Title: Spiritual Encounter
Contents
The text is from James 4:1-8.
First, your relationship with God is broken. Originally, humans were the only ones created in the image of God, were blessed with the primordial power of all things, and became a living being by receiving the breath of God. Then, we have to draw closer to God and serve God better than any other creature, but the devil intervened and sinned Adam and Eve and they avoided the face of God (Genesis 3:8).
Second, the relationship between the couple is broken. When Adam was questioned by God for eating good and evil, he made this excuse. “The woman God gave me to be with me, and she told me to eat it, so I ate it” (Genesis 3:12). that means. Gen. 2:23 is like when you get married because you like it, and Gen. 3:12 is like when you divorce because you hate it. Marital relationship is important because the family was given through the couple, and the family is a small church within the church. “When the family is healthy, the church is healthy.”
Third, the relationship between brothers breaks down. Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden and had a child named Cain and Abel. Because God accepted Abel's offering but did not accept Cain's offering, Cain was the first to kill Abel. (Genesis 4:5-6) The devil makes people sin, make them sick, destroy them, and make them die. So, in today's text, James, the man of prayer, said, "Oppose the devil." Unlike the angels of God who have power and work with a good spirit, the fallen devil intervenes in people's lives in various ways and takes away happiness. In this way, the devil works badly on everyone living in this age.
How will it work?
First, the devil bites a person's weaknesses and stretches them. In Matthew 4, the devil is tempted by the Spirit when he realizes that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, fasting for 40 days and praying that his weakness was hunger. Jesus overcame the devil's temptation to turn stones into bread, but it is not easy for us. Therefore, we must be able to resist the Devil by knowing our weaknesses and dealing with them.
Second, the devil does not reveal himself. “Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14) The devil is good at camouflage and is an invisible spiritual being, so people do not even know the identity of the devil. The devil is our spiritual adversary and enemy. Knowing your enemy and knowing yourself will help you win the spiritual battle. People, let alone the enemy the devil, live without faith without knowing what kind of existence they are, so they have no choice but to lose a hundred battles. Through the Bible, Christians also know God the Creator, believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior, and learn the identity of the devil who is the tempter. The devil hates people in this world from becoming Christians the most. I hope you will be victorious.
Third, the devil is good at alienation. In Genesis 3, how good are you at telling Eve and how good are you at telling lies? However, he acts like he does for Eve, as if he makes things go well. Also, Cain murdered Abel, as it is said in John 8:44, “The devil is a murderer from the beginning.” Cain did the murder, but he was angry, sad, and gave the heart to kill. It is the devil, so we have to resist this kind of work of the devil.
What kind of relationship will be perfect if the relationship with God, the marital relationship, and the brotherhood relationship are broken? In order to restore relationships, we must thoroughly oppose the devil.