I remember the question that was posed “How Many Angels Can Dance On The Head Of a Pin” from my youth. I wondered why anyone would ask such a question, but as the years passed and I learned more I realized that the question had validity. You see, everyone seems to think of angels in some fashion, whether you believe they exist or not. Are they winged creatures in the sky, are they human form, or are they so different that a thousand of them could dance on the head of a pin? And more importantly, is there a spiritual battle going on between angels and demons for ownership of mankind?
It’s funny that we live in a society in America that has over 90% of the people saying they believe in the concept God, and have TV programs that show angels and demons in action, and yet have so few people really having any real knowledge of God or relationship with Him. Regular churchgoers in this country are down to less than a quarter of the population, and most of us really live our daily lives as though God didn’t exist…or for that matter that evil doesn’t exist. (Why do I harp on going to church? Churches are there to promote faith and do good works, and when you are part of an organization that acts in that manner, you are encouraged and held accountable. Growth happens when we act and are held accountable.)
Our concept of evil is what troubles me most. In our humanist and materialistic society we rarely consider the existence of a genuine spiritual force that is evil. The self-centeredness that typifies evil is prompted by a very real force of evil and is rarely identified and named. In Ephesians we are clearly warned that there are spiritual forces at work for evil in this world and that this is not simply a “man against man” situation. We have murderous drug cartels taking over in the southwest and sending advance teams to cities all over our country. We have 200,000 honest to goodness slaves in bondage in this country (mostly in the sex trade industry.) These are two genuine examples of evil spiritual beings at work if you ask me. We don’t have to look to Iran or North Korea to find Satan at work. And most importantly, this is a battle that must be fought in the realm of mankind’s genuine spiritual relationship with God and acceptance of Christ. Where are you in your spiritual journey?
How can we so blithely accept these foolish entertainment-based concepts of spiritual beings so easily and yet not see a real spiritual personification of evil? Satan is really clever and uses every tool he can find to advance his spiritual warfare. I suspect his new tool is the internet. Consider how blithely we often accept internet “facts” in our society. I read that Joel Osteen rejected Christ today on the internet in a well done presentation that included “real” news networks commenting. Of course it was all fake, just like the fake claims of Bill Cosby dying so many times over the past several years. I get political emails for webcasts that twist and distort facts almost daily. How many people actually fact check this information when they encounter it? As Henry Kissenger once said, the internet has given us the chance to trade “mere information for true wisdom and understanding.” (my paraphrase.) I suspect that is exactly what Satan wants. He is master of the “Great Lie.”
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