DAY NINE
It is finished. The work has been done. On the cross, Jesus did everything necessary for the salvation of all who believe in Him, and He completely defeated the enemy. This is the end of the story. If we are going to march forward as part of the greatest movement in all of time and be part of a great advance of the kingdom of God, then we must understand the extent of Satan’s defeat and the means of exercising our God-given authority over Him.
We can be certain, that when we are sent by God, the enemy will set his eyes on us for destruction. He will devise a plan to pull us out of the kingdom and sideline us.
1 Peter 5:8 instructs us to…
“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
To be of sober spirit carries with it the idea of being mentally prepared for his attack. If we take God seriously and set out to accomplish His purposes, the enemy will attack. We must arm ourselves with every weapon and every truth necessary to do battle and win. So, rise up and take note of what has been said by the greatest men of old when they were inspired by God to speak the truth about the kingdom.
#1 The Enemy is Powerless in the Kingdom
Hebrews 2:14 says…
“Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil…”
The enemy has no power or authority. The devil had dominion over death, but that was before Jesus did His great work. Jesus shed his blood on the cross to render the enemy completely powerless. Jesus took away all his power and authority. It is finished. It is done. The devil is done.
#2 The Enemy is Disarmed in the Kingdom
Colossians 2:15 says…
“When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”
Not only did Jesus render Satan powerless, He “disarmed” him. He stripped the enemy of all his weapons. In other words, in the kingdom of God, in this new reign of heaven on earth, the devil has no weapons he can use against us. He acts like he still has weapons, but he has none. They have been completely taken away.
#3 The Enemy is Humiliated in the Kingdom
Again, Colossians 2:15 says…
“When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”
Jesus not only “disarmed” the enemy, He also made a public display of them. In the time of Jesus, when one army defeated another army and took a city, they would take away all the weapons of the opposing army, strip the enemy, and parade them through town in humiliation to show the extent of their victory, to show their complete defeat. This is exactly what Jesus has done to Satan and all his demons. They have been stripped of all their weapons, completely defeated, and humiliated to demonstrate the complete victory of Jesus.
#4 The Enemy is Defeated in the Kingdom
Finally, Colossians 2:15 says…
“When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”
Jesus triumphed over the enemy, He completely defeated Satan through His death on the cross. Jesus victory was final. It was finished. It was done. In the moment when the battle was won, there was a celebration, a great shout of victory that rang throughout the land, throughout the earth, throughout the heavens.
#5 Jesus is Exalted in the Kingdom
Ephesians 1:20-22 says…
“…He [God] raised Him [Jesus] from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things.”
Not only was the enemy defeated, Jesus was exalted to the throne of the kingdom, to the highest place in the universe. Satan, along with all the demons, were put under His feet. It was a miracle that God raised Jesus from the dead. And it was even more powerful that God exalted Him to the highest place of authority, at God’s own right hand. The right hand of a King was always a position of authority.
But God did not stop with exaltation. He wanted to make sure that we understood that Jesus was exalted far, far above the entire army of the enemy. Far above is probably a weak translation, God put an infinite chasm between the exalted throne of Jesus and the enemy far below. Then, to highlight the crushing of the enemy, every rank of demon, from the highest to the lowest were put under the feet of Jesus. In the kingdom of God, Satan and his demons have no power and no authority.
#6 We Have Position in the Kingdom
Ephesians 2:5-6 says…
“…even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
Once Jesus ascended into heaven and took His seat at the right hand of the Father, God did the unexpected. He not only put Jesus on the throne at His right hand, He made room in that same place for every one of us who believes and follows Jesus. When we take our place in the kingdom of God, under the authority of Jesus, God raises us up with Him, and seats us right there in the heavenly place with the King.
Where does that put Satan in relationship with us. When we are with Jesus in the Kingdom, the enemy is under our feet. God has raised us up in authority over the enemy. Let that sink in. The enemy is under out feet.
#7 We Have the Spirit in the Kingdom
1 John 4:3-6 says…
“…and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”
Along with a position in the heavenly places at the right hand of the Father, we also have the Spirit of God living in us. The idea that God live within us is far too great to fathom. All the power of the Creator of the universe is resident in our fleshly body. He makes His home in us. And because of the intimate relationship we have with God in this way, we also have access to that power to overcome the world and to overcome the enemy. The victory is ours because God is in us.
#8 We Have Authority in the Kingdom
James 4:6-7 says…
“6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, ‘GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.’ Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
In the battle against the enemy, the authority of the kingdom is ours. But it is not ours without conditions. The authority is not ours to wield as we please. It is ours when we are completely submitted to the authority and instructions of God. In fact, if we approach the battle against the enemy with arrogance, as if we are great in battle, this verse says that in our pride God opposes us. We make ourselves God’s enemy.
In contrast, when we submit to God, placing ourselves entirely under his authority and guidance, then, and then only, we have the authority of the King. In subjection to God, we are then free to resist the devil and we have a promise that the devil must flee. This is the way authority works in the kingdom of God. Under the authority that flows from the throne of Jesus, the enemy must flee. Because it is a written law, it is not meant to be some long, drawn out transaction. It is simply done.
In Luke 10:19, Jesus says…
“Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.”
Jesus makes it abundantly clear that He is the one that gives us authority to crush the enemy under our feet, to take part in delivering people from the grip of the enemy, to cast out demons. But these activities are always under the direction of the Father. When I submit to God, I always ask Him if I have his permission to wield the authority of the kingdom in a certain situation. It is up to Him to reply yes, or no. We always follow, never lead in such matters.
#9 We Have Strength in the Kingdom
Ephesians 6:10-13 says…
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.”
As children of the king, we have the privilege of tapping into the all the strength and might of God. He is the all-powerful ruler of heaven and earth. There is no one who can stand against Him. He is the mighty warrior. No one can defeat Him. He is the victor, the conqueror. We find our strength against the enemy in Him. When we are filled with the strength of God, we will always prevail. We will always stand firm and not be bullied into retreat. We will always resist and advance. This is the strength of God at work on our behalf.
#10 We Have Protection in the Kingdom
Ephesian 6:14-17 says…
“Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION…”
We also have protection as children of the King. In the kingdom we can put on the full armor of God for protection of our thoughts, for protection of our hearts, and for protection of our mission as kingdom builders. When the enemy attacks, His flaming arrows are extinguished because we trust in God. With God’s armor, we have complete protection and continue to advance in our calling to take the good news of peace with God to the ends of the earth.
#11 We Have Weapons in the Kingdom
Ephesians 6:17-18 goes on to say…
“…and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.”
And 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says…
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”
In the kingdom, the enemy can never stop our advance. We have offensive weapons to defeat his efforts to halt us at every point. The image here is that of the army of God advancing using its weaponry to constantly take back ground from the enemy. We are always moving forward and never hunkered down or retreating.
Our offensive weapons include a sword, specifically, the sword of the Spirit, which is the rhema of God. Rhema words are those times when God takes from the 64 books of the Bible and the 7000 promises and points us to a Scripture that is specifically for us. As we tuck these rhema words away in our heart, they become our arsenal against the enemy.
Our most powerful offensive weapon is prayer in the Spirit. When the Spirit of God guides our prayers, we will prevail. When we travail and prevail in prayer, the kingdom of God always advances. It never retreats.
Also, since the battle is a spiritual battle, the weapons of our warfare are not physical, they are spiritual. And because they are spiritual, they carry with them all the power of God to destroy the works of the devil. In the face of the authority and power of Jesus, the enemy must release his strongholds and surrender.
1 John 3:8 explains this…
“The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”
It is finished. It is done. The battle has been done and we can march forward under the authority of the King, bringing heaven to earth with every step we take.
WORSHIP: In your worship today, take a stance of thanksgiving. All the truth in today’s Scripture speaks of what God has already done. Thank God for each truth covered today. In thanking Him, you will find that He affirms the truth of what He has already done. It is finished.
PRACTICE: Choose 3-5 of the verses that stand out to you today and write them out by hand in your journal. Begin to memorize them and tuck them away so that you have access to them when you need them in the midst of a battle.
MEDITATION: Ask yourself some questions today: What areas of your life are under attack by the enemy? What would it look like for you to submit to God and exercise authority in those areas? What truths covered in today’s Scripture do you need to fully believe to move forward?
ABIDING: Go back and read through this teaching one more time. Ask the Father if there is anything in these passages specifically for you. Write down anything you hear from Him. Spend some extra time listening to see if He has anything more to say to you or if there is a deeper teaching for you today. Write down whatever you hear. Ask the Father if there is someone, He wants you to share this with and follow through with His assignment.