In Christ: Know It, Live It - 27 (Me, B.C. - 3)

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience..." Ephesians 1:1-2

Before Christ our LIFESTYLE was one of SLAVERY TO SIN. This slavery showed itself as we followed, like a chained man, the course of this world. The COURSE OF THIS WORLD or world of opposition to God is described in 1 John 2:15-17 as pursuing pleasure, seeking stuff, and building our reputation. But what we are told in the above verses is that there was another power BEHIND, IN, and WORKING THROUGH the world. This power, of course, is PERSONAL. It is Satan (see John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 1 John 5:19; Revelation 12:9). Look at how Satan is described here:

• Satan is a PRINCE: he is a ruler. He rules over other evil and wicked forces (Revelation 12:9; Ephesians 6:12). HE is not alone in His manipulation of the world system. He rules over the "power of the air." The "air" is where evil spirits were thought to abide...and indeed they do. And Satan and his minions are POWERFUL. Here we have the picture of a highly organized system of evil RULED by a mighty PRINCE. It seems it is Satan's great and effective tactic to HIDE HIMSELF behind the often prettily packaged bait of this world system so that, e.g., from behind lust he is pulling the chains of tens of millions shackled by pornography.
• Satan is also described as the "spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience." Satan is NOW AT WORK. He is busy. He is strategic. He is influencing our lost family and friends and neighbors TOWARDS DISOBEDIENCE. He is taking advantage of the spiritually dead state of the lost to pull their chain AWAY from GOD and towards hell. This is why it is so important to see the lost around us as SLAVES not only of their sin and this world, but of SATAN himself. Satan pulls our neighbors' heart chains in a way that they are oblivious to. They still think they are free when they are in reality the devil's pawns. However, though Satan pulls the chain, they also willingly follow. They are willing slaves.

A few thoughts to close:

• Our ENEMY is real. He is powerful. He is wily. He is not working alone. He aims to pull the chains of the lost away from God and towards disobedience. He wants company in hell.
• This scenario is TRUE of every lost person...no matter how nice they are. They ARE slaves to sin and they are following a world system that is ruled by the master strategist of wickedness and they are marching after the pied piper of lust, stuff, and reputation towards a godless hell.
• WE who own Christ are NO LONGER bound by a willing slavery to Satan or this world system. We are FREE to say "NO" to sin and satan and "YES" to our Lord Jesus. And we have that freedom so that we will wage war with our former master in seeking to win the souls of his present pawns. LET US PRAY for one another that we will not use our freedom to seek a "SANCTIFIED" system of pleasure and stuff and reputation. Let us PRAY that we will count it all RUBBISH in order to gain Christ and follow Him into the fray of a world over which HE has ultimate authority and has commissioned us to win and disciple.
• The ENEMY won't like it...but then, WHO CARES? JESUS RULES.