Ephesians 2:1-3 And
you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked,
following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of
disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our
flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by
nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
The three enemies which has the one aim of removing us from
God’s presence has to be understood properly. It is important for Christians to
understand the limitations and the authority these have in our lives and how we
can overcome them victoriously. These three enemies are not directly mentioned
in the bible together but we see many incidents to understand this. Examples
are in Mathew 4 or the temptation of Jesus where Jesus had to overcome his
desires for the flesh, the world and the devil himself. In the above verse, we
read that our death was because the course was set by the world, the devil led
us there and the flesh had passions and desires to go there. The result of
these three is death.
We should understand that Jesus replied with the scripture
for all the three temptations. This is because the Scripture is the truth and
the devil cannot deny its authority. If it is written, it is final judgement
and there is no argument about it.
Flesh:
Romans 8:8
explains that if we are in the flesh, we cannot please God. Romans 13:14 says that we have to put
on Jesus and not allow the flesh in any way to work. Romans
8:12 onwards explains that we are not indebted to the flesh because Jesus
had raised us up in the Spirit. This means before Jesus had raised us up, we
are debted to the flesh and are forced to live a life which works for
everything the flesh demands. 2 Cor
5:16, 17 explains that we do not regard any christian according to his
flesh and the demands the flesh makes. Paul says that they once saw Jesus when
there was no understanding that he was of the flesh.
The Bible wants us to crucify our flesh in Romans 6:6, Galatians 6:24, Mathew 16:24
etc. Paul wants us to crucify or give a public humiliation to the flesh so that
it has absolutely no provision. Self denial in forms of similicity, fasting etc
would help us progress towards the cross. Jesus had indeed crucified His body
by feeding the Spirit more than the flesh during His temptation.
World:
As per 1 John 2:16,17,
the three problems, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life
are products of the world. The verse also says that all that the world owns are
only these. There is nothing more the world can offer us. Initially the earth
was good, but as per Isaiah 24:5,6
men defiled the earth to an extent that all it produces are these only. This
means that we cannot receive anything good from the earth. The reason why we do
not accept the world and its desires is in John
1:10 that the world did not know Jesus. We should understand that the world
is loved by God and was created through Him. The bible says that God loved the
world but the world did not know Him and since Jesus had taken us out of the
world, it hates us (John 15:18-19).
That’s why verse 15 (1
John 2:15) says that we should not love the world. God loved the world and
still wants to save everybody out of the world. The bible nowhere asks us to
love the world, but we are expected to love one another, love our neighbours
etc. Loving the world removes our relationship with the Father completely.
During His second temptation, Jesus said that His relationship
with the Father is more important. Falling to the world is like testing the
Father which we often do. We should honor my Father’s name with love whenever
the world tempts us.
Devil:
The first enemy is
the devil. The characteristics are :
·
John 8:44
- Murderer and a liar are placed together so that we should not be scared about
him.
·
2 Cor
11:3 – Craftiness.
·
2 Cor
11:14 – Disguiser.
·
Revelation
12:10 – Accuser. He could do that to anybody including Jesus during the
temptations.
·
1 Thes
3:5 – Tempter.
·
John
12:31 – Ruler of the world but has no claim on Jesus (14:30).
So, the devil is ruling the world with only these
characteristics. Let us remember that once we are saved we are taken out of the
world and he has no authority over us. Acts
26:18 says that if God helps us understand like “know the truth and the
truth shall set you free”, we can come out of the dominion of the devil. This
is simpler and effective. Luke 10:19
says that we have power not only over the enemy but over all the powers of the
enemy. If we know the truth that Jesus had overcome and we have the strength to
overcome through Jesus, nothing can defeat us.
James 4:7 says
that if we submit ourselves to the Lord and resist the devil, he will flee.
Jesus did the same thing by ordering him to go away with scripture reference
that does not allow us to serve him, he fled.
So, we shall crucify the flesh, hate the world and resist
the devil to live a life of an successful and free christian.
Amen.
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