Fallen Foes

Read: Luke 10:1-24

[Jesus said,] “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning!” Luke 10:18

IN WORD

Jesus taught His followers to pray for God’s Kingdom to come. In Luke 10, as well as other places in the Gospels, He sends them out as representatives of the Kingdom to enforce His authority. In both cases, His people have to understand the implied result: If His Kingdom comes, another kingdom has to go.

That puts Kingdom citizens on the battle lines of a spiritual conflict and on the cutting edge of a cultural transformation from one Kingdom to another. The middle of a conflict is an exciting place to be, but it’s also a sobering one. The stakes are high. The usurper himself, the rebel against heaven, is losing his grip on his illegitimate domain. There is opposition, and it’s often intense; desperate dictators are usually at their worst when they are losing their grip. But there is no doubt about the demise of this one. He’s going down. Jesus witnessed it on the spot.

Our mission in the world is to see this fall repeated frequently. We want Satan to fall in every area of our lives and in every corner of our society. We want him out of families, schools, businesses, government agencies, entertainment and media, and more. We want his lies, his tactics, and his mean-spirited attacks to stop. We want to purge our lives of his influence in every way. We want his fall to be complete.

IN DEED

We can be exceedingly thankful that Jesus won that victory—He cast out the “ruler of this world” (John 12:31). He initiated the final offensive and determined its outcome, but He left us to enforce the terms. Though Satan has fallen from heaven, he is still far too active. We’ve seen his handiwork. Like the early followers of Jesus, we have been sent into the world to exercise Kingdom authority over evil.

What does that look like? It may vary from person to person, but we know it doesn’t involve submission to the enemy’s plans. We don’t acquiesce to his demands. We pray for God’s Kingdom to come, declare His victory, insist on His purposes, and never rest until the impostor’s kingdom is gone.

ADDITIONAL READING: John 12:31

The first step on the way to victory is to recognize the enemy.

CORRIE TEN BOOM