by Neil Anderson
August 16
Colossians 2:15
He [Christ] disarmed the rulers and authorities [and] made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him
In Colossians 2:15, Paul identifies something very important that happened at the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ. Not only were we made alive in Christ, but Satan was also disarmed and defeated. His defeat is not pending, nor is it future; it has already happened.
If Satan is already disarmed, why don’t we experience more victory in our lives? In a word, the lie. Satan roams around like a hungry lion, looking and sounding ferocious. In reality his fangs have been removed and he has been declawed, but if he can deceive you into believing that he can chew you up and spit you out, he can control you, which is just what he wants to do. He is gumming Christians to death!
The very reason Christ conferred His authority on us was to demonstrate to the kingdom of darkness who is really in control in this world. In Ephesians Paul wrote that his call was “to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things; in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carries about in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:9-11).
How are we doing at making Christ’s victory known to “the rulers and authorities in heavenly places,” which is God’s eternal purpose? In many quarters, not very well. Some of us are still saying, “What rulers and authorities?” We’re not sure that demons even exist. How are we ever going to get our job done in the world if we don’t believe what God says about the kingdom of darkness? Others of us are cowering in the corner pleading, “O God, please help us! The devil is roaring at us!” And God responds, “I’ve done all I’m going to do. I defeated and disarmed Satan at the cross. I conferred all authority on you in Christ. Now open your eyes. Realize who you are and start demonstrating the authority you already possess.”
Prayer: In Your name, Lord, I will take an active stand against the devil and his demons, renouncing both apathy and fear.
Unlock the Mysteries
Give us the strength to overcome in Jesus name
Give us the strength to overcome in Jesus name
Amen!
I think the only “Satans” that really exist in this “human” world is called by name “ignorance”. The ignorance can be treated through education and books; However the stupidity is forever.
One statement is enough for a mature and evolved spirit to understand the immortal importance of a sentence, of a written line, due to its indestructible invaluable content that teaches how the spirit should act to develop the inner God, or to turn into Spirit and Truth, or to realise in it the teachings of the Bible – YOU ARE GODS.
There are people who devour books, searching for religions, sects and banners, listening to the incarnate and the discarnate, but they do not change inwardly and do not really blossom… They are like mediocrity that goes around the PERFECTION, without ever reaching it…
The Exemplary Word warned these people, by saying: “The Kingdom of God is inside each one, it does not come with external signs.”
Therefore, those who do not know how to LOOK FOR THEMSELVES, and have not FOUND THEMSELVES yet, will have to search high and low, hovering unhappily, in the kingdom of emptiness and painful doubts.
An old initiatic saying teaches: “The good disciple awaits doing good.”
The Exemplary Word also taught: “Upon your patience you shall build your souls.”
These abstracts say to the immature, to those empty spirits: “Learn how to run to your inner self, because it is there that God has placed His Divine Virtues, which, when blossomed, will make you a TOTAL ONE, GOD IN GOD, BECAUSE NO ONE WILL BE CHILD OF GOD ETERNALLY.”
However, let us remember these wise words: “One word to those who understand it is worth a whole speech to those who do not understand it.”
All the best. With love, Neil.
Hi Neil,
Thanks for commenting. I have to disagree with you.
Satan is one being created by God as he was a former high ranking angel of God. Satan is very real and is most definitely in control of this world. As a matter of fact the Bible refers to him as the “god of this world”. 2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them Obviously meaning that Satan attempts to block all that leads us to God. Satan is an already defeated foe, through Jesus Christ’s victory over Satan on the cross, we can partake in His defeat of the evil one. Ephesians 6:10-18
Anyone involved with Satan plays a very dangerous game. Satan leads all who do not believe in Christ to hell. That is his aim. We are gods, New Age beliefs, spirit guides, channeling, the divine mother, other gods…all are attempts (very successful) to lead us away from God. The homosexual agenda and the supposed freedom to live that lifestyle (if anyone so chooses) is yet another attempt to lead us away from God and is succeeding very well in the U.S. Keep in mind God hates the sin, not the sinner. Satan cares not a whit even for his servants, his only aim is to corrupt humanity and lead us into temptation and sin and thereby away from God, our only true salvation.
The only words that have immortal importance are the words of God and no other. Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
We are in NO way gods and the Word of God teaches no such thing. There is a verse in the book of Psalms that mentions that, but if your understanding of that passage is that we are ourselves gods, you misunderstand. Scripture will uphold itself…meaning that if something is taught in one place it will be attested to in another…you will find NO references in the Bible that teach we are gods, there is only ONE God existent in 3 persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Psalm 82:6, and John 10:34 (Jesus quoting Psalm 82:6) Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
Now, lets take a closer look at these Scriptures:
This use of the word “gods” to refer to humans is rare, but it is found elsewhere in the Old Testament. For example, when God sent Moses to Pharaoh, He said, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh” (Exodus 7:1). This simply means that Moses, as the messenger of God, was speaking God’s words and would therefore be God’s representative to the king. The Hebrew word Elohim is translated “judges” in Exodus 21:6 and 22:8, 9, and 28.
Now, let’s look at how Jesus uses this passage. Jesus had just claimed to be the Son of God (John 10:25-30). The unbelieving Jews respond by charging Jesus with blasphemy, since He claimed to be God (verse 33). Jesus then quotes Psalm 82:6, reminding the Jews that the Law refers to mere men—albeit men of authority and prestige—as “gods.” Jesus’ point is this: you charge me with blasphemy based on my use of the title “Son of God”; yet your own Scriptures apply the same term to magistrates in general. If those who hold a divinely appointed office can be considered “gods,” how much more can the One whom God has chosen and sent (verses 34-36)? (Courtesy of http://gotquestions.org)
Falling into the notion that we (humanity) can be our own gods is a deception of Satan who aims to lead all people away from the One true God. For if you believe in yourself as god, or even believe in your own good nature and/or humanistic value as a vehicle to attain heaven, then your trust and faith is placed in yourself and not in Christ…this type of person will never see heaven unless and until they repent of this attitude/mindset as they rely on themselves to get there or do not believe in heaven and hell. Either way, this is encouraged by Satan as this is what he desires, to place himself above God and take humanity away from the Lord our God.
There is only one source of perfection and that is God, not one of us is perfect nor will we ever be so until and unless we see Christ and accept Him as Lord and Savior repenting of our sins and asking for His forgiveness. We will of course still not be perfected until we are resurrected by Christ in the end and made perfect through Him in heaven, never will we be perfect on this Earth as our basic nature is of sin and to sin. The only perfect man was Jesus whom was both man and God at the same time.
Have you ever stolen anything, even a pencil? Ever looked on a woman with lust? Ever lied? Ever taken the Lord’s name in vain? Ever had sex outside of marriage? Ever hated anyone?
My point here is this: we have every one of us sinned…and it only takes one sin to make you NOT perfect, and one sin is all it takes to incur the Lord’s wrath. The penalty for sin is death, not physical death but rather the permanent death of your spirit, separation from God forever in hell.
But God provides the way out of this dilemma. We cannot save ourselves, we all sin so are therefore condemned to death. But God in His mercy sent His only Son (John 3:16) to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus paid the price of our sins so that we do not have to. We need to go to God, confess our sin to Him and ask for His forgiveness. When we do this, sincerely repenting (being sorry for) our sins, asking forgiveness from God, and believing that ONLY Jesus can save us from our sins…we are forgiven and are granted eternal life right now. Believing that Christ died for our sins, was resurrected and is even now seated at the right hand of God the Father, and having done the aforementioned things – we receive and can know we receive forgiveness of sin and eternal life…we can claim it now not later. We posses this eternal life here and now.
1 john 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God
“What is the catch”, you may be thinking? Well, we agree to live a new life. We will do our best to live the way that God wants us to. We will all miss the boat on this, no one is perfect, anyone says otherwise they are lying. Still, we will seek to serve God, to stop doing the things He does not like: lying, stealing, killing, sex outside marriage, getting drunk and using drugs etc. If we are really “saved”, we will desire to do God’s will, no one forces us to do so including God Himself. God is a gentleman…if you walk away, if you refuse to do as He asks, well so be it. He will of course try to reach you (everyone) as He loves us, but He will not force Himself on us. Then again, we need to remember that if we choose our will over His, there are consequences to that. There will be 2 types of people standing before Christ the Lord in the end.
The first type says: “my will be done”. God says to them ok…and these shall wind up in hell for eternity.
The second type says: “thy will be done”. They will be in heaven with God.
If we believe in Christ we are and will be children of God eternally. 1 John 5:19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
Salvation is the greatest gift of God to us. We can do nothing to earn it, if we could (we cannot) it would no longer be a gift.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast
Please, please consider these words, they are but a poor representation of the words that truly do matter; the Word of God. What I say is not important but the Word of God is. I merely seek to paraphrase His words. The Word of God brings life, it brings forgiveness and freedom. Turning to God in sincere repentance brings freedom, freedom from certain death via our own choices…sin.