Though wild animals have a common fear of mankind
occasionally people have been attacked, injured and even killed by a bear or a
mountain lion. Though all attacks are not
equal if animals can sense fear in a person it tends to embolden them. In a similar way our enemy goes about as a
roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
(See 1 Peter 5:8) In John 14:30 Jesus said, “The prince of this world
comes and has found nothing in me.”
Satan’s roar released fear but it didn’t resonate within Christ, it
found no likeness or harmony in Him.
Jesus Christ is perfect love, and as we abide in Him, and He in us our
enemy’s attempt to bring fear will find no common cord in us.
Jesus Christ gained home field advantage for us at the
cross. As we come to the cross and
receive His righteousness we put on as it were His team jersey, a garment of
righteousness. At the cross there was a
huge shift in momentum. The playing
field that was stacked with rules and regulations against us was tipped in our
favor. Our rap sheet and arrest warrant
were nailed to the cross disarming the devil.
He no longer can use legal documents to condemn and harass us. He was stripped of home field advantage as
those laws and ordinances were nailed to the cross. Since he has no weapon to use against us his
strategy is that we re-arm him as it were through fear or legalism.
The Old Covenant was based on keeping rules and regulations
and the fear of punishment was used to control sin. The system was designed for the natural man,
people who were not born again of by the Spirit of God. The fear of punishment kept people in line so
to speak. Now as New Covenant Christians
we are born again and do not walk as natural men and women but spiritual. We live on a higher plane if you will, seated
above all principalities and powers.
Though we are given that position immediately upon receiving Christ we
must develop in our maturity to actually function from our new position. It is a growing process and none of us has
arrived at total maturity but it is our home field so to speak.
Maturity is a process of growing up out of fear and into
love. Perfect or mature love casts out
all fear. (See 1 John 4:18) We have a great cloud of witnesses cheering us on
from heaven’s balcony but our enemy comes against us with fear to see if there
is anything in us that resonates with him.
If we look at our own weakness and failures we see that we are no match
for him and fear arises, but if we keep our eyes on Jesus and stand firm in His
righteousness we not only hold our ground but continue to advance into enemy
territory.
I often wondered, if Jesus has totally defeated the enemy
and has taken back everything that was lost through the fall of Adam, why is
the enemy still here to prevent us from possessing the land? Why would God give us a wonderful world but
make us run the enemy out of town to possess it. This is a huge subject more than I can cover
here but one reality is anything handed to us without our understanding its
cost or value will not likely be appreciated as it should. God is actually testing us. Our determination to possess the land and
bring righteousness and justice to it reveals if we share the same heart and
value for creation with Him. We can not
be satisfied to share occupancy with an enemy who is determined to destroy us. God wants us to understand the price and the
value of what we are entrusted with.
Another part of this equation is that God has given us the privilege of
tormenting our enemies in return for the death and destruction they brought
upon this world. Our battle is not
against flesh and blood but we’re called to be a part of enforcing the total
eradication of evil from this earth.
Fear and legalism are two main tactics used by our enemy to
gain home field advantage over us. The
battle begins in our own thoughts. We
must first take captive every thought to the obedience of Christ and possess
our own soul before we can take physical territory. We can succumb to a legal defeat if we try
standing in our own good works of righteousness or by returning evil for
evil. Perfect love casts out fear and
mercy triumphs over judgment. Jesus said
to bless people who curse us and do good to those who despitefully use us. Pray and do good in response to evil rather
than resorting to legal action or revenge.
Doing so maintains home field advantage and allows us to take territory
from our enemy.
