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There is an unseen battle with an unseen enemy. However, would it surprise you to find out that the devil is beautiful? The bible says that Satan masquerades as an angel of light, and that his demons are also beautiful. That is why we must test every spirit that it is of God.
Welcome back to Redemption Church in Plano Tx. Greetings to everyone with us in person and everyone joining us online. Blessings in the name of Jesus to you all.
My name is Chris Fluitt and I believe God has the knowledge for us today!
Unseen Battle
We are in the 4th week of our series Unseen Battle.
Ephesians 6:12(NIV)For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
This one verse of scripture has taught us so much over the past few weeks.
- We have learned that our struggle is not with the natural, but the spiritual, a force hiding behind the natural.
- We have learned that in order to fight a spiritual battle, we need training on how to use our spiritual weapons.
- We have learned that the battle is actually fought in heavenly realms.
We are in a spiritual war.
Spiritual Warfare – A conflict in the unseen angelic realm that is affecting the physical, visible realm.
Today I want to talk to you about the enemy, our adversary who is the source of the battle.
The source of the battle
Do you like mysteries? We are going to be talking about a mystery today.
Our adversary is mysterious. Scripture tells us little about our enemy, because our enemy is not the focus of God’s Truth. However, Scripture does reveal to us an enemy, and understanding that enemy will help us better understand how God has chosen to fight this unseen battle.
Our enemy is literally called a mystery in Scripture.
2 Thessalonians 2:7-8(NIV) For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed…
The word for “secret” is the Greek word “Mysterion.” Some months back we covered a great Connect Group series concerning this word in scripture. It is believed that Alexander the Great coined the word to mean “secret battle plans.” It is where we get our English word ‘mystery’.
The mysterious power of your enemy is already at work. Tonight, we are going to investigate scripture to better understand this mystery.
To do this, we must go back into history.
We have to go back before humanity.
We have to go back before the first day of creation where God said, “Let there be light.”
We have to go back to a place that is before most of what is written about in scripture… a place before time, itself.
God is the only uncreated being in the universe. Everything else was created by Him, and this must include angels.
When God is described in scripture He is usually described as bright, shining, light.
1 John 1:5(NIV) …God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
James 1:17(NIV) Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights…
In Exodus 33 Moses asks to see God’s glory, and when he comes down from that meeting place Moses’ face shined with a brightness so bright that people could barely look upon it.
God is a bright light, and his angels were created with a similar brightness. These “angels of light” are created after God’s beauty, splendor, and brightness.
It seems there was one angel that was shinier than all other angels. In fact, His very name means “the shiny one.” You may recognize the name lucifer. (Isaiah 14:12)
Ezekiel 28:12-14(NIV) “…You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.
14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.
This angel is a beautiful creation. God spared no beautiful material in adorning this shiny one.
He is an anointed guardian cherub ordained by God Himself.
Look back at verse 13… Where is this shiny one? IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
Now when we read about the Garden of Eden our mind goes back to the first 3 chapters of Genesis… but I want to present to you the idea of a Garden of Eden BEFORE the first 3 chapters of Genesis.
Here is why I feel this is a solid idea.… This verse says this shiny one is in the Garden and then describes a beautiful angel… But in Genesis, there was not a beautiful angel but a serpent in that garden.
This verse describes this shiny angel in the Garden of Eden… on the holy mount of God. Genesis never mentions mountains in its description of Eden.
Ezekiel 28:15(NIV) 15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.
This creation was made with God’s beauty. This creation was perfect and blameless. This creation was made in heaven and purposed for heaven. Everything God put into this creation was of the highest caliber and value.
And yet…
16 Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So, I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.
17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So, I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.
BECAUSE OF YOUR SPLENDOR…
Remind me where did His splendor come from? God…
This creature is an object lesson for us. It is possible to be so blessed that you forget the one who blessed you. You can be so beautiful that you forget the one who clothed you in His beauty. You can be so powerful that you forget the one who empowered you.
In Isaiah 14 we are told that lucifer chose to act in his own will rather than God’s will. 5 times in 2 verses he says “I WILL…”
Isaiah 14:13-14(NIV) 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the highest.
We are like Lucifer in the fact that we too have been given free will. The ability to decide how we will live.
BEWARE the trap of your own splendor.
Look out shiny one with the new car and the new job…
Look out shiny one with the good looks and personality…
Look out shiny one enjoying a measure of success…
I tell you one thing that God can’t do… God, you are all-powerful… but let me tell you God, something you will never be able to do.
God, you can never bless me so much that I will no longer need you!
God, you can never give me such a great victory that I no longer need you to fight for me!
God, you can never provide for me so generously that I no longer need your mercy tomorrow!
God, you can never lift me so high that I no longer need to be in your hand!
God, I need you! I will always need You. You can’t bless me beyond my need for you God! Deep cries out to deep… The depth of my need & desire for you is equal to the depth of your provision & love.
lucifer, the shiny one, was so entranced by his own splendor, he thought he should be allowed to share in God’s Glory. God has said that He will not share His glory with another. (Isaiah 42:8) Yet this is really the purpose of the war. Satan is after God’s glory…
So, this shiny one started campaigning in heaven. He went to the angel’s and pitched his message… and one-third of the angelic hosts decided to follow the shiny one.
1/3rd of all the angels decided that they no longer needed God.
This is the danger of pride. Pride will not only mess you up, but pride can also mess up all those that are near to you.
Satan with his army was cast down from God’s presence. The shiny one will one day be cast down again.
Matthew 25:41(NIV) “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
They will be cast down into the lake of fie. The devil AND HIS ANGELS. Those who follow the shiny one become his. This is why Jesus warns people that their father is the devil. When you follow satan, God sees you as satan and you will receive the punishment of satan.
This is how the battle ends. BUT TODAY, you get to decide which army you will fight for.
I want to go back to an idea I presented to you earlier; it will help answer a question puzzling anyone who has ever read Genesis 1.
Genesis 1:1-2(NIV) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Everyone who has ever read this opening of Genesis has had questions. Here is one question I have had… If God created the Heavens and the Earth in verse 1, why is it so messed up in verse 2? It is nothing short of chaos… formless, empty, darkness.
The creation we see described in Genesis 1:2 is NOTHING like the beautiful & good creation we see described in the rest of chapter 1. This creation is NOTHING like the loving, wonderful, and amazing re-creation we receive when God saves us and makes us a ‘born again’ creature. If God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33) why is the creation so chaotic in verse 2?
It leads me to ASSUME there is extra information we have not been told. Could it be that God created something in verse 1, but a sinister malefactor destroyed it leaving it in its formless, empty, and dark condition?
Who would do such a thing?
Dana Carvey Satan gif
Who would take a living creation and kill it?
Who would take a perfect creation and destroy it?
Who would steal a creation that is not their own?
Who could it be?
I present to you this idea.
Eden is a teaching tool
Adam & Eve were in the garden of Eden. (Genesis 1-3)
Heaven will be a garden of Eden. (Revelation 22)
Ezekiel 28 hints to us that lucifer had access to the garden of Eden, not as a serpent but as a beautiful, anointed guardian cherub.
The shiny one became angry with God and his un-sharable glory. In His anger, He tried to kill, steal, and destroy God’s creation.
He walked in Eden but left it formless, empty, and dark.
This is what the shiny one does with all of God’s creation. He wants to kill, steal, and destroy you, and leave you in the same condition of Eden in Genesis 1:2. He wants to leave you formless and chaotic. He wants to leave you empty and void of all meaning and purpose. He wants to leave you dark and unaware of God’s beauty, love, and glory and light.
Eden teaches us what God creates. Eden teaches us what our enemy wants to do with God’s creation.
Unseen Battle
This unseen battle has been waged long before man drew his first breath.
This battle flows from 1 source. From the pride & arrogance of lucifer it has spread to 1/3rd of the angels… it has come to earth and destroyed 1 Eden… it spread to Adam & Eve and had them removed from another Eden… It wants to spread into your heart…
But do not be confused…
- The enemy is not after the world, he wants to destroy it.
- The enemy is not after your heart, he wants you dead.
- The enemy is not after your finances or health or anything material on earth.
Satan is after 1 thing…
A battle for glory
Satan is after the glory of God. And it is the one thing He can never obtain.
You and I are not the focus of this battle. We are very much the collateral damage. We are the ones he strikes out at in his anger over his own defeat.
Knowing what the shiny one is after gives us a tactical advantage in this unseen battle. Someone help me! What is He after? God’s Glory!
Our role in this battle is to give the enemy NO GLORY and give God ALL GLORY!
You need to stand up on the word of God that declares in Isaiah 43:7 we are “called by his name and created FOR HIS GLORY.”
1 Corinthians 10:31(NIV) So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
All that we do is for the glory of the God! He gets all the glory!
We serve the King of Glory! Psalm 24:8
Shiny one – you get no glory from us. We give God all glory!
Our worship gives glory to God! Our worship is an act of war!
Psalm 29:1-2(NIV) Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
Are there any worshippers in this room…? Any worshippers online… who refuse to give the enemy any glory, but instead give all glory to God?
Our role in this battle is to give the enemy NO GLORY and give God ALL GLORY!
But there is one more role
Our role is to be partakers of God’s glory
God says clearly that He will share His glory with no one… Very few are even allowed to see His glory lest they die… but then something wonderful happens.
John 1:14(NIV) The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
When God came to earth in the flesh, he gave us all access to His glory. We have seen His glory! His glory dwells among us!
Through Jesus Christ we don’t just see His glory, we become partakers of His glory.
1 Peter 4:13-14(NIV) 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
Somewhere there is a shiny one who desires the spirit of Glory to rest on him… You have it by the power of the Holy Spirit now!
1 Peter 5:1(NIV)To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed:
The shiny one tried to take the glory… God openly shares His glory with us through the suffering of Christ.
When you share in Christ’s suffering, you share in God’s glory!
When the shiny one tries to make you suffer, he does not realize it is to his own tactical disadvantage.
1 Corinthians 3:17-18(NIV) 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
We are partakers of His glory!
The more we are transformed into the image of Jesus Christ, the more we shine with God’s glory.
We have an ever-increasing glory…
We are in a battle over Glory!
Who wants to win a battle today?
Who gets the glory today? Who wants to give praise and honor to the King of Glory today?
Who wants to grow in the ever-increasing Glory of Jesus Christ, today?
Revelation 12:7-9(NIV) Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
2 Corinthians 2:11(NIV) in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
2 Corinthains 11:3(NIV) But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
Ephesians 6:10(NIV) Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.