Beautiful Battle Book Club Chapter 4

Written by Jennifer Baierl

Living the Right Story: Balancing Between Ignorance & Overreaction

Key Verse: Colossians 2:10 

"So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority."

This chapter deals with some real misconceptions that I personally have battled over time.  I have swung from both ends… burying my head in the sand as if there is no spiritual warfare and the extreme of blaming every outburst from my children on an attack from Satan.  As children and daughters of the King, we need to know what is real about spiritual warfare. 

Let's look at what the Scripture lays out for us about who Satan is and who God is in comparison.  Mary Demuth has each of these descriptions detailed in the chapter, but I have summarized them here.

Satan                                                                              God

Adversary (a wolf preying on a herd of lambs)      Jehovah-Rohi  (The Lord is  our Shepherd)

Slanderer; Accuser; Defamer; False Accuser         Jehovah-M'Kaddesh (The Lord who sanctifies)

                                                                              Jehovah- Tsidkenu (The Lord Our Righteousness)

Tempter (this may make us feel alone)                Jehovah-Shammah (The Lord is there) 

                                                                                                                            

The evil one                                                         Jehovah-Shalom (The Lord is our peace)   

  

Beelzebub (lord of the flies)                                Jehovah-Sabaoth (The Lord of Hosts)

Murderer, destroyer                                           Jehovah or Yahweh (The Great I AM or Self Existing One)    

                                                                              

                                                                          Jehovah-Jirah (The Lord will provide)

The father of lies                                              "The Way, The Truth, and The Life"

The ruler of the world (the god of this age)        El-Elyon (The Most  High God)

Prince of the air                                                 El-Roi (The Strong One who sees)

                                                                          El-Olam (The Everlasting God)

Serpent (a dangerous foe)                                 Johovah-Rophe (The Lord who heals)

"Sometimes our thoughts on spiritual warfare dance dangerously close to giving Satan more power than he actually has.  We need to see Satan as he really is: a sniveling defeated enemy" (click to tweet)
Many of us have read Exodus 34:6-7 "Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation" and have been taught that this meant we were passed a curse from our parents or forefather's sins."  This idea of needing extra prayer for generational curses seems to place Satan's ability to oppress higher than God's ability to atone.   

Compare to Exodus 20:6 "But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands"

I personally believed that I was being punished for my parent's sins for a long time, giving Satan more power than God in my life.  I reread this chapter over and over, then fell to my knees in repentance.

Here are my favorite things that Mary DeMuth says in this chapter:

1. JESUS CONQUERED ORIGINAL SIN, WHICH TRUMPED ALL OTHER GENERATIONAL CURSES.  Do we put more emphasis on the sin of others than on the power of the cross?
2. We follow a gospel plus nothing.
3. We don't need Jesus plus special prayers. Or Jesus plus our knowledge of our ancestor's sins. 
4. Here's the truth: we are all under a generational curse – the original sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Yet Jesus's outrageous act on the cross once and for all frees us from the worst of all curses: sin and death.
5. Having a high view of God and a proper theology of Satan helps us live victoriously, not overly scared of Satan's traps, but living in proper fear of a holy, powerful God who loves us and has already secured our deliverance.
6. We must think rightly about God, His power, and His ability to conquer our already-defeated foe.

The Father made a way to Him through his Son dying on the cross.  

We don't have to jump through any kind of hoops to be healed from our forefather's junk.  (It's a good thing, because I'm not sure I could figure out what kind of mess they were into.)  

Thank Him for it and move on! 

Written by Jennifer Baierl
WCW Social Media Coordinator