One of the greatest mistakes the devil repeatedly makes from generation to generation is that he does not terminate the lives of many Christians while they are unbelievers. Let’s face it; before you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, the devil was the Commander-in-Chief of your life. You were totally under his spell. Ephesians 2:2 (CEV) puts it this way – “You followed the ways of this world and obeyed the devil. He rules the world, and his spirit has power over everyone who doesn’t obey God”.
Perhaps you didn’t feel it then, but that’s the truth. His remote control was fully operational in you. He could hit a “lie” button and the next minute you would be framing a very constructive lie. He could press the “lust” button and you would have no other option than to lust. At the extreme, he could press the “nightmare” and then the “die” button, like we do when we ‘fight’ Mortal Kombat on our computer games, and in a heartbeat, you would be ‘dead and gone’. But thank God it is already too late for the devil to have such power over your life as a believer.
Colossians 1:13 (KJVA) “Who (God) hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son”. This is one common trait of every believer. We (believers) have been delivered from the devil and his cohorts, even though many of us do not accept it. I will never forget a prayer meeting I attended about 11 years ago. The pastor leading the prayer session would read a verse from the bible and give us a “prayer point” in line with that verse. Then, he read Colossians 1:13 and said – “brethren, we will pray right now that God should deliver us from every power of darkness”. Whoa! I was angry at this grievous blunder, but that seemed to be the least I could express. When I looked at the zeal with which most believers in that congregation were praying about this, I could not help but weep. How come we had just read that God had delivered (past tense!) us and we are praying that he should deliver us from the power of darkness? Were we calling God a liar or, did ‘deliver’ and ‘delivered’ mean the same thing to us?
I understand some of us have issues with deliverance and I will attempt to discuss more about it in our subsequent messages. For instance, how much power can witches / wizards exercise over you? What if you practiced occultism before you got saved? Can the believer be possessed by the devil or his cohorts? Should Christians seek deliverance, and if yes, what type?
But before then, I want you to take note of one more thing. Colossians 1:13 does not give us the impression that we were delivered and left alone to sit on the fence, No! We were immediately transferred into the Kingdom of Christ. Even though your physical location remained the same when you got born again, you immediately switched locations in the realm of the Spirit. You now dwell in God’s kingdom. Think about it and its possible implications!
To be continued …
– tope aladenusi
If there is anything I wish to God the Christian would accept, it is the fact that He has been given a heritage in the King domain of God. The truth of God’s word is that you and I have escaped the corruption of this world and have been made partakers of God’s own divine nature.
Ephesians 2:2 says Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
I love the way our walk was described …“in time past”.
Today we take a peep into the fact that the Christian has been set free from all powers of the evil one and we begin this discussion by referring to a parable of Jesus. The scene was not a favourite for the Pharisee’s. Jesus had made numerous comments about the unfaithfulness and the hard impenitent nature of their hearts. But then he capped it up with this parable describing the man possessed of evil. I have heard many make reference or even sight this parable in discussing about how the Christian ought to take heed lest he is possessed of a devil. A close look at the Word shows however we ought to take heed how we attribute all statements as being descriptive of the man born again.
Verse 44 of the 12th chapter of Mathew is insightful. The word of God says that unclean spirit came and findeth the place empty, swept and garnished.
We see from God’s word certain attributes of the Christian who is born of God. But the word “empty” is not found as an attribute of the man born again. You are not empty waiting to be filled with any thing that may just pass by. You are not a holiday resort for the devil and his cohorts.
If anything we realize that for being a child of God in Glory, the Christian has received the full measure of God’s spirit.
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Gal 4:6
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. 1st John 4:13
God has filled you through and through. And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. John 1:16 You are not empty rather you possess in you the very life of God.
The word of God is explicit on the fact that the life of the Christian is hid in Christ and in God. Let’s see what Col 1:14 says Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Once you and I were not the people of God but now are we His people that we may show forth the excellent virtues of the one who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. For “In Christ was life and this life is the light of men the light shineth in the darkness and darkness could not comprehend it not”.
You and I are not empty. I wish to God you would understand that in you is the life of God. Bible says this is the record that God has given to us eternal life and this life is in His Son Christ Jesus. Consider the fact that you have not received the Spirit which is if this world but the sprit which is of God. This is what you and I now possess as a heritage.
Dear believer, before you consider seeking for deliverance, realize you ought to ask yourself this question – Do I know the kind of Spirit I have been made of?
You’ve been delivered dear friend.
– Dr bolaji akanni