Disarming the Demonic (2)
Disarming the Demonic • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Turn to Colossians 2, Psalm 82, and Deut. 32.
A lot of information this morning – please stick with me and trust me, it will be worth it.
Last week we expanded our understanding of the supernatural – that there are more than angels and demons in the spiritual realm. We have God, sons of God or the Divine Council, gods or lesser gods, ghosts, a variety of demons, a variety of angels and more. So, we have good guys and bad guys in the spiritual realm. Of course, the good guys are for us and help us and help perpetuate God’s will. But the bad guys are evil, deceptive, powerful, some are territorial and want nothing less than for us to either serve them (worship), or to enslave us (keep us in bondage and separated from Jesus), or to destroy us. Remember,
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
And in
Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
Let’s talk about that.
Last week we began this conversation that Christ through the cross disarmed the demonic. That comes from
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
So Jesus disarmed or stripped away the legal rights of these rulers and authorities. Jesus disarmed, but not destroyed – that comes later with the final judgment.
Who are we talking about? Before I answer that, understand that The word
Ruler (in Col. 2:15) refers to supernatural beings who command, govern, or oversee a domain or territory.
Just like a king …. One of the best examples is Daniel 10 where we see the angel Gabriel doing battle with a supernatural territorial ruler named the Prince of Persia. The word
Authority (in Col. 2:15) refers to spiritual beings who have the right or permission to exercise control and/or power.
In the spiritual sense, to have authority, one must be given authority (another topic for later).
That’s the meaning behind ruler and authority, but who are they? Paul is not referring to demons. I’m sure demons were included, but Paul was most certainly thinking about a different type of spiritual being – ones who are more evil, sinister, destructive, and corrupting toward humanity.
The Bible calls them Watchers or the sons of God (bēn-a-ělō·hîm). Also known as lesser gods or the Divine Council.
“What! Why would God need a divine council?” Well why would God need any of us to carry out the Great Commission – go into all the world? “And what’s this about these sons of God? I thought Jesus was the only son of God.” Kind of.
The sons (lower case) of God are created beings. Jesus is the uncreated Son (upper case), unique and unlike any other.
Furthermore, are we not also considered the sons and daughters of God?
You see God is a relational God, desiring a family comprised of spiritual and human beings. And just as God invited us to partner with Him in this physical realm, He has a Divine Council who partners with Him in the spiritual realm. And just as God gave us freewill, He gave them freewill. Like us, they can choose God or rebel against God. The Bible reveals that some indeed have rebelled.
God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;
nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.”
These sons of God rebelled against God and their punishment is to die like humans. To fully understand this, we need to do a little Biblical history, see how this connects to Col. 2:15 and then why does it matter to us.
Back in Genesis 3, in the Garden of Eden, we meet the original divine rebel – the serpent. נָחָשׁ in Hebrew – a shining one – a member of God’s Divine Council. This serpent, whom we now call Satan deceived Adam and Eve. Later, in Genesis 6 he leads a divine rebellion – the sons of God defect from the spiritual realm and cohabitate with humanity. 2nd Temple Jewish literature such as 1 Enoch and Jubilees expounds on this event and tells us they grotesquely corrupted humanity. In my opinion, humans and animals became so corrupt they were beyond redemption. As a result, God flooded the earth to destroy all corrupted flesh.
After the flood in Genesis 10 we have a list of 70 nations that emerged from Noah. And they collectively rebel against God. In Genesis 11, humanity rejects Yahweh and choose other gods. They build a ziggurat – a temple designed to connect the physical realm with the spiritual. We call it the Tower of Babel. They said to Yahweh, “We don’t want you! We want them!”
So God says, “Fine. You want them? You can have them?” FYI - be careful of pushing God too far. So, God handed humanity over to lesser gods – the sons of God, the bēn-a-ělō·hîm. Listen to the Song or Poem of Moses.
Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you.
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.
But the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.
So God disinherited the nations and they become known as Gentiles.
And in the next chapter God chose one man - Abraham. And
Through Abraham, God created a new nation for Himself called Israel.
Through Israel, God promised to bless or “reclaim” the nations through a Savior.
Israel was to become nation of priests to the nations. But Israel kept succumbing to the gods of the nations – consistently worshipping these lesser gods. Understand these gods are real and were given rule and authority over the Gentile nations – until Christ.
Connect some dots before we end. In Matthew 10, Jesus sends out the 12 disciples and He instructs them to avoid Gentile towns. Why? Because they were still under the jurisdiction of the gods – the rulers and authorities. In Luke 10, Jesus sent out 70 disciples (72 is probably a typo from the LXX). Where have we seen 70 before? The 70 nations that were disinherited in Gen.
The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”
And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.
Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Wait, it gets better!
In Matthew 28, after the resurrection of Jesus, He said,
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
So what does it mean that in Christ we have authority over the demonic? What do we do with this? We could get into the ooohs and aaahhs of casting out demons and deliverance, but we’re not. I really think the message God has for us is a message of hope and freedom – that we or people we know need not be in bondage. In Christ we can be free. In Christ, we can tell the enemy to flee. In Christ there is freedom from anyone or anything that tries to have power over us.
Christ has given us authority over all the powers of darkness – over the demonic. And that authority serves a purpose for us and our neighbor. In
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Yes,
We have authority over the demonic, but that authority is primary for giving people hope, freedom, and Jesus.
Take a moment to listen to the Lord.
You have authority in Christ. Where, in your life, do you need to exercise that authority?
You have authority in Christ. Where, in another’s life, do you need to exercise that authority?
Admit. Believe. Confess.