Estimates consider that perhaps one billion people have died in war since humankind has been on this planet. Since recorded history, only 8% of that time have people been at peace with each other. Moreover, civilian casualties in wars usually number far greater than the soldiers killed in that particular war. The eight main causes war include: economic gain, territorial gain, nationalism, revenge, civil war, revolutionary war, defensive war, and religion. There seems to be a unifying thread in all of these wars: humans just don’t get along. If you think we are inherently good, just look at the last century, historically, and you might get a different perspective. Evil exists. Period. From a “moral” perspective, humankind has done nearly irreparable harm to itself and to the planet as well because of war. You would think that lessons would be learned, yet history seems to repeat itself over and over again. Why? Because humans are not good. That’s why. Why are humans not good? We have a sinful nature. Morally, we are engrained from birth to have a sinful nature. If you don’t believe me, have kids. Yes, what most think of as evil are those weirdos who do despicable harm to others, such as lynching, torture, serial killers, pedophiles, and such. However, if were to be honest with ourselves, are we truly good? In, Why Does God Allow Evil, Clay Jones poses this scenario:
“So, we need to ask ourselves Solzhenitsyn’s question: If our lives turned had out differently, if we had never become Christians, if we had been born in a different society or at a different time, could we have been a guard in Auschwitz or in a Soviet gulag? If we answer yes to this question, then it shows that there really is something wrong with humankind. But for those who answer no to this question, I have two things to say. First, I would ask them on what logical or evidential basis could they possibly conclude that they were somehow born innately better than the millions of those who committed these atrocities or who at the very least condoned those who committed them. Then I would also remind them that belief in one’s innate superiority is almost always the father of genocide. Like it or not, we were all born Auschwitz-enabled.”
No, we are not good. But let me ask you a question? Do you believe that the greatest war against evil exists solely on this planet or is there something else? I suggest that the greatest and most diabolical war is being waged spiritually, unbeknownst to a great majority of humans walking around. And, this battle is unseen, invisible, imperceivable, and dastardly as it has eternal consequences. Perhaps you may have heard of the devil. He has many names: Satan, Lucifer, Son of the mourning, Tempter, Beelzebub, The Evil one, and the enemy, just to name a few. Sure, a lot of people do not believe that Satan exists. It’s all funny. He’s that “guy” with the pitchfork, tail, and horns dressed in red. Can you prove that Satan exists? After all, if he does, he’s a fallen angel and lives in the spirit world so, how can you prove he exists, if he does? The answer is no. One cannot prove the existence of Satan, demons, or angels. That’s true. One might refer to the Bible, referencing Satan as real and not imaginary. The problem is if one does not believe the Bible to be true, it would be hard to prove Satan’s existence. There is no physicality to him. So, therein lies the problem. No proof, no Satan. Nothing to worry about. If you can’t see him, hear him or touch him, he doesn’t exist. It’s all made up. The battle for good and evil is all in this reality and nothing else exists. Granted. Understood.
May I suggest another possibility? What if Satan was real? What if the greatest con job ever concocted was that he duped everyone into believing he didn’t exist? What if the true war rages between your two ears; in your mind? What if this enemy was so clever, so smart, so conniving, so sinister, so evil that his mind games against you could have eternal consequence? Let’s look at the Bible for a moment. No, I won’t prove to you its inerrancy and that every word in it is true and authoritative. That’s for another story. But, for the sake of argument, let’s look at the book Ephesians. Now, the apostle Paul wrote this letter to the people at Ephesus 2000 years ago. Back then, the most powerful empire in the world was the Roman Empire. Paul, in his letter, spoke of this spirit war as if one had to put on armor, like the Roman soldier, for war against Satan. In the sixth chapter of Ephesians, Paul talks about putting on the armor of God: “the spiritual resources given to them in Christ, namely, the truth, righteousness (v. 14), gospel (v. 15), faith (v. 16), salvation, and the Word of God (v. 17).” If one is to put on this “armor,” he/she can defend themselves from the spiritual war that Satan wages every second against humankind. If one doesn’t put on this armor or God, they are a guaranteed casualty.
Let me give you what I experienced. Again, I could be lying, making this all up for your distraction or I could be completely crazy and in need of psychiatric counseling and some heavy meds, or I could be telling the truth. You judge. My wife and I were going to Texas to see my son who was going to school there. We had gotten into Tyler and arrived to his apartment. Later that night, my son was gracious enough to give us his bed while he slept on the sofa. Then this dream occurred: There was a stained-glass window. Out of it came a candy corn in a reverse triangle that came towards me. It was yellow, orange, and blue. Suddenly, the candy corn burst into this huge black cloud that had sparkles in it. The color of the cloud was blacker than the color black. I felt this presence of evil that I had never felt before. Without exception, it was the scariest moment in my life. It proceeded towards me, slowly. The presence of evil was engulfing. At that moment, I started screaming at the top of my lungs in my dream, “In the name of Jesus, be gone!” Repeatedly, I screamed this. Now, my wife who was lying next to me, not in my dream (later she tells me), was awakened by my screams and heard my chant. She saw the abject terror in my face and was afraid to wake me up. She began to cry. Back to me, well, the cloud stopped, receded back into the candy corn, back into the stained-glass window and I woke up to find my wife in tears. I relayed my dream to her and it frightened her. Later, we headed back to Chicago, where that night I was terrified to go to sleep. I know, night terrors, some chemical imbalance, the lasagna, whatever. But it happened. I find myself to be a rational thinking, reasonable human being with intellect and understanding. But this, this was otherworldly and, evil.
What do I expect from anyone reading this? Absolutely nothing. I have no axe to grind. I’m not in the conversion business. That’s not my job. As a Christian, I do believe in God and I do believe in Satan. No, they’re not equal in power. Satan is a created being. His defeat was at the cross. I’m suggesting that spiritual warfare is truly the biggest war waged against humankind. If you’re satisfied that this is all hocus pocus, no big deal, I’ve got weightier matters to deal with; no problem. It made for a good story and have a nice day. However, if whatever I’ve said has any merit whatsoever, be very wary of who you’re dealing with. See, Satan hates humanity and God with everything he’s got. To try to battle him alone without the armor of God is a big mistake. Anyway, for those of you who like happy endings, God wins in the end!