(Chapter 28) God so Loved the World that He Gave His Son:

God so Loved the World that He Gave His Son: The greatest Spiritual battle ever fought – part twenty two

We have been talking about our “corrupt U.S. government” for a while now. However, we have not explored the core reason why our government is corrupt. Let’s search the Bible and see if God gives us a clue as to what the root of the problem is:

Genesis 3:1-13 (NIV)
¹ Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” ² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'” ⁴ “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. ⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” ¹¹ And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” ¹² The man said, “The woman you put here with me–she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” ¹³ Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Is this battle with the serpent (the devil, satan and his demonic forces) still going on today? Yes it is! (See below)

Ephesians 6:10-12 (NIV)
¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Could it be that our government leaders are listening to the wrong voices just as Adam and Eve did? The voice of the evil one can cause a person to fall victim to their own corrupt human nature! When they do, they can begin to believe that they are making the right decisions when they are in fact doing the exact opposite! Can that really happen? Yes it can, according to Isaiah 5:20!

  Isaiah 5:20 (NIV)
²⁰ Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

We must prayerfully consider who to vote for, because only God knows the true nature of an individual! The Bible warns us in Matthew 7:15:  “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”  So… what can we do? We can pray the following Scripture from the Lord’s Prayer over ourselves and over our leaders:

 Matthew 6:13 (NIV)
¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

Remember… we live in a physical world; however, our battle is first fought in the Spiritual realm! I call your attention to Ephesians 6:12 once again:

Ephesians 6:10-12 (NIV)
¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.