A Divided World – A World at War

Christ at the Cross divided mankind into two bodies; man was no longer entirely in Satan’s power as he was after the Fall. There was now the beginning of another body, another seed, one that would be at enmity with Satan and his seed. Its members are those that received the gift of faith, the new-born, the spiritually-alive people of God. It was reflected back in time in the Old Testament saints and forward, with far greater force and scope in the Christian era. This event placed a totally new force in the world, a force that will eventually usher in a Christian world order. This was the birth of the kingdom of God. It would complete in fact the work the Lord completed in principle on the Cross.

The great division within mankind is between these two seeds. They are the polar opposites of the great antithesis that God established at the beginning of history (Gen. 3:15). These two great bodies of mankind are outwardly indistinguishable from one another but inwardly differ in every respect but one. They are both God’s creatures and share the fact that they were created in His image. Satan has poisoned and so thoroughly deceived his seed that they constantly suppress and fight against what deep-down they know is the truth. They know they are God’s creatures and were made in His image but suppress this knowledge and refuse to recognize Him as Creator and Lord (Rom. 1:18-21).

Even though there is this one common factor, they are still in fundamental disagreement. Where there is apparent agreement, it is merely superficial; their reasons for believing what they believe always differ. Christians believe that God created and sustains the universe; unbelievers, blinded by Satan, deny God’s existence and claim to believe the universe is what it is by mere chance. They deny that there is any intelligence whatever that created or sustains it. They profess to believe in this utterly foolish, fairy-tale universe because they have been so blinded by Satan that they cannot see the obvious, the kingdom of God (John 3:3).

The struggle is not only between Christ and Satan as some believe; it is also between their seeds, Christians and unbelievers; it continues throughout history. Christians today do not fully comprehend the great and glorious part they have been created to play in this battle against Satan for the future of the world. It implies responsibility; they are expected to play a part in the recovery process and cannot just sit back and let the world go its way.  God’s people need to see that they are in a very real sense at war with unbelief. They are in a war that God tells us they will win (1 Cor. 15: 54-57; 1 John 5:4). There is still, though, the need to actually win the war, a long and tedious process.

How long will the evil one be able to retain the control over the human race he now possesses? How long will he remain successful in his bid to frustrate God’s plan for a world that worships and glorifies Him? The answer fellow Christian depends on you! Will you rise to the challenge God has given or will you just sit back and let others take your place? God will not do for us what He commands us to do but will wait in His infinite patience until a sufficiently obedient generation arises and finally defeats Satan’s Seed.

This division of mankind is not an impenetrable barrier that has been frozen for all time but rather is one that admits individuals to move through it. One can be born-again at any time of life and become a new creature in Christ. This second birth though is still only a birth; there is much growth and development that must follow before the individual becomes a mature Christian. There is a learning process similar in a way to what a newly born babe must go through to reach adulthood. In addition, depending on the age and previous experiences of the new Christian, there is more or less old baggage that must be discarded before the new can be developed and fully acquired (Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:24; 6:11).

The new creature cannot remain an infant and be a useful worker in this force God has created and assembled for His purposes. He needs to grow in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and develop into the powerful personality God would have him become (Eph. 4:12-15). He needs to see himself as Christ’s emissary, charged with the awesome responsibility of the Great Commission of Christ. Sadly, today there are millions of Christians that have not progressed very far in their development and are still what can only be described as babes in Christ. Much of this is due to the many churches that have miserably failed to teach the full import of the responsibility side of Christianity. They have focused on the free gift and neglected the commandments; they limited their attention to the personal and family aspects of life and almost entirely ignored the world outside the church.