[4] even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love [5] he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, [6] to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (ESV)
Our purpose and our desire should be the praise of His glorious grace. Uniquely gifted and chosen to praise Jesus, our lives can have no greater purpose. That is why our spiritual warfare training centers around the fight for His praise. When you consider the confession of our faith (Romans 10:9), our sins that are all forgiven (1 John 1:9), and share what he has given us (Romans 12:6, 1 Corinthians 12:7), it is all about His praise, not about our glory. We don’t bring anything to the table that matters; even our praise is effective because of the Holy Spirit’s power (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Spiritual warfare is about the fight for His praise. The enemy wants to smother praise for Jesus, quench it, and cover it in darkness. The praise of Jesus is forever the lamp that the enemy wants to cover with a basket. The enemy is not alone. Our flesh hates the light as Jesus exposes in us our sinful desires and dark deeds, which in turn drives us to confess our sins and believe that Jesus is righteous to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. The longer we live in the light, the less able we are to walk in the flesh, and our old man dies a little more each day. Even as the world groans for salvation, the world has been broken by our sins. Circumstances through natural disasters, the crime of famine, disease, and death are crimes against the glory of Jesus and His just and deserved praise. Through the corrupt systems of men, we fall prey to pride, power, greed, the illusion of wealth, and the sin of self-righteousness.
It is tragic how we cheapen Christ in popular entertainment and sometimes with bad theology as if Christ competed with the enemy for souls (as if Jesus needs to compete with anyone). Our fate is decided: we have fallen into sin. We are sons and daughters of disobedience and deserve nothing but death. Jesus, while we were still dead and with a free gift of grace, saved us from that fate, making us live to the praise of His glory. It is that alone that the enemy seeks to conceal; it is the gift of the gospel that he wishes to cover in his darkness, for the Enemy and the world and our flesh are all powerless before Jesus’ resurrection power!
When we use terms like spiritual warfare, our heads and hearts can’t help but go to the epic, the adventurous, and think of knights and dragons, not the life that we lead as warehouse managers, nurses, and administrators. Just look at the Scriptures:
[12] For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (ESV)
Cosmic powers! This present darkness! The enemy seems so grand, and we seem so small. Paul and Peter may have encountered demons, but they “really mattered,” we think. Maybe the missionaries see demons on the field, but those are “special Christians.” That is more than we can do; that is above our pay grade.
Dear brother and sister in Christ, you were chosen before the foundations of the world to be the praise of His glorious grace! You were chosen. You are part of an epic story, and the hero of the story has chosen you to be with Him, praise Him, and serve Him in this life for a purpose. Your praise in the kindness you show a stranger, the gift you use to bless a brother or sister, when you share burdens and restore a fallen brother to faithfulness, or when you bring joy to terrible circumstances. When you do these things for the praise of Jesus, you drive back the darkness and throw cosmic forces of evil into dismay and despair.
When we live like pagans, we hide God's glory. When we make ourselves the hero of our story, we conceal God's praise. When we showcase our talents, we steal glory and praise for ourselves. We don’t do this by sleepwalking through life. We must do this on purpose, or we won’t do it all. We use the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives us to the glory of Christ when we use them, not when we bury them unused. When we demand justice for ourselves, we forget the mercy He has lavished upon us. When we self-vindicate, we conceal He who vindicated us. When people slight us, when we fight and face the schemes of men, when the world does us wrong, and when flesh deceives us in each of these moments, it is a chance for sin and darkness to carry the day or for light to expose those works of darkness, so people flee them to Christ. Our very worst, most hateful enemies are simply those who are still dead and will die without the free gift of life given only by Jesus. Will you stand idly by, or will you fight by glorifying Jesus Christ, giving Him praise, and seeing yet more corpses come to life?
A final word. The question about you being worthy of the fight, of being special enough to fight, of being fit for the fight has been answered by Christ. He chose you for this fight and gave you one life to use in His service. The only question is… will you fight for His praise and His glory or will you in vain try and hide from the fight?
Author
Brian served 14 years in the Republic of Georgia, where he started a youth ministry, discipled new leaders, and planted over 15 new churches before serving in leadership of another missions organization. Brian is married to Maia and they have two children.