The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is engaged in a life-long battle involving two kingdoms: the kingdom of God (or kingdom of heaven) and the kingdom of Satan. That warfare took on a new dimension when Jesus came to earth to establish His messianic kingdom, preaching the good news of the kingdom, casting out demons and healing the sick.
In a recent sermon[i] on Mark 1:21-28 Rev R Bredenhof began by asking: âwhy did Jesus come to earth? What was the purpose of Jesusâ life?â
ââHe came to die on the cross for our sins,â someone will say. Someone else says: âJesus came to seek and save the lost.â Or: âHe came to gather his sheep, to open the kingdom, to reveal the Father.â Each of these answers is true.
But thereâs another answer that Scripture gives, in 1 John 3:8, about why Jesus came to earth. Itâs surprising, because there the apostle John says, âThe reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devilâs work.â As a mission statement, thatâs entirely different from what weâre used to. Itâs not the picture of a shepherd, or a Passover Lamb. Itâs the picture of a warriorâa soldier who wants to annihilate his enemy. Jesus, âmeek and mild,â came to destroy the works of the devil!â
When Jesus begins His ministry on earth we see a world under the influence of Satan being invaded by Jesus Christ who has come to establish His kingdom. To quote again from the sermon:
âJesusâ first miracle is to cast out a demon! Thereâs a rich symbolism here: Jesus is showing his total power over the forces of evil; He is taking the fight to Satan, and beating him. This is why He came, so that we can be saved from the devilâs power!â
Through His ministry Jesus proclaims the Word and casts out demons, converting unbelievers into children of God, into people who submit to Jesus Christ. He takes people from under Satanâs dominion and turns them into believers, gathers them into His church and thereby into His kingdom as children of God.
âWe know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil oneâ (1 John 5:19). Matthew Henry[ii] says about this verse:
âAll mankind are divided into two parties or dominions; that which belongs to God, and that which belongs to the wicked one. True believers belong to God: they are of God, and from him, and to him, and for him; while the rest, by far the greater number, are in the power of the wicked one; they do his works, and support his cause.â
Mark begins his gospel in the time of the Roman world empire which was under the sway of Satan. But now the Lord Jesus invades this realm. Jesus begins His ministry and establishes as it were a bridgehead. He is going to force back Satanâs kingdom and establish His kingdom, the kingdom of heaven. Thatâs why John the Baptist tells the people to repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Markâs gospel says in effect: this is where it begins, with the ministry of Jesus Christ who, as Commander in Chief of the heavenly forces, will break through Satanâs defences and establish the messianic kingdom of peace, a kingdom founded in the forgiveness of sins.
But that involves warfare. As Rev R Bredenhof said in the sermon:
âSatan is nothing if not determined. Throughout Jesusâ ministry, heâll keep opposing the Lord and his kingdom. From other parts of Scripture, we know that Satan is the general of his own army, a massive army of spirits, devils and demons. They do Satanâs will on earth, which is: trying to destroy Godâs good works. Sometimes Satanâs spirits will attack the powerful and important, so that wide-scale damage can be done. Other times, his spirits will target ordinary people like this man in the synagogue, and make life a total nightmare.â
How does Jesus launch His offensive against Satan? He doesnât call the Jews together to fight against the Roman Empire. Instead He does it by âimmediatelyâ proclaiming the gospel in the synagogue, in a church service, on the Sabbath. He doesnât speak the way the Pharisees do by appealing to the words of prominent Rabbis but He speaks Godâs Word with authority. After all, who knows the Word like Jesus does? He is the Son of God, the Word that became flesh (Jn 1:14).
He preaches about the kingdom of God, that kingdom that had been proclaimed in the O.T. but was still somewhat of a mystery. Previous generations had not seen it in all its glory. But now âthe kingdom of God is at handâ and the hearers are faced with the need to repent and believe the gospel. They must make a radical decision. They must choose between the cause of Christ and the cause of Satan. For Jesus says, âHe who is not with me is against meâŚâ (Mt 12:30).
Commenting on this text, Prof Schilder draws an analogy to an offensive against a tyrant in his castle. The tyrant is Beelzebub, the prince of demons, who has the world in his grip. Suddenly Jesus arrives on the scene with his army (the disciples) to attack Beelzebub, and now all the farmers and others living in the area are forced to choose sides; neutrality in such a situation is impossible; if youâre not on Jesusâ side in this offensive, youâre against Him.[iii]
Jesusâ weapon against Satan is His Word, and His authoritative preaching brings reaction. Immediately a man with an unclean spirit screams, âWhat have You to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?â In other words, âLeave us alone!â Us, plural. The demon, speaking through the man, speaks on behalf of the other demons. They donât want Jesus invading their realm, converting people, forcing demons out of people. They donât want to lose people from Satanâs kingdom to being children of God. And the demons know that in the face of Jesusâ kingdom theyâre doomed.
The demon-possessed man had, it seems, not yelled out under the Phariseesâ preaching. The devil is quite content to hear preaching that doesnât proclaim the truth and doesnât force people before a radical choice. But when Jesus preaches the true doctrine, when He reaches back to what Scripture really says, the demons canât stand it.
Also today the issue is: where is the true doctrine proclaimed? That is the basis for working fruitfully in Godâs kingdom. If the truth is compromised to make it more palatable for the hearers, reinterpreted so that Godâs Word is adjusted to conform to todayâs culture, if the God-ordained enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent is smothered, Satan will leave us in peace. But if the Word is proclaimed faithfully and hearers bear the fruit of faith, manifesting by their walk and talk the kingdom of Christ, then the kingdom of Satan is being pushed back, conquered by the Christ who dwells in His people by His Spirit.
Jesus speaks with authority and commands the demon to come out of the demon-possessed man. Thereby He demonstrates that the kingdom of God has come. It has broken through in Jesus Christ. His faithful ministry will lead Him to the cross and thereby to the definite conquest of the kingdom of Satan. At the cross He disarmed the principalities and powers.
And now that gospel has to be proclaimed throughout the world by the disciples and missionaries and by the ministry of the gospel in churches. Christâs church is to be on fire for the kingdom of God. When we uphold the truth, when we say, pointedly, âThis is what Godâs Word saysâ, when we uphold the commandments, then we show our allegiance to God and His kingdom.
In the strength of the Lord we can resist Satan. He is not invincible. Indeed, as Rev R Bredenhof said:
âthe kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan are not equally matchedâ. For Satan is not a god, heâs only a creature. He is strong, but heâs not invincible. He is really smart, but heâs not perfectly wise. He might have many demons at his command, and many allies in this world, but not one of them can stand against Christ. Where the Holy One is, Satan has to leave. One word from Christ is enough to put the devil on the run.â
In speaking about the petition âYour kingdom comeâ our catechism puts it this way: âSo rule us by Your Word and Spirit so that more and more we submit to You, preserve and increase Your churchâŚâ (LD 48). We confess that the kingdom is there where members of the church submit to Christ in their whole walk of life. Itâs there when they walk in holiness before Him from day to day.
Thereâs no room for unclean spirits in a holy life. Consequently when the holy, sinless Son of God proclaims Godâs Word, the demonâs presence cannot be tolerated. Darkness and light have nothing in common. This, says Rev R Bredenhof, teaches us something important about avoiding sin:
âIt teaches us something about the evil that we might be tolerating in our life. We can be soft on our sin, even when we know what the works of the devil are. We identify them quickly: Blasphemy of Godâs name. Drunkenness. Hatred of other people. Sexual impurity. Pride. Disrespect to authority. These are all against Godâs Wordâperiod. Theyâre not fitting for Godâs people.
Yet donât we give oxygen to these things? We make a show of closing the front door on them, but then we let them in through the back. By our actions we show that we still accept them. âIâm just going to watch this video, even though itâs full of swearing. I can listen to these songs, though I know theyâre full of sexual innuendo. Iâm just going to share a bit of gossip. Or give in to bitterness. Or click on things that I know will only feed dirty thoughts.â
These things arenât fitting for the people of Christ. Theyâre incompatible with his holinessâeven the unclean spirit knew that. And he knew that either he had to go, or Jesus had to go. But we act sometimes like we never learned that, like weâve forgotten just how offensive sin is. âWhat fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness?â We ought to have nothing in common with whatâs unclean. We ought to avoid whatever may entice us to sin. We belong to the Holy One of God!â
We are caught up in a great, age-old battle. Through it Christ is establishing His kingdom as He continues to gather, defend and preserve His church by His spirit and Word in the unity of true faith (LD 21). Idle soldiers are worse than worthless in battle. His kingdom manifests itself there where His people submit to His will (LD 48), fighting against their sworn enemiesâthe devil, the world and their own sinful desires (LD 51). Sharing in Christâs anointing, they follow their Lord and Saviour as prophets, priests and kings (LD 12), instruments of the Spirit in pushing back the kingdom of Satan and promoting and further establishing Christâs kingdomâthe kingdom of heaven. They know the victory is already assured and that, with Christ, they are more than conquerors. With Luther they dare to sing:
And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear for God has willed His truth to triumph through us.
J Numan
[i] Preached in FRC Mt Nasura 4th September 2016.
[ii] Matthew Henry Commentary, 1706.
[iii] Prof. Dr K Schilder, Om Woord en Kerk, Oosterbaan en Le Cointre, Goes, 1948, pp. 266/7.