Then they brought him [Jesus] a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. All the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"
But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
According to 1 John 3:8, Jesus came to "destroy the works of the devil." We understand that His death and resurrection provided forgiveness of sin and defeated death, but I often wonder if we miss the point that everything Jesus did was a part of His mission to destroy the works of the devil. When He healed people, He was destroying the works of the devil. When He did miracles, He was destroying the works of the devil. When He cast out demons, He was destroying the works of the devil.
Because He was destroying the works of the devil while the vast majority were participating with, or at least tolerating and ignoring the works of the devil, He made people nervous and even angry. I'm sure that most did not understand that they were tolerating and participating with the devil, yet they were -and Jesus starkly opposed what they tolerated.
Anger led to accusations: "This man does miracles empowered by demons." Clearly, they were wrong. In fact, Jesus said that this is how we know the Kingdom of God is among us -demons will be cast out, the sick will be healed, miracles will occur, the works of the devil will be destroyed. If Satan is fighting against Satan, his kingdom is divided and cannot stand.
Let's jump ahead to today. We are the Body of Christ. His mission has become our mission. He said, "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." He said that as His sent ones we are to be preaching the Gospel and making disciples -but He also said that in His name we will be driving out demons and healing the sick and doing miracles.
Interesting that today many Christians level the same accusation at other Christians whenever demons are cast out, the sick are healed or miracles occur. Something is wrong with this picture.
I can't speak for others, only for myself. I have a low tolerance for phony. I am not interested in fakery or manipulation. On the other hand, I am a follower of Jesus. I want to do what He called me to do. I want to destroy the works of the devil. I want to do it using the tools and methods that He ordained for me to use. I want what is real. And I don't really care what people with little understanding and a high tolerance for the works of the devil think.
Many people have Christ in their own little box in images that they approve of. Christ did not come to be an idol but to be Lord of all that we are so when we study the Bible we must study it in whole. When we espouse portions of it, it should be in keeping with the whole Bible. I agree- phoniness and manipulation is not from the Most High. He despises it. But he allows it. And we as believers were warned that such things would come and to recognize them as from the enemy.
ReplyDeleteI see many of what our society calls defense mechanisms to be also a tool in not being truthful with ourselves. Though I realize they might exist to protect ourselves from harmful memories,etc. many times, I also see them as sometimes preventing us being our true selves that God designed us to be. Therefore, there's a layer of junk the Lord has to get through before He can deal with us. I totaly don't mean to sound judgemental....it's just I really apprecite what you have to say regarding living with out phoniness or manipulation.
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