Despite it's centrality to Christ's ministry, casting out demons has seemed to have taken a back seat in our society. I feel I must emphasize that is only in our society that it has taken a back seat. In the rest of the world, demons, their influence, and combating demons is a way of life for many Christians.
Christ told His followers to cast out demons as part of their ministry. He himself delivered many people from demons. He said in Mark 16:17 that casting out demons would be one of the signs of a believer. After Jesus' resurrection, the book of Acts records the casting out of demons as a major ministry of the early church.... Why should it be any different today?
I believe that one of the enemies most effective tactics, is to convince us that he and his evil forces do not exist, or are of no significant threat. It would be a grave mistake for us to buy into this deception. Just as it was a mistake for America to not believe that Osama Bin Laden and a few nomads living in the desert could "declare war" on the most powerful nation in the world.... So I am doing a blog series on demons, and I would like to start with their origins. After all where did demons come from?
First off, I would like to correct the misunderstanding that demons are fallen angels. They most certainty are not angels of any kind. There are two main reasons for this. For one, the Bible says that the fallen angels have been locked up in "prison"(2 Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6). Secondly, Jesus tells us that demons need a physical body to inhabit(Matthew 12:43-45). Angels, whether fallen or not, have no such need.
Many people believe that demons are actually disembodied spirits. There are basically two different theories for this. The first one suggests that demons are the disembodied spirits of the pre-flood Nephelim(Genesis 6). This would be plausible since although the Nephelim were half angel, they were also half human. So likewise, their immortal soul would be a half angel half human hybrid. After the Nephelim perished in the flood, their souls lived on as what we know today as, demons.
Another theory suggests that demons are the disembodied spirits of a pre-adamic race... weird, I know. Genesis 1:2 plays into this theory in a big way. Genesis 1:2 says that at some point after the earths creation, before God said, "Let there be light!" the earth became barren, empty, and a desolate wasteland. There are additional verses that suggest this was a result of God's wrath on the "inhabitants" of the earth(Jeremiah 4:23-26)...... What inhabitants? This was all between, Genesis 1:1 and 1:2.
Since the Bible tells us that the earth was perfect on the day God created it, Genesis 1:2 declaring, "The earth became formless and void" makes sense. How could the earth be a barren desolate wasteland as described in Genesis 1:2, if it was "perfect" on the day God created it? Something happened in between the earths creation and its desolate state described in Genesis 1:2. Something cataclysmic happened that brought this destitute state on the earth. Some believe that Satan was in charge, the "anointed cherub" over the Pre-Genesis Earth. Since he is described in Eden, walking, and ministering on the earth before his "fall"(Ezekiel 28). This theory suggests that Satan's rebellion and war in heaven is what caused this cataclysmic event. It also killed the pre-adamic race but their souls lived on as demons.
These are all just theories. Regardless of their origin, there is a troubling trend in the Body of Christ to ignore demons. Some consider demons, and the casting out of demons as irrelevant for our times. How does that even make sense? If Satan and his demons are real, and if they desire to wreck havoc on the human race, and if they seek to influence people, families, communities, governments, nations, and even churches then they are very relevant.
But we need not fear. Jesus has given us the power to cast out demons and over all the power of the enemy. God's Word promises that greater is He that is in us, than he who is in the world!
No comments:
Post a Comment