Recognize Your Real Enemy
by Kenneth Copeland
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Ephesians 6:12
Have you ever wondered how Jesus was able to look at those who were crucifying Him—the ones who mocked Him, spit on Him and sentenced Him to death—and pray, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34)? How was it possible in the midst of such suffering to respond in such love? Why wasn’t He angry and bitter at the people for behaving so wickedly toward Him?
Because He knew those people were not His real enemies. Jesus walked in the spirit. He understood the spiritual realm is more real than the one which can only be seen with the physical eye. That’s the realm where His true enemies, the devil and all his demonic forces, were operating. They were the ones pushing and inciting the people to cry, “Crucify Him!” They were simply using men as puppets to get their evil job done.
So Jesus moved against them with the most effective weapon in the arsenal of heaven. He moved against them with the power of love.
Had Jesus allowed satan to pressure Him into responding in bitterness and unforgiveness toward those who were crucifying Him, the devil would have thwarted the whole plan of salvation. He would have succeeded in getting Jesus to sin and disqualified Him from serving as the spotless, sacrificial Lamb.
But Jesus didn’t fall into that trap. He recognized His warfare was not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness and wicked spirits in heavenly places. And He won that war with the compassion of God. He won because instead of allowing Himself to be moved by the emotions of the moment, He was moved by the Holy Spirit of God who is Compassion Himself. As always, Jesus obeyed His Father and thus, He acted in love.
“But that was Jesus!” you say. “He had a direct line to the Father. I don’t!” Yes, you do. You have the ability, through the same Holy Spirit that indwelt Jesus, to be moved with compassion just as He was. Romans 5:5 says the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. All we have to do is make the decision to be motivated by His love rather than our own, human feelings.
No matter how fiercely the devil rages against us, we can overcome him by wielding the weapons of the spirit—not against the people who hurt us, but against the forces of darkness themselves. We can rise up as more than conquerors and win the victory with the power of love. V
BVOV : 29
