

Our task is to discover and understand that God’s ultimate purpose is to “prepare us” and that all that occurs within our life is for this end. God “could” stop Satan, but He hasn’t! God “could” keep us from demons, pain, and tragedy, but He hasn’t! God “could” spare us from heartache and head colds, but He hasn’t! He hasn’t because He uses these things for the achievement of His purpose in our lives.

This would explain the often quoted passage in Romans 8:28-30, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” God desires to glorify you, fulfill and fully prepare you for His purposes!

Consider how a bodybuilder builds his body, how he adds those inches of muscle and sinew to build what many would call a “perfect specimen”. None of this is accomplished by making the body safe, soft easy and comfortable. It is not achieved by taking leisure time. It is not made possible by removing the pain. Instead, the strength is found through the suffering of strain and the effort of force pushing against force. Or, as my trainer used to say, “Feel the burn!”

Now consider how God will build the perfect specimen of His body—the body of Christ.  In preparing us for eternity, He accomplished our growth and strength through force meeting force, through the suffering and strain that every one of us faces. He achieves this through the battles of everyday living as physical meets obstacle, as mental encounters frustration, as emotional faces disturbance and as this world encounters the spiritual.

Two worlds (physical and spiritual) do encounter each other, impact each other and influence each other. Note how the book of Job begins. It describes scenes alternating between earth and heaven and how what happens in each brings repercussions in the other. 

Scene 1: Job on Earth (Chapter 1:1-5). Scene 2: Satan and God in Heaven (Chapter 1:6-12a). Scene 3: Job on Earth (Chapter 1:12b-22). Scene 4: Satan and God  in Heaven (Chapter 2:1-6). Scene 5: Satan and Job on Earth (Chapter 2:7-13).

Is this series of events an aberration?  Is it a fairy-tale, a myth?  Or was it real and does it continue even today?  Are we impacted by what happens in heaven, in the spirit realm? We’ll look at those questions in the next article in this series, “Know Your Enemy”.

Gerald Robison is co-founder of UnveilinGLORY a seminar and resource ministry dedicated to unveiling the glory of God in all areas of life and taking it to all peoples of the world.  UnveilinGLORY is best known for the book and seminar entitled, Cat and Dog Theology.  Gerald has pastored churches in the US, Australia, and Netherlands, and he continues to lead national seminars for “Walk Thru the Bible” Ministries.