WEEKLY SUNDAY
SCHOOL LESSON
An international
Sunday school lesson commentary
For
Sunday February 22, 2015
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readers worldwide
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CLOTHED
AND READY
(Getting
ready for the spiritual battle)
(Ephesians
6:10-20)
In Ephesians 6:10-20, the
Apostle Paul closes out his letter to the Ephesians with a remarkably creative
summary of his overall message for them. Here he paints a vivid picture of the
spiritual resources one would have to clothe himself, or herself in, if, he or
she is to do battle with the unseen spiritual
world of evil, that dictates to our “sin nature”, and manifests its negative
results in our physical lives.
As human beings,
we are waging the fight of our lives on a daily basis, against strife, sickness
and death, and our opponent is not one who is visible to our physical eyes. And
while certainly we can feel this unseen assault on our bodies, sadly, we
continue to fight a losing battle, because we fail to recognize that our
problems are, at their root, really spiritual, and not physical.
In order to wage
a successful battle we must first realize that the enemy is not other people,
but rather, it is satan himself. And if we are going to fight against this
enemy, and win, we must first turn our battles over to GOD, by accepting CHRIST
JESUS as our LORD and SAVIOR, in earnest. The battle with satan is a battle for
our souls (the eternal part of mankind), and in order to overcome him, we must
put on “the full armor of GOD”.
In order to beat
us, satan uses such weapons as “pride”, “lust”, “other people”, and “doubt”. If
we are to make a successful stand against him, we must incorporate “truth”,
“righteousness”, “peace”, “faith”, “salvation”, and “the Word of GOD”. In
short, we must don the full armor of GOD daily. We cannot use carnal weapons
and expect to defeat the “evil one” in our own natural strength. But by
clothing ourselves with the full armor of GOD, we become more than conquerors
through our strength in CHRIST JESUS.
When we equip
ourselves with all that GOD provides us with, we are well able to win the
spiritual battles that we will inevitably have to wage every single day of our
lives here on earth, not just as human beings, but even more so as Christians.
Paul’s colorful description of “the battle attire of GOD”, is cleverly likened
to the panoply of a Roman soldier, because he wants to ensure that the people
understand exactly what they are up against, and how GOD has already provided
the resources needed to overcome such a formidable foe.
Warren Wiersbe
once wrote, “Sooner or later every
believer discovers that the Christian life is a battleground, not a playground,
and that he faces an enemy who is much stronger than he is, apart from GOD”.
As Christians,
and, as human beings, we face, on a daily basis, three weapons, that are
perpetually exploited by satan:
·
First, there is “the world”, which refers
to the systematic opposition to GOD that surrounds us everywhere we go, and is
indeed, “the anti-CHRIST influence”.
·
Then there is “the flesh” which is
controlled by our own “sin nature” which we inherited from Adam’s disobedience
to GOD, and, that is opposed to GOD, and can naturally do nothing to please GOD
in any way.
·
And then finally, there is the “evil spirit”,
the devil himself, who gets into us and manipulates our thoughts, and thus
dictates our actions and deeds, causing us to make all sorts of ungodly
decisions in life.
We should be
eternally thankful to JESUS for salvation through HIS overcoming of “the world”,
“the flesh”, and “the evil spirit” of satan. Thanks to HIM, we do not have to
fight for victory, because the victory is already won. Now, we only have to
fight from “the victorious standpoint” that CHRIST JESUS has given us. And the
HOLY SPIRIT enables us, by faith, to appropriate HIS victory for ourselves,
when we choose to fight and pray in GOD’s army, and, in the name of CHRIST
JESUS, our LORD and DELIVERER.
In Paul’s closing
words to the Ephesians he lets them know that he is sending Tychicus, his beloved
brother in CHRIST, to encourage them, and, to let them know how he was getting
along while he is incarcerated there in Rome. In his final words we find a
blessing being called down from GOD, by Paul, upon the people at the Church in
Ephesus. Here Paul calls for the “peace of GOD” (man’s highest good), the “love
of GOD” (the complete resting of “faith” in CHRIST), and, the all-important
“grace of GOD”, which sustains us all, as HE longs for us to abide with HIM,
forever.
A Sunday school lesson
by,
Larry D. Alexander
IN
MEMORY OF CHARLESTINE ANGELA JONES
LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website
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