Kingdom Consummated Part 5
At Keys Vineyard Church, we are presenting a series called ‘Kingdom Consummated,’ which we post here on Online Bible Institute.
Last week in our ‘Kingdom Consummated’ series, we talked about the power of life. The Good news is better than we have imagined. The heart of Jesus is for you to have the richest, deepest, fullest life that you can have now. But the enemy has a different strategy: steal, kill, destroy.
John 10:10 (NIV)
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
We have a real enemy. Even when we begin from a place of faith, seeing ourselves as God sees us and walking in the flow of His grace that empowers us to live as He designed, the evil one is still at work. He remains an active force on the field, pushing back against everything God is doing in and through us. As Paul reminds us in Ephesians Chapter 6:
Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)
12 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.
Paul makes it clear that our battle is not taking place on a natural level. It is a spiritual one. The real struggle is against the spiritual forces of evil that work to oppose God’s purposes. That is the conflict we should expect in our lives, a battle with the enemy, not with ourselves. Yet many of us misunderstand this. We think we are wrestling with our own flesh, our own weaknesses, or our own failures. But when we forget about the enemy’s role, we lose sight of the real source of resistance and become discouraged or distracted.
The truth is that the enemy is always trying to get us to take shortcuts. That is precisely what he attempted with Jesus in the wilderness, and though he failed there, he still uses the same lies today. He tells us we can fix things ourselves. He tempts us to believe we do not need to wait on God. He whispers that there is an easier way or that we can stay in control. Every one of these thoughts leads us away from trust and into self-reliance.
There is an ongoing battle between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of Darkness. We are caught in that conflict, standing as soldiers of the Kingdom of God while the evil one and his forces fight to maintain their grip on the world. One of the first rules of engagement in any battle is never to underestimate the enemy, even when we hold the advantage. The evil one and his demons are real, and believers are high on their list of targets. We should expect resistance wherever there is potential for Kingdom influence.
This weekend at Keys Vineyard Church, we will discuss all this and more, so be sure to join us in person or online.
Steve Lawes is a pastor at Keys Vineyard Church and also the founder of the Online Bible Institute Network.
