To have a Victory we need to first have an enemy , and a battle . Amen ?
Sometimes we should just stop and think – What battle ? What victory ? What do we have as our hope in the future ?
In going back as far as possible to the origins of humanity , archeologists and historians state that the earliest civilizations were much more intelligent than we give them credit for .
** This silence really comes from the ” evolutionist camp ” where any sign of ” early intelligence” trashes their stone – age , neanderthal faith lines ( Remember ” He over – came all authorities and powers ” ). Mankind has always – from the beginning of time – had an interest in ” eternal life – ie , never dying ” , but living for- ever.
Hand in hand with this ” royal ” hope was the knowledge that in his natural state he was an unclean thing , which had to be cleansed before being presented to his God or Gods . Among many ancient examples of this are the ” Negative Confessions ” found in the book of the dead attached to mummies in Egyptian Tombs . These typically read ” I have not committed evil ; I have not stolen ; I have not been covetous : . etc. (from ” Records Of The Past Illuminate the Bible ” by S.H. Horn )
In the last century there have been found libraries with thousands of clay tablets etched with a cuneiform script . When translated they speak of how the hero does some feat to cleanse him – self .
Coincidentally (! ), the earliest and the most grand tombs that were prepared for this expected reward have been found at the excavated ruins of ” Ur ” – which is as we know the starting point for our own personal story of salvation in our times as well .
Constructed in about 2800 B.C. ( courtesy ” Wikipedia ” and other reads ) , there have been found in the remains of the city what are called ‘ the Royal Graves “.
These were deep pits dug several meters in levels to the bottom floor area where the royal tombs with sarcophagi were located . Found in several of these sites were skeletons which surrounded the tomb and were also positioned in varying levels above the tomb .
These were the remains of the servants who had willingly descended the pit , laid down in their designated positions , and drank poison so as to be on hand to serve their master in the next life . There were even found the remains of a team of oxen , including the cart , for this purpose. At least one funeral pit had 75 skeletons.
There would have been a heavy foreboding attitude of fatalism and death among the general populace to support this culture . Moon worship was the predominant god . No wonder God chose to move Abraham and his family to a more promising future . Thank God !!
So here we find our – selves in this post – modern ( end time ? ) second millennium AD . As fore- told by some prophecies – ” There will be Terror all around” – terrorists ? ; another is ” information will abound ” – or ” the world will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord , ( now with the invention of the internet – previously God used the discovery of the printing press for the disbursement of his knowledge ) , but still most will not believe .
So what is our – my – need ? , our spiritual quest ? Is it like the pharaoh ‘s – eternal life ? but with no pyramid ?
Col 2 :8 says ” see to it that no- one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of his world , rather than on Christ “. This is referring to dress rules , circumcision , diet etc. , of a culture .
In David Brubeck ‘s ( a pastor , experienced in spiritual warfare ) excellent read – ” The Adversary ” he states near the beginning , ” The Word of God
recognizes that we face an enemy which seeks to defeat the spiritual life and victory of believers .
The enemy and his agents of the world and flesh each try to take from us our sacred , purchased position and possession of victory – while on this earth.
Being born again, a believer’s relation – ship to his ( & hers’) physical and emotional world changes radically . His spiritual , emotional and mental out – look changes and we are ” new creations “ . We become ” citizens of heaven ” ( Phil 3: 20 ) We are God’s child and heir ; His body and church here . Believer ‘s are anointed to suffer with Christ and to be glorified together with Him .( Rom. 8: 16-17 )
Because of our union with Christ we are marked for persecution , relentlessly . But we have a defensive system and weapons of attack . The anointed Word of God , which is ” the sword of the spirit . “
He goes on to say how in our daily walk of truth we should appropriate constantly the death and resurrection of our substitute – Jesus – as our victory over our own battles – ” that we have been crucified with Christ and we no longer live but it is Christ that lives in us..”. We must appropriate or grab hold of the victory now – the power of the resurrection – that we share already in Christ .
He , who having dis – armed the powers and authorities , He made a public spectacle of them , triumphing over them by the cross . ” Col 2 : 15
But we must be honest with ourselves and confess all sin we can still harbor , a remnant of our past life . We must be ready to forgive as Jesus has forgiven us – ie 70 times 7 – Remember we do not battle against an enemy of flesh and blood but against un seen dark spiritual powers and authorities of this world .
We must be able to defend our – self by expounding Bible verses with conviction where it is required . Even Jesus quoted OT verses aloud in driving away the devil when tested by him first in the wilderness.
So where does our divine struggles come from today ? Like the rulers of millennia past we seek for greater things than what this physical life gives us . Many scholars ( as of ” creation . com ” ) believe this spiritual quest for more has been implanted in our DNA by the Lord as hunger or thirst or love is part of us . This knowledge comes from the consistent practice of rituals for worshiping ” deities ” which are found in all cultures all over the world .
Unfortunately , all to often the ” fallen ” state of mankind’s’ nature moves the populace to the dark and ” fallen “ areas of their mind . This leads to depraved immoral practices as worshiping the dark ” voodoo ” spirits of a dense jungle , human sacrifice in Fiji , or worshiping the ancestral bones in Asia .
** Incidentally these sad practices connect with the creation story of the dispersal of the people from the tower of Babylon . Their great engineering and mathematical knowledge and skills of building the first great high temples in Sumer ( Mesopotamia ) and then later in Egypt , were gradually lost through the generations after their global dispersal to their continental locations . Here their lost city ruins , now crawled over by tourists , attest to their lost glory .
This shows that intelligence can be lost , not gained , through time . Now this is ” politically in correct ” , which is why you don ‘t read about this in the media . The silence is deafening !! Even our own school standards have fallen in our time . All of the vanity of our time.
But this fits perfectly with God ‘ s Word : Rev ; 12 : 9 “… that ancient serpent called satin or the devil , – Who leads the whole world astray . he was hurled to the earth and his angels with him. ” ( explained in ” Tomorrow ‘ s World . org “ ) and these authorities are the media , the banks , etc , who are drunk with their power . This is only tolerated by God – for a time .
But coming back to our spiritual warfare ; compare the monk sitting with his rice bowl expecting to be fed and then blessing the donor ; while a few feet away a christian pastor is exhorting parents not to sell their children for prostitution . In the Indian sub- continent millions are born into bondage from some predecessors debt , which can never be paid
off , while a pastor in a local church is preaching about freedom and love through Jesus , who died for them .
And these ” authorities of darkness ” – hate , persecute and kill Christians through raging demonic fear .
satin Quakes and Trembles when confronted not by the pharisees of our timebut by a common ordinary ” born again ” human , empowered and justified with the Holy Spirit .
JESUS & CHRISTIANITY IS THE HOPE OF THE WORLD .
We can only stand amazed at the workings of the Lord . His faithfulness and love given for YOU & ME is awesome and undeserved .
” I have come that you may have life , and life more abundant “. Jn. 10:10.
” For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that who – ever believes in Him will have Eternal Life and never really die . ” Jn. 3 : 16 Amen .
This is the Victory that has over – come the world , Our faith . .. only they who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son Of God .” 1 Jn 5: 4 , 5
” ..Death has been swallowed up in Victory “. Where o Death is your victory ? Where o Death is your sting ? ” 1 Cor. 15 : 54- 5 .- Halleluiah !
Related Bibliography –
” The Puzzle Of Ancient Man “. by Don E. Chittick , PhD. – How the Pyramids were built with ” Old Technology ” . This has been confirmed in recent times . Published By Creation Compass , Newberg , Oregon .
” The Authenticity of the Book Of Genesis ” by Dr. Bill Cooper – Thousands of deciphered clay tablets confirm and energize the grand scale of OT times . Published by ” Creation Science Movement ” .