Jesus Cropped from the Picture

Jesus Cropped from the Picture

bullets flying and the wounded littering the sandy beaches. Such a person would naturally think: “What is going on here? This is not what I signed up for.” 30

Sometimes believers cannot reconcile the inevitable trials of life, and become vulnerable to psychological problems or debilitating doubts, placing needless blame on themselves. When disaster strikes, they may lack the theological categories to deal with their pain, and without a bigger understanding of the battle between the kingdoms, the circumstances of peoples’ lives can distort their view of God and his Word. With the powers of evil cropped out of the picture , there may be little understanding about spiritual warfare, leaving believers confused. Francis Schaeffer said, “Though you and I have stepped from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son, we are still surrounded by a culture controlled by God’s great enemy, Satan. We must live in it from the moment we accept Christ as our Savior until judgment falls. We, too, are encompassed by one who was once our king, but is now our enemy. It is just plain stupid for a Christian not to expect spiritual warfare while he lives in enemy territory.” 31 As a result of the conflict between two kingdoms, the Church is caught in cosmic crossfire. While Christians are the object of Christ’s affection , for the devil, people are simply objects . The devil’s aim is to hurt Christ and his causes. People are of no real interest to him. Satan desires to blind people to the truth of salvation and subject them to suffering. He uses people to get back at God . To God, people are very important, but to Satan they are simply pawns in a larger campaign. 32

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