Ephesians 6:10-18The Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
I hope you will join me over the next few weeks as we dissect this scripture and study why God calls us to put on "The full armor of God." We will take an in depth look at how God calls us to spiritually clothe ourselves, and the importance of each article we are told to wear.
Today, our focus is going to be on why armor? When I hear someone say armor I instantly conjure up images of medieval knights perched majestically on top of noble horses. I think about fairy tales and lofty castles. I think of lances and King Arthur.
At the time Paul wrote Ephesians (around the year 60 A.D.) the major fighting force in the biblical world was the Romans. In those days when you thought of armor you would conjure up images of a Roman Infantryman, not some European in a tin can.. The basic parts of a Roman's armor would be a shield, the Caligae (special marching sandals), a tunic, a belt, one of several flexible and form fitting armor plates (breastplates), a metal apron and a helmet.
It would seem to be a safe assumption, based on the dress described by Paul and the actual armor worn by Romans, that the mental image Paul was painting was of a Roman soldier. Okay so we know what kind of armor, but that still begs the question, "why armor?" Why didn't Paul say put on the comfy sweatsuit of God or the pajamas or even the bathing suit?
Paul answers this question for us in verses 10-13 where he tells us that we must prepare for an enemy. How does an army prepare for battle? They drill, they equip, and they plan. Paul tells us that the enemy is not a physical presence coming to destroy our bodies. Instead he warns of the, "authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil." Paul uses an armor metaphor to show God's people how to prepare themselves for a spiritual battle.
You see there is a spiritual battle going on all around us. Satan knows that he cannot win against the Lord. However, the devil is a vindictive loser. He wants to hurt God as much as he can, he wants to lash out at the power that tossed him from Heaven. How can Satan hurt God? By hurting us, by stealing us, by allowing us to be damned! Satan knows the great love that God has for his creation, so to attack us is to lash out at God.
God tells us, "look there is an attack coming." He hands us our equipment and tells us to put it on so that we can be safe. The only catch, if you can call it that, is that God passes out what we need, but whether you put on what he has handed you or not is your choice. The enemy is deceitful, he might tell you what you want to hear. He might even help make life easier for you if you follow his deceitful path instead of God's narrow way.
In the end though God's narrow path leads to an eternity with him in Heaven, God knows this. The wide and easy street that Satan offers leads to hell and damnation, the devil knows this as well. So the only choice left is which path to follow. I choose the narrow one with ambushes waiting around every corner. While I know there is a hard trek before me I am secure knowing that I have God-brand Kevlar waiting for me if I will only accept it.
