| “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.” |
| —Matthew 11:12 |
Scripture gives us plenty of vivid examples of how Christians should persevere (Hebrews 10:36), how we must hold on to truth (1 John 2:20-21), and how we have been equipped with the armor for warfare against evil. (Ephesians 6).
The theme verse of Scripture at the beginning of this blog post urges us to seriously fight, in order to advance in our life of faith. Often, when we talk about warfare in our churches, we sometimes have mental pictures of Christians duking it out with one another. Unfortunately, we each can probably cite examples of this! But the kind of “fight” or “forceful advance” that the theme verse is describing refers to spiritual warfare where we followers of Jesus are aligned to fight against the evil powers of Satan and his emissaries. Ephesians 6:11-12 tells us:
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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 battle we wage to forcefully advance the Kingdom remains far too powerful for us alone. Christ has told us that we have the Holy Spirit within us to fight these battles against the forces of evil, for the Kingdom of Light, and for those who belong to it.
Our battle begins with earnest prayer. And, how do we pray with this kind of power? According to Ephesians 6:17, we take the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Praying portions from God’s written Word helps us forcefully take down the Enemy. In this Ephesians passage, the word “wrestle” occurs. Wrestling signifies perseverance and struggle.
In Genesis 32, we read the story of Jacob when he met God face to face. Jacob wrestled with Him all night long. This prevailing prayer allowed Jacob to receive the blessing of God and go on his way in victory.
All of us need the power in this present evil world to wrestle against sin and darkness: in our own lives, in the lives of our loved ones, in our churches, and in the greater culture. God wants us to forcefully claim the Kingdom He has purchased for us through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ in His own victorious battle against sin. Let us pray that we can take up the task and powerfully engage for Him.
