War (Part 1): Trading Truth for a Lie

Photo by Kristina Flour on Unsplash

War. That word brings to mind all sorts of images, from the impressive appearance of military units lined up in perfect precision to the disturbing images of soldiers lying wounded or even dead on the battleground. War and death are the unfortunate realities of a world where sinful hearts lusting for power wreak devastation on anyone who gets in their way. For some of us, war seems like just a distant thing, only seen on our television screens during the news hour or heard about on the radio as we zip from one place to another. For others of us, war has become real, affecting us more directly either through our own experiences or those of friends and family members.

But more subtle and sinister than the all too real images of physical war is the darker and more powerful reality of the war between our will (which is influenced by the devil) and God’s will. This war, my friends, affects every single one of us. And, it is a matter of life and death. Eternal spiritual life verses the eternal devastation of spiritual death. Life in the presence of God or death away from the presence of God.

Scripture is not kidding when it states things such as “your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8b, ESV) and “if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it” (Gen. 4:7b, ESV). The devil is out to destroy us and he will not stop until he has utterly obliterated us.

Over the past couple months, the Lord has convicted me of sin that up until now, I have ignored and kept hidden. The problem is that the sin I was keeping hidden was not only affecting my relationship with God, but had also crept into another treasured relationship, even threatening to destroy it. If it were not for the grace of God in confronting the problems I was ignoring, I would still be headed down a road that I should not be on. As part of the process of confessing my sin to the Lord, accepting His forgiveness, and turning away from that sin, I decided to read through the book of Romans over the course of a couple days. This post and the subsequent ones which are in the making will look at what the book of Romans says about the spiritual war in which we find ourselves.

The first 15 verses are used by Paul to introduce himself to the church at Rome. In verses 16 and 17 of the first chapter, Paul sets up his argument by stating that he is not ashamed of the message of the Gospel because it reveals the truth of God’s righteousness and is the power of God for salvation to everyone who chooses to believe. Paul’s entire argument in Romans rests on this statement, which is unpacked along the way.

Paul’s argument begins with verses 18 through 25, which state “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen" (ESV).

All over the world we see examples of people who have done these very things. Whether it be in the U.S. where our culture worships sex and beauty, or in South Asia where people literally worship images resembling all sorts of creatures, the evidence that humankind has traded the truth of God in for the lie that the created is worthy of worship is everywhere. To many of us, the concept of worshiping something other than the Creator may seem ludicrous. But, if we were to search our own hearts and minds, what would we find? Would we find pure hearts which truly and wholly love and revere God? Or, would we see that our very actions and attitudes reveal that our attention and affection is directed elsewhere – to people or things?

This, my friends, is the war at work in our hearts. Will we love and serve the Creator, or will we lavish our attention and affection on the created?

“Truth exists; only lies are invented.”

~ Georges Braque 

(War: Part 2)

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