I don’t know who said it originally, but they were not far off metaphorically speaking. All the good things that life has to offer are removed or restricted by war. Often, even the necessities are out of reach. As I write this, there are thousands of people in Ukraine who are experiencing just that. Then there is the mourning of families over the 780 civilian deaths – especially for the 58 children. From our perspective in America, it seems that Vladimir Putin is inflicting this hell with no provocation whatsoever. Innocent Ukrainians are paying the price for an evil man’s lust for power.
Throughout history, that has been the case in every war I
know anything about. I can’t think of a time when two nations mutually agreed
to go to battle. No two peoples faced off and said let’s fight over this and
see who wins. There has always been an aggressor and an aggrieved. The first
instance of this would have to be when Cain killed his brother, Abel. Ever
since then, time after time someone has thought they deserved something that
was worth killing for. Even though Jesus came to bring peace, He promised
nothing but wars and rumors of wars until the end of time. The book of Revelation
predicts the end will come in a final bloody battle.
Although we grieve and pray for those who are caught in the
midst of war, we shouldn’t be surprised it is happening. We might ask why. The
answer requires us to pull back the curtain on human history and look behind
it. I believe God created our universe in the aftermath of a cosmic battle that
spills over into our existence to this very day. The Bible tells of a rebellion
in Heaven that resulted in one third of the heavenly host battling against the
King of Heaven. Because of God’s infinite power, the rebels inevitably lost the
fight.
After the attempted coup failed, I suspect that the Earth
was created as a proving ground for God’s eternal love and boundless mercy. The
rebellious host was banished from Heaven and exiled to Earth. I call Earth a
proving ground because it seems that the human condition has been one of both
blessing and curse since the beginning. God placed Adam and Eve in the perfect
environment, but He didn’t keep the nasty serpent out of the Garden. The Bible
reveals that the serpent was none other than the leader of the failed heavenly
rebellion, Satan aka the Devil.
The titles
given to God’s archenemy give a clue to his character: Deceiver, Accuser, Tempter,
Adversary, Evil One. One might hope that God would put His beloved ones in a
safer environment. He might have given them a wonderful place to do His bidding
without interference. The truth is that without the opportunity to disobey,
obedience is meaningless. Enter the concept of free will. The same condition was
repeated when God promised His chosen nation, Israel, the land of Canaan.
Instead of helping them to completely drive out all the pesky former
inhabitants, a few survivors were left. In the beginning of the book of Judges,
God tells Israel that He left the enemies purposely to test their faithfulness.
As we know, they failed miserably.
As believers on this side of the cross of Calvary, we are in
almost the same territory, with one important difference. We still have an
enemy who “walks
around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” The difference
in our situation is that our battle has a sure outcome. “We are more than conquerors,”
Paul
shouts in Romans’ beautiful eighth chapter. This declaration comes one
chapter after describing
the battle and concluding, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me
from the body of this death?” The
answer follows immediately: “There is now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus …. who do not live according to the flesh
but according to the Spirit.”
Paul cements the reality of our spiritual battle in his letter
to the Ephesians. He says, “Our struggle is not against blood and flesh,
but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of
this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the
heavenly places.” And yet, as Romans seven painfully describes, we still
battle our own flesh. It is as Paul
told the Galatians, “For the flesh desires against the Spirit, and the
Spirit against the flesh, for these are in opposition to one another, so that
whatever you want, you may not do.”
So even though the ultimate victory is assured, the enemy
has not been fully vanquished. According
to Paul, he still uses the world system and our fleshly desires in an
attempt to pry us from our faithful devotion to Christ. This need not be a
hellish war for us. We have the resurrection power of God’s Holy Spirit living
within us. We have only to follow His lead to conquer our temptations. The
enemy is tricky – he is called the deceiver – but God
promises to, “make a way out together with the temptation, so that you may
be able to endure it.” If we are being led by the Spirit, Paul
assures, “you will never carry out the desire of the flesh.”
I began by saying that war is hell; so is addiction; so is
guilt; so is living in the flesh with no hope of escaping its slavery. Hell is
also the eternal destiny of our enemy, the Devil and all those who reject the
offer of deliverance God provides in Jesus Christ. The Bible tries to help us
imagine it by calling it a lake of fire or a place where there is weeping and
gnashing of teeth. Someone has suggested that hell is a place where people have
all the normal human desires but no way to satisfy them. Ever. What’s going on
in Ukraine right now is bad, but eventually it will end. There’s something coming
that is much worse, and it will never end: Hell.
Yes, pray for Ukraine. More important, pray for and witness
to everyone you know who hasn’t heard the good news about the end of all war. And
give yourself permission to rest in the fact that God is still in charge; war
doesn’t surprise Him; Putin can’t outmaneuver Him. Things might look very dark
for a while, but the final outcome is never in doubt. Just as surely as the sun
returns to the sky every morning, the Son, the Prince of Peace, is also going to
return. “And we know that all things work together for good for those
who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.” That’s
a promise.
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