Let’s Fight Principalities and Powers Now (Part 4)

Spiritual warfare? How did it come about? And why?

Before the creation of man, God set up earth under an angelic form of spiritual government. The governing angels − or principalities − were located in the heavenly realms over earth, but still underneath God’s heaven, which Paul referred to as the third heaven.

The head over this angelic government was God.

We have no clue what Satan did at first when he and his horde of angels were cast out of God’s third heaven. My guess is that the Devil’s hatred for God and His works caused him to continuously seethe at how God had treated him unfairly. After all, the evil one felt he could have been just like God.

Satan and his horde became a government in exile. They had no authority and no subjects to rule over.

Let’s fast forward to the first man: Adam.

God formed a new kingdom government on earth with His creation of man, giving dominion over all the earth to man, through Adam. God was the King, the King’s angelic spiritual government was set in place in the second heaven, and His flesh and blood ambassador on earth was Adam.

All worked well until Adam sinned.

Adam’s act of treason overthrew God’s kingdom government on earth and also God’s angelic spiritual government. Satan became the god of this world and his demon hierarchy of angels took over the principality sites in the heavenlies. Man and creation were no longer connected to their King and under His direct reign and protection.

Also, because Adam forfeited his face-to-face position before God, Satan regained a position before God in which he accuses the saints day and night.

Through Satan’s coup d’état and by default, Adam and all future subjects on earth, were placed under the reign and authority of Satan and his angelic government.

Spiritual warfare has been fought between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness since the Garden of Eden. The King desires to reclaim His subjects under His righteous reign while Satan hopes to continue his government of enslavement, depravity, and sin. The battles still rages today.

For us believers, we are dual subjects while we live on earth, in that, we are royal sons of the King, but still live in a world ruled by Satan. Our dual citizenship poses daily problems for us.

(Continued in Part 5)