We Are At War: The History

"And there was war in heaven."--Revelation 12:7

Once we are awakened to the reality that we are at war, we learn quickly that this didn't just happen, nor is it only about us. Neo, from The Matrix, discovers there is more to the world he had grown up in, and he is told of the long and sustained battle between man and the machines. Frodo, from The Lord of the Rings, learns why he must leave the Shire to destroy the Ring of Power, and that the Dark Lord Sauron has returned to make another attempt to destroy the free peoples of Middle Earth. When Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy come to Narnia for the first time, they are told the winter wonderland is actually the work of the evil witch, Jadis, and her rebellious lust for power.

Knowledge of the past frees us to see that life is not about us. We are living in a much larger story set within a world at war. However, this does not diminish our role in the story, nor are we deemed insignificant. It is a story that we are invited up into, to play an irreplaceable role. Samwise Gamgee, in The Lord of the Rings, asks, "I wonder what sort of tale we've fallen into?"

We must ask the same question to understand life here on earth. Deep within we all know that we were made for something more, something grand. Even epic. We are not just some random happenings developed from single-celled organisms. There is purpose and meaning to life, and it goes far beyond anything we have ever imagined or dreamed. Everything we do, good or bad, contributes to the story we are swept up in.

This story does not begin here on earth. Remember, its never been about us. John 1 draws our attention to "the time before all time," and it goes like this:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." (vv. 1-4, ESV)

What we have here is a description of the foundations from which the earth was created. We are given a glimpse of what we understand to be the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three persons who are uniquely related to each other, a fellowship of love, to make up what we know to be "God".

Sometime before God creates the earth, holy, powerful angels attended God's throne and kingdom. They moved at the command of the Trinity.

However, there was one, the captain of the heavenly host, whose loyalty to the Almighty had waned. Feeling cheated and an overwhelming sense of pride swelling within, the great Captain, Lucipher, convinced (we are told in the scriptures) a third of the angels to join him in an unholy coup against the Ancient of Days. He brought war to the heavenly courtyards. It was a betrayal like no other.

The rebellion would end in failure. Jesus himself testified, "I saw Satan (Lucipher's name after his betrayal) fall from heaven like lightning" (Luke 10:18). Milton tells the story in brilliant detail in his work Paradise Lost. While Satan was defeated, he was not destroyed. He would wait, until the opportune time to make his move and strike again.

This is the story we find ourselves in, and it is the nature of the war going on around us. Satan, the accuser, has raised the question of God's trustworthiness. Can we really trust the Heart of God? Are His intentions toward us good? The battle in heaven was won by pure might. However, strength will not be enough to fight the battle now turned to earth, specifically within the heart of humanity.

The Same Old Thing

Just the other day, I was asked how my day was going. "Oh, same stuff, different day." As soon as the words left my mouth, the Holy Spirit checked me. Where did that come from? Are those the real thoughts about my life? Have I come to a place where everyday is just the same old thing?

We've all been guilty of thinking like this. Life, at least for most of us, goes on with very little day to day change. My goodness, we're practically repeating the ramblings of that old Teacher from Ecclesiastes, "There is nothing new under the sun, ever."(1:9 NIV, italics mine)

According to Eldredge, losing paradise was not the worst thing to happen to this world. (Desire, p. 9) The fact that we're very much used to it is. We brush our teeth. We go to our jobs. We watch the news. We go to bed fully expecting to get up the next day only to do it all over again. Why? It's the way things are supposed to be, or at least, that is what we tell ourselves.

Just take your life the way it is right now. Someone has just given you the news that from here on out, your life will never change. Your health, your finances, your relationships, all of it will not get any worse, nor will it ever get any better than what it is right now. React to that with as much honesty as you can muster. What conclusions do you come to? My guess is the heart has little patience for "the same old thing".

The Problem with Tips and Techniques

These days I have to prepare myself when recommending a book for someone. Just the other day I was approached by a man and his wife. Things were no longer as they were meant to be in their marriage, like on the day of their wedding. Just as I began to mention a book for them to read, the lady stopped me.
"We've tried that!"

Counseling? "That, too!" Praying together? You guessed it. They have been victims of tips and techniques Christianity.

We are bombarded with a myriad of tips and techniques. Try any bookstore and go to the self-help section. There you will find hundreds of titles giving ten, twelve, fifteen steps to a better life, marriage, child, whatever. Most pulpits today are delivering similar messages to their congregants.

We've limited the gospel to a type of spiritual humanistic psychology written in Christianese. When Christ came, he did not bring ten steps to being a better Jew. There were no five point sermons on how to relate better with other people. The people already had the Ten Commandments, but they were not meant to "save" them. Instead, the commandments showed them they needed a savior.

If tips and techniques were all we ever needed, then there would have been no need for Christ to go to the cross. We could save ourselves. The gospel would have become one among the "Do It Yourself" guides. It's not our work, but the work of Christ that accomplishes God's purposes in us. It is the life Jesus has to offer.

But what life is that exactly, if not tips and techniques?

It is the freedom to truly live from our hearts. It is freedom to accomplish great things, take a stand, and embrace a larger world. It is freedom to love your wife in a way that unveils her beauty and to father your children to become all they are capable of becoming. Freedom to find your place, your calling in God's kingdom, which was inscribed on your heart since before the day you were born.

This life only comes we when allow Jesus to free our hearts of all that has wounded, all that holds us captive and imprisoned. To make right what has been wrong. (Isaiah 61, 1-3) To awaken us to the purest and truest desires He has written on our hearts.

If Jesus had a three point sermon, it was Luke 4:23. "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me"(NKJV).

Possessing the kind of freedom mentioned above will require much from us, too much on our own. It will require a heart that places its own selfishness aside. It will require a will to lay down our lives for a larger story. It will require an obedient spirit to surrender to the voice of God. These are not tips and techniques, but life-saving gifts from Jesus made possible by his glorious cross.

By the way, the book I recommended to that couple? Its Love And War by John & Stacy Eldredge. No tips and techniques. None. Check it out for yourselves.