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The Lord Jesus has already won the battle, and the work of the church on earth is to maintain Christ's victory—Heb. 2:14; Col. 2:15; 1 John 3:8:
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The Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil—v. 8.
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As a man, Christ defeated Satan during the temptation in the wilderness—Matt. 4:1-11.
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Through death the Lord Jesus destroyed the devil, who has the might of death, abolishing Satan and bringing him to nought—Heb. 2:14; 1 Cor. 1:28.
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God openly shamed the evil angels, triumphing over them in the cross of Christ—Col. 2:15.
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The effect of Christ's crucifixion was that the base of Satan's rebellion was shaken, that the strongholds of Satan's earthly kingdom were broken, and that the power of death and Hades was conquered and subdued—Matt. 27:51-52.
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In the Spirit of His divinity, Christ proclaimed to the evil spirits in the abyss His victory over Satan on the cross—1 Pet. 3:18-20.
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The overcomers, the mighty ones, realize that spiritual warfare is based on the victory of Christ—Joel 3:11b; John 12:31; Rev. 5:5:
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The starting point of spiritual warfare is standing upon the victory of Christ—Eph. 6:11, 13.
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We need to see that Christ has already overcome—Rev. 3:21.
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The church is on earth to perpetuate and manifest Christ's victory over Satan—Eph. 6:13; Rev. 12:11.
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In order to engage in spiritual warfare, we need to know the Body, know the ascension, and reign in life—Eph. 1:22-23; 2:6; 4:16; Col. 3:1-4; Rom. 5:17, 21.
Morning Nourishment
Heb. 2:14 …He also Himself…partook of [blood and flesh], that through death He might destroy him who has the might of death, that is, the devil.1 John 3:8 …For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
Col. 2:15 Stripping off the rulers and the authorities, He made a display of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Ephesians 6:10-12… [indicates] that the work and responsibility of the church is spiritual warfare. The opponents in this warfare are not flesh and blood, but spiritual beings whose dwelling is in the air….Verses 13 and 14…[tell us] that we should stand, not that we should attack. The spiritual warfare is defensive, not offensive, because the Lord Jesus has already fought the battle and won the victory….The Lord has already won the battle, and the church is here to maintain His victory….The strong man has already been bound. Her work is not to let him be loosed. There is no need to attack; simply guarding is sufficient. The starting point of spiritual warfare is standing upon the victory of Christ; it is seeing that Christ has already overcome. It is not dealing with Satan, but trusting in the Lord. It is not hoping that we will win the victory, because the victory has already been won. The devil can do nothing. The church's work and responsibility is spiritual warfare. It is a matter of the conflict between God's authority and Satan's power. (CWWN, vol. 34,”The Glorious Church,” pp. 60-61)
Today's Reading
Since the work of the church is to stand for God and not give any ground to Satan, what manner of living should we have to accomplish this task? All our sins and unrighteousness must be dealt with, our consecration to God must be thorough, our soul-life must be put to death, and our natural man must be abandoned. The ability of the flesh is absolutely useless in spiritual warfare.”I” cannot resist Satan.”I” must go! Whenever”I” goes out, the Lord Jesus will come in….Satan recognizes only one person—the Lord Jesus. We cannot resist Satan. The fiery darts of Satan can penetrate our flesh, but, praise God, we can put on Christ who has won the victory. The Lord Jesus will [not] automatically come if we sit and passively wait…. As the Body of Christ, we must learn to work together with God. We should never think that it is enough just to be saved. It is not. We must be concerned with God's need.Today God has caused us to share the victory of the Lord Jesus. Wherever the victory of the Lord Jesus is displayed, there Satan must leave. We must simply stand steadfast, because the Lord Jesus has already won the victory. In His redemptive work, the Lord Jesus destroyed all the…ground of the devil….Now the responsibility of executing this sentence is upon the church. When God sees that the church has sufficiently fulfilled this task, the kingdom will come, and the new heaven and the new earth will follow. (CWWN, vol. 34,”The Glorious Church,” pp. 64-66)
Nothing requires us to know the Body so urgently as spiritual warfare, because spiritual warfare is not an individual matter but a Body matter. No individual believer can fight with the enemy; it takes the whole Body.
Only one kind of people…can engage in spiritual warfare—those who have received salvation, have been raised from death, and are now sitting with Christ in the heavens. Only this kind of men can attack the enemy in the air from a transcendent position in the heavens. Therefore, in order to engage in spiritual warfare, we must keep the heavenly position.
God's kingdom is legal, whereas the kingdom of Satan is illegal. The whole universe was created by God and belongs to Him; hence, God has the legal right to reign. On the contrary, Satan's kingdom was established by rebellion against God; hence, it is entirely illegal. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 3,”The Experience of Life,” pp. 479, 525, 520)
Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 34,”The Glorious Church,” chs. 1, 3; CWWL, 1953, vol. 3,”The Experience of Life,” chs. 15-18; CWWL, 1972, vol. 2,”The Kingdom,” chs. 6-8