Truth Matters: 11 22 21

This is Truth Matters Daily Devotion with Dr. Cheryl Davis. Truth Matters is a ministry of the Truth Project whose mission is to empower men and women in the Christian faith to teach biblical truth in the culture and the marketplace of ideas, using the Bible as a sacred trust of truth in sharing the message of Jesus. Learn more about the ministry of the Truth Project at www.projecttruthmatters.com. We're kicking off a new week with details on the war between Heaven and Satan.

Here's your host. and I won't necessarily go back to Daniel chapter 10 because I know you've been following the Daniel series as well as Revelation, but chapter 10 of Daniel, he's in captivity and he's made a request to God in prayer. I'll just summarize it for us. The kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.

His answer only came through as a result of the assistance furnished by Michael, one of the chief princes. What I want to say is that, you know, we think a lot of these signs are abstract or that they're theoretical, but this war is not abstract or theoretical. It is concrete and real. Evil has a personality, as do his angels, and they use their personalities to influence the personalities of earthly rulers to accomplish their desires. Just as God will one day punish earthly rulers for their sin, he intends to punish angelic influencers.

And so we see that in Isaiah chapter 24 verse 21. We've established that the war has been going on since Genesis chapter 3, but why does spiritual warfare even exist? If Christ defeated Satan at the cross, then why is he still the prince of this world?

That's a pretty tough question, and when going through this in our class, that is a real valid question. Why wasn't the sin that's carried out for Satan immediately? If Satan was defeated at the cross, why is he still roaming around and seems like he's in control, and why is he of a point of prominence being the prince of this world?

But to be honest, when we think about it, Satan appears to have more freedom than we think he should. You know, really, when I think of Satan being defeated, I don't know why he's still able to influence the way that he does and why humans are following such prey to him, even more so in these last days. And we know that Jesus died on a cross and defeated Satan, but really, for a long time, I really didn't get this and didn't understand until I really got into studying Revelation to fully understand it. The best way to understand this disconnect is to remember that the cross was first and foremost a legal transaction. Christ appeased the wrath of God and satisfies his justice with his blood as the sacrifice, which was foreshadowed by the sacrificial system given with the law. But because of this, Satan was disarmed as an accuser of people before God because of the sacrifice of Christ. So legally, Satan was judged and disarmed. You can hear Truth Matters weekdays on this radio station at 8 20 a.m. and 5 20 p.m. for the full length teaching program on Saturday afternoon at 12 30. Until next time, let's all work together to teach a biblical truth to assist, equip, edify and encourage one another and bring the gospel to the world because truth matters. ...