We are not alone…..

Have you ever felt like someone was watching you? I remember being in high school and there was a song that gained popularity called I always feel like Somebody’s Watching Me written by a group called Rockwell. I personally think that this song gained popularity because so many folks empathize with its lyrics. You may never admit it, but I’m sure there have been times that you were completely alone and knew it and yet you’ve felt the presences of someone else in the room. Well have no fear the bible gives us a biblical explanation for this sort of phenomenon……and here it is…. “We are not alone.”

You have to see this so that you don’t think that I’m making this stuff up. Note Ephesians 6:11-12: 11“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].”

Now obviously, according to the bible, there are things in this world that we wrestle against, that we simply cannot see with our eyes. This passage does say clearly that our wrestling is not against flesh or blood. By this, the Apostle Paul is saying “Listen folks, your fight is not against people.” Then he drops the bomb of truth on us and, by the way, this is the part of the passage where most folks miss it. Certainly the Devil himself is glad that we miss this simple truth. Our war, or fight, is against Principalities, Powers, and Rulers of Darkness and against spiritual wickedness in high places. I think it’s time for us to take our Greek lesson for the day because we get a lot more understanding whenever we look to the Greek form of the English word being used in the text.

The word “principalities” in the Greek is pronounced “är-khā” it means the same as the first order/rank in a hierarchy of demons or fallen angels. So, then Paul wants the Christian to understand that we are fighting against a sect or group of “Fallen Angels”…literally.

The word “powers” in the Greek is pronounced “eks-ü-sē'-ä.” The word exorcism is also derived from this same Greek word. Paul uses this word because he is communicating that we are warring against a dark power that also has the ability to oppress and or posses the human spirit. Christian’s differ on whether or not a believer can be possessed. That is a different discussion for a different day. However, Paul is definitely communicating that these dark demonic spiritual powers have the ability/power to both possess and oppress the people in this world. That is a fact.

The phrase “rulers of darkness” should be broken down into two parts in order to gain the full meaning of what Paul wants to teach us from the text. Now the word “rulers” in the Greek is pronounced “ko-smo-krä'-tōr.” This word means: Lord of the world or prince of this age. We can find other passages in the bible were Satan is referred to as the Prince and power of the air ref Ephsians2: 2. the word “darkness” is pronounced in the Greek “sko'-tos.” It can be interpreted to mean darkness in the sense of the metaphysical or unseen. If you put these two words together, rulers of darkness, Paul is simply saying that we fight against the ruler of this dark unseen world. So, then we know that the ruler of the dark unseen world is the same as the Devil himself. The other phrase that Paul uses in the text is “spiritual wickedness in high places”. By now we should not need to see the Greek explanation behind this same phrase to understand what Paul is communicating. Paul is clearly conveying to us that we are fighting against wicked powers that exist in another realm. Now remember this world can’t be seen with the naked eye. Paul, however, is letting us know from the text that Satan is the Prince and Power of the air that controls this Dark unseen world. I know some of you who are reading this, may be a skeptic but hang on a minute. I would like to run some quick real life stories down the hallway of your mind to deal with the skepticism of your heart.

What kind of power can take over a man and cause him to believe that it was his duty to eliminate an entire race of people because he felt that the ethnic group of people he represented was superior? Before Adolf Hitler’s blind hatred was finished he convinced the entire country of Germany to assist him in killing over 6 million Jews. Let me cite a quote from this mad man and you judge as to what realm his thinking originated from, “Anyone who sees and paints a sky green and fields blue ought to be sterilized.” Hang on, I’m not finished yet. What power would cause two teens to plan the death of several of their classmates and then turn the weapons on themselves? I’m just getting warmed up. What power will make a grown man go to a window were a young girl is asleep in her bed, snatch her out of her window, take her to a designated location, have intercourse with her and kill her? I got one more story I heard just this week. What power would cause a man to go into another man’s house beat and kill the husband, kill the two teen daughters, rape the wife and then burn the house down? I will tell you of such dark power. The master mind behind all this evil wickedness is the arch enemy of God, Satan himself, that once anointed angel who was perfect in his ways until iniquity was found in him. His crime was that he thought he knew more than God the creator of the universe.

So the next time you think you’re alone just remember that according to that sacred book….. We are never alone. There is indeed another world. This unseen world is involved in a Holy War and what we see in our reality is in truth a manifestation of a reality that we cannot see. So, the next time that child rebel: that husband or wife steps out, that friend gives you the cold shoulder for no apparent reason or that loved would refuses to offer up forgiveness. Just remember this simple truth your fight is never against people. Our fight is against a foe whose greatest weapon is to keep us thinking and behaving as if he does not exist. The truth is if you are part of God's family you have overcome that wicked one. He may be at present winning the battle in your life but according to scripture the war is already won.