Introduction
Nothing is more elusive on planet Earth than peace. The Pax Romana stands out in history as the longest period of “peace” in the history of Europe, parts of Asia Minor and North Africa. Of course, the power of the Roman army, which put down all manner of rebellion, assured that “peace” would prevail. Yet, other parts of Earth, not under the purview of Rome, had their share of wars.
Some feel they can make peace by giving in to the enemy and accepting the status of vassals, slaves, or satellites — certainly a steep price for peace. Or is it peace at all?
Just what causes war and how can peace prevail?
The Root of War
Strong's’ 4754. strateu/omai strateuomai, strat-yoo´-om-ahee; middle voice from the base of 4756; to serve in a military campaign; figuratively, to execute the apostolate (with its arduous duties and functions), to contend with carnal inclinations:—soldier, (go to) war(-fare).
There are two kinds of war: the international (or civil) kind where one state or states fight against another or others (or people within the state); the internal kind where a person fights the battles of his mind or psyche. Some justify war because a nation was attacked, and they can and must defend themselves. Another justification of war is where a nation or alliance attacks to rescue people from oppression or worse, such as torture or death. But, war can seldom be justified that are fought for political reasons, for power or Mammon. These criteria are man’s reasoning, not God’s. For example, God had Babylon wage war on Israel because they refused to live up to their covenant with Him. War begins with antagonism against God. Milton goes to great lengths to describe the war waged by Lucifer against the Almighty. He elaborates on a verse or two from the Bible.
Rev. 12:9 This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the Devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.
Luke 10:18 And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.
Is. 14:13 For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north.
Is. 14:14 I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.’
Is. 14:15 But instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead.
Just as Satan is the author of sin, rebellion against God and His Commandments, it (the demon) began the war against heaven and God. This conflict continued in the Garden of Eden where it eventually engulfed the entire planet. Few have fought on the side of the Creator, and until Jesus, it would seem the demon and its demonic forces controlled the battle, and indeed neared victory if not actually achieved it.
But while the alien demon virtually conquered Earth and became its god and ruler, pockets of resistance remained. The whole scenario seemed like science fiction.
Remember, it is not God that began the raging conflict within and without. God created man’s mind to be at peace with Him, but Satan’s influence degraded that fine instrument. God created the Earth to be at peace with Him and a boon to mankind, but Satan turned people against God, and the Earth could not remain outside the conflict. The people of Earth being at odds with God, became an enemy of the planet as well, thus earthquakes, hurricanes, and volcanoes.
But, Satan could not allow Earthlings to realize their enslavement because they would rebel because the cause of liberty always burned brightly in the human heart. So, the demon created mythology and festivals to distract humans from the truth. Many books catalog the myths and idolatry of the ancients.
The Earth became a vast graveyard arrayed with the victims of this prolonged battle. As easily as God cast Satan and its minions to Earth, could God have destroyed all those enthralled to the devil. But, God had a better idea. He would rather have the demon conquered by a human being whose ancestors (Adam and Eve) succumbed to Satan in the beginning and continued in its army from that time. Imitating humankind’s master, people of Earth constantly waged war among themselves and slaughtered those made in the image of God. it’s like brother fighting brother and father against son.
Eph. 6:12 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.
When under the power and rule of the god of this world, not by conquest but chosen by the very ones who became oppressed, Earthlings can never have peace of mind, much less peace in our or any time. The language the human race has learned and continues to speak regardless of the tongue cannot and will not understand the words of peace found in the language of God, the Bible. No matter what the language the Bible is translated into, it still contains the words of peace found nowhere else in the world.
Deception
Few would like to believe that they are under the control of Satan and worship it (the demon, which is not human, and thus not a “he”) and live by its rules and laws, for the most part. Sat an deceives people into believing that they are doing right and it (Satan) is the righteous, if not rightful, ruler of Earth, or that there is no ruler of Earth, except its human inhabitants.
Rev. 12:9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Sometimes, one wonders whether Earthlings do not prefer to believe deceptions and practice deceit, as well. Therefore, when demonic practices are exposed in, for example, popular holidays, people deceive themselves by saying that gift giving and family gatherings of Christmas (aka Saturnalia) are just nice traditions. And don't you dare say anything bad about it! If Constantine, the great Roman Emperor, could not dissuade the Romans under his autocratic rule to give up Saturnalia, he changed its name to Christmas; thus, deceiving the Romans and the rest of people into believing Christmas had something to do with Christ. Since no Roman Emperor or Grinch could take away Saturnalia-Christmas, either Satan’s deceptions deceived all but a few or there is a human tendency to rebel against God because they are bereft of His Language and Word.
So the deceived and the self-deluded fight the “good” fight against the very Creator in whose image they are made.
Internal War
While great battles over time took place pitting the forces of evil against God, most people fight a battle inside their own minds. Few are at peace within themselves. Somehow the pervasive knowledge of God found in nature and the squalid streets, cry out against all the demon’s deceptions. And, God’s Word still finds a place, albeit often a miniscule one, in the minds of mankind.
The choices people have made over the millennia must have always found conflict good verses evil, the good of which most just shove into the back of the mind. Still, justice and mercy have often found a home in many societies. The thing is evil always permeates the good. When murderers are condemned to death, those hating good find ways to mitigate the penalty. Or, perverted officials condemn those who have committed no crime except to disagree with current policy, like the burning of witches or the electrocuting of victims of circumstance. Those who distort the good develop raging conflicts within; Shakespeare gives such examples in Macbeth. Mental illness might also be a manifestation of this internal conflict.
Rom. 7:19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
Rom. 7:20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
Rom. 7:21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.
Rom. 7:23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.
Friendship with World
The world’s ways present to a society an immense attraction and allure. Few can resist the compelling attraction. Like an Odysseus listening to the song of the Sirens, people sail straight into the shoals of death while believing they are going to some paradise. Unlike Odysseus, few people have a crew with wax in their ears and ropes binding them securely to the mast. But, those that do learn that society’s ways are illusionary and the songs of the Sirens are but a prelude to destruction. The unrestrained hearers of the ways of the world will not let anything keep them from being different from all the lemmings racing off the cliff and into the sea. No, friendship with the world is all, and they must have it because being different is truly something that excludes them from their friends and family. They surrender without a fight, but they lose the freedom and friendship of God and become slaves of demons, alas. But, the world’s Siren call is too great for them.
James 4:1 ¶ What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?
James 4:2 You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.
James 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
James 4:4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
The Deception of Compromise
Through out the ages, people have attempted to compromise good by letting in a little evil. If Saturnalia were evil as Constantine and the bishops knew, instead of fighting against it, they compromised and allowed it to continue to go on with a new name and new motifs, some good Christian ones: the story of Jesus’ birth replete with angels singing, and shepherds paying homage. But it was still compromise and a victory was lost; evil disguised won the day again. This dramatic compromise shows us how people continue to appease evil by failing to fight for good. In a geopolitical sense, we see governments constantly making deals with dangerous enemies only to find themselves engulfed in a war they tried to weasel out of. How many European nations placated Hitler’s rampage until they found themselves enslaved to the monster’s ministrations. And war found them anyway. The same is true in the spiritual war, for those who mix a little demonism into their lives find mental conflict, disease and death with some vague promise of going to a heavenly abode in some ethereal soul-like existence. But, dead are just that, dead, with no knowledge or continued existence in any form.
Eph. 6:12 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.
2Cor. 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh,
2Cor. 10:4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
Blessed Is the Peacemaker
One man alone fought the Devil and won, the man Jesus, the Savior. He fought the world alone, every day, every hour, every minute and never gave a quarter to Satan. Tempted when starving, Jesus refuted the Devil by God’s Word. No way of the world, no Siren’s call, no status among friends, could keep him from the straight and true. He fought the fight against spiritual forces on high as a human being, flesh and blood, and never wavered. Yes, God and the angels on high could easily have defeated Satan and the demons, but that victory would mean nothing for people.
Adam elected to have Satan as god and ruler of Earth, and it took the second Adam, Jesus, to refute decision and defeat Satan. By one man, Satan ruled, and by the second man was Satan deposed. Legally, only another human being could reverse the coronation of Satan by Adam. This man, to legally dethrone Satan, must never have obeyed any of Satan’s laws, but God’s only. Jesus did that, and more. He died nonetheless for the disobedience of all mankind and thus freed them from the tentacles of the Devil.
Psa. 4:8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep,
For You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety.
Peace Through Victory
Compromise, conciliation, capitulation and collaboration can never bring victory; only by defeating the enemy in his arena can peace reign. So, Jesus did just that, he won by never sinning, and, of course, by dying he paid the death penalty for all humans. Yet, though defeated, how can Satan continue to rule over all mankind, save a few? As said before and will be said again, Satan has deceived mankind into believing that they are under God, but because his evil message infiltrated Christendom and compromised the Truth, people think they are obeying but are not. Cleaver and resourceful, the demon has re-enslaved of those made free by Jesus, the Savior from Our Father in Heaven. Because the Word of freedom has been compromised, the ignorant and deceived live in faux freedom while still slaves of Satan.
Rev. 12:9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Peace Through Faith
Jesus achieved victory, not for himself because he never en-slaved himself to Satan, but for all mankind if… So all people have to do is accept the victory Jesus obtained and live free from enslavement, but it is not easy and cannot be done by a single individual alone. The Word of God must not only become a part of a person’s mind, but he must also walk by the Word. Where a person pretends to believe and continues in ways of the world or misguided religious groups, he is still enslaving himself to the Devil, and thereby worships Satan while believing he is worshipping God Almighty. But, the true believer searches the Scriptures and proves by the Word what is true and faithful, and he adamantly refuses to compromise, surrender or collaborate to evil.
1John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
1Cor. 15:52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
1Cor. 15:53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Cor. 15:54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.
1Cor. 15:55 “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?”
1Cor. 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;
1Cor. 15:57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Cor. 15:58 ¶ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
Peace in our Time
The war is over and peace reigns in believers’ lives. As long as believers continue to trust the Word of God and not the ways of the world and society, they will continue to be safe and prosperous in Our Father in Heaven's love. Wielding the sword of God’s Word, believers fight off any attempted incursion by the defeated Devil. It is the power at work within, the dynamo of God’s Spirit that keeps evil at bay and gives peace. Truly, those in Jesus’ camp have no worry as he will always be with them, and they will always be free from the enslaving Satan and death. The great God and Creator has more power than the entire universe much less then a defeated Devil, so all those serving Our Father in Heaven, His loving sons and daughters, have no fear because His love has been poured out. Others may live in a state of fear and war, believers live in the new World, the Kingdom of God.
God is for His adopted sons and daughters. No one is against them. Peace in our time!
Rom. 8:33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;
Rom. 8:34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.
Rom. 8:35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom. 8:36 Just as it is written,
“FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG;
WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”
Rom. 8:37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
We all have a choice like Constantine. Do we compromise and allow even some tiny amount of deceptive evil entering our lives in thought or deed, this evil looking so promising and alluring, but which corrupts our whole being, or do we stand loyally with the God who gave us life and through Jesus will give us eternal life?
God Bless,
Gil Kovacs
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