Every Christian has to face a lifelong battle with an enemy.
Every Christian has to fight this battle with proper equipment.
Every Christian is obligated to pray for one another and also for the spread of the Gospel.
THE ENEMY
The enemy is the Devil or Satan
This enemy has no face but visible through the prism of this world.
Satan wants to steal our joy by making us miserable using all kinds of difficulties, problems and circumstances to accomplish this goal.
He also wants to steal our love for God, love for our family, and our love for the church.
Satan wants to steal our peace by causing things to happen in our life.
He wants to destroy our relationships
Satan wants to destroy our Christian witness and influence and kill our enthusiasm to share faith with others
Satan wants to destroy our family
Satan wants to destroy the Church of Lord Jesus Christ
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.
This verse speaks of an invisible world where the enemy operates.
Some things are real but invisible. Relationships, love, hatred, wickedness, mercy, tenderness, cruelty, etc
This invisible realm is real but we cannot see that unless expressed thru a media.
Apostle Paul is warning us that we face this ENEMY in an unknown realm.
We are not fighting a battle with tangibles but the evil in an unseen world.
There is a hierarchy mentioned in this unseen world.
1. Evil rulers and authorities
2. Mighty powers of darkness
3. Wicked spirits in the heavenly realm
While we exist in this present visible world, we also exist simultaneously in the unseen world
The unseen world exists simultaneously on earth as well as the realm below heaven.
This unseen world is mostly saturated with evil spirits and a constant interaction with humans.
The unseen world on earth is also the place Christ, Holy Spirit, Angels and all believers exist.
Beyond this world of our senses (all the tangibles) is the unseen world of a spiritual nature dwells both good and evil.
It is in this invisible world on earth that the spiritual warfare takes place constantly.
It is in this unseen world that we fight against the principalities and powers that seek to dominate us
Destroy our faith and cripple us in our faith walk
Daniel 10:11-14 talks about a warfare between evil spirit
But it is very obvious that a spiritual war was taking place between these spirits and angels.
This reveals that in the world which is unseen by us there is a conflict going on, a conflict of the ages between good and evil, light and darkness, God and Satan.
It reveals that there are satanic forces and heavenly forces engaged in battle
And we are caught up in the middle of the whole thing.
Satan, the god of this evil world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe the message of the Gospel.
Many deny the message, many reject the message, and many delay the message
This is all the work of Satan and his army of devils who constantly fight God on earth.
Satanic forces are keeping such people to come to know Lord Jesus Christ.
Those of us who are believers, Satan employ a different strategy and attack.
We are also human like other people, can easily become the victims of his attacks.
Another problem with Christians is that we underestimate the power of the enemy.
We make a huge mistake if we think he and his demonic army have no power at all.
Satan is a present reality in our lives whether we like it or not.
He wants nothing more than to destroy our faith and lead us to stumble into sin.
We have to be prepared for his attacks always throughout our lives.