The conflict between the Kingdom of Light by the Son of God and the Kingdom of Darkness by the Devil spans the ages of creation, and man is the main prize in this battle. As we mentioned before, man is influenced by the wisdom he receives. If he receives it through the Holy Spirit, the wisdom of God, he is able to enter into the Kingdom of His Son and be established as member of God’s house and as a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. Otherwise, he will receive the wisdom from below by his flesh or by the influence of evil spirits, and remain in the power of the darkness and subject to death and sin, or even worse, become a willing instrument of the Devil, full of deception and wickedness.
Spiritual Reality and Order
Col 1:10-14 [NIV]
10And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Luk 4:31-37 [NIV]
31Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. 32They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.
33In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, 34“Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
35“Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.
36All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!” 37And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.Matt 6:9-13 [NIV]
9“This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
Two Kinds of Wisdom
John 3:10-12 [NIV]
10“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?
Isa 11:2-5 [NIV]
2The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD—
3and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.Luk 2:40 [NIV]
40And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. ….
52And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
This post is _Part 4_ in the series Spiritual Reality, Order, and Wisdom. To use this as a growth tool to better understand your own calling, you might start by reading the explanation of this series, Pt 1, Pt 2 and Pt 3.
Photo credit: Western Reformed Seminary