The Opposition
With a few exceptions, our enemies remain invisible to our eyes, but they nevertheless are real, and so is their opposition. I doubt that we can fully grasp the variety and the number of those forces, which oppose us. I would simply remind you that there seem to be various rankings of angelic beings, and that the description of heaven in Revelation speaks of creatures, which will probably not be understood by us until we are in the presence of God.
A couple thoughts I would like to share!
Coming to faith in Jesus Christ is to be understood as entering into every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. The commencement of a great struggle with Satan and his forces cannot contend with the believers who understand the significance of the heavenly places in Christ. Let those who would dwell on the blessings of our faith also take note of the battle which we have entered into by faith in Jesus Christ, and which we must wage in His strength.
The church is engaged in a spiritual war, and its enemy is Satan and a host of unseen angelic and celestial enemies whose power vastly exceeds our own. These celestial enemies seem to have various forms, as is suggested by the variety of terms used by Paul to identify them: “Rulers, powers, forces of darkness, and many others”.
These angelic beings have great power. Satan would seem to possess the greatest power. One dare not underestimate this power. The great lesson in this short writing is to warn us to never underestimate our enemy, as doing so is to underestimate the immensity of the spiritual struggle and setting us up for failure. The fact is, we need divine enablement to have and walk in the victory that Christ gained for us. I am in no way praising Satan for his great ability; however, I am emphasizing that we cannot win over him in our own strength. We must have the power of God working in and through us as we rest our faith in Christ and Him crucified.
May God bless you this coming week and I pray you walk in the power and strength of your Savior.