War In Your Heart # 28

Victory Through the Victor

Victory has two aspects clearly revealed in and traced through Scripture. The one is the restoration to God of His sovereignty over mankind and over the earth; both His originally and inherently by creation. The other, the redemption of man and his reconciliation to God, which will involve the restoration of his dominion status in relation to the earth.

Man will be redeemed to reign.

Scripture also clearly states that God has a divine order in the victory to be won. The restoration to God of the sovereignty of His throne has priority. This requires, first of all, the utter defeat and destruction of satan; of all his principalities and powers and of all his works. The kingdom of satan must be completely wiped out. The universal authority of God's throne over mankind and over the earth must be reestablished. There must again be but one kingdom on earth and that the kingdom of God. There must be but one King, and the King God's Son and Heir. There must be but one throne, and that the throne of God. There must be but one will done in heaven and upon earth, and that the will of God. God can have no rival, He must again be the sole Sovereign in heaven and upon earth, as He was "in the beginning" (Genesis 1:1).

This priority in the divine order in victory is clearly set forth in Genesis 3:15, which primarily prophesies the ultimate defeat of satan and so promises the redemption of man, which is more clearly unfolded in Genesis 3:21.

Our Lord showed the necessity of first defeating satan before man could be released from his captivity and control when  He said:

Matthew 12:29: Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man: and then he will spoil his house.

Perhaps some of the failure of Christian work today may be found in the attempt to take from satan "his goods" before he himself has been bound.

The Eternal Purpose

Victory has its roots in God's eternal purpose. God is never taken by surprise. He never has to retrace His steps or adjust His actions to emergencies o crises, for He knows the end from the beginning. Before there was ever a created heaven or earth or created beings to inhabit them, God had a purpose for both, wrought out according to His own pleasure and after the counsel of His own will.

Ephesians 3:11: According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ephesians 1:9, 11: Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself ... according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.

The divine will in action has never deviated from this eternal purpose, even in the long period in which satan has been exercising dominion over mankind and over the world. From the manward and earthbound viewpoint God seemed to suffer defeat in the revolt of satan and the angels in heaven, and in the rebellion of Adam and Eve on earth, whereby satan secured dominion over mankind and over the earth. But it was the loss of only two battles, and even that was by the permission of the Omnipotent One. The seeming defeat was in reality the actual beginning of victory in an agelong war.

However, at one traces human history in the Bible from Genesis 3, and as we observe it in the generation in which we live, it often looks as though the devil is winning out in all parts of the world. But he who prayerfully studies the Word and discerns the working of God knows that, even in the march of events in these very times, God is steadfastly carrying out His eternal purpose.

His foreknowledge took cognizance of the sin and consequent fall of both lucifer and Adam, and of the terrible consequences involved t this entire creation. God was not taken by surprise by this twofold revolt, nor was He unprepared for it. He "worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." The divine blueprint covers everything from "in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" to "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away."

~Ruth Paxson~

(continued with # 29 - (The Eternal Son)