My heart goes out to the nation of Ukraine. What Putin is doing to those people is a crime on humanity. There are many in the United States that are worried about nuclear war and thus comes the end of humanity. I must confess that there is a greater threat for God’s people besides this war between Ukraine and Russia. There is a great spiritual war occurring in which every Christian is a soldier (Revelation 12:17; Ephesians 6:10-18).
The war has been going on since creation and the archenemy of mankind is Satan. He is relentless in his efforts to persuade Christians to disobey the Lord’s will. Satan’s success in persuading twenty-first century Christians to disobey God cannot be denied. As we witness the culture wars occurring in our nation, we lament the success of the homosexual lobby groups, the widespread use of abortion as a means of birth control, sexual cohabitation outside of wedlock, the breakdown of the American family (and consequent poverty and crime), greed, materialism, political corruption, and other evidence of Satan’s influence in our culture.
However, we must never lose hope or become despondent. We know how the battle is going to end. King Jesus has already won the victory at the cross (Ephesians 1:11-233; Colossians 2:15). The book of Revelation pictures Jesus’ defeat of the religious and political forces of the Roman empire as well as His ultimate victory over Satan and his allies. The book of Revelation’s theme is victory in Jesus.
The book is not about physical wars of our time nor about the coming of dominant world powers, but about Jesus’ victory over an empire that persecuted His people for centuries. Notice the following text:
When the Lamb (Jesus) broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained (this identifies the ones being persecuted and thus shows this is a spiritual war not a physical one). And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, will you refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Revelation 6:9-10)
The book of Revelation is the answer to that question and to encourage the Christians to remain faithful until that victory comes. Comparing Jesus’ victory over sin and death to a Roman emperor leading His victorious soldiers and captives in a triumphal entrance into the city of Rome, Paul describes Jesus’ triumph as follows:
But thanks be to God, who always leads us to victory in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things (2 Corinthians 2:14-16).
To my fellow Christians, I encourage you to remain faithful until Jesus comes again and we have that final victory with our Heavenly Father in heaven.
Written By: Rick Billingsley