THE UNSEEN WARFARE
- PART IV (THE CHURCH FIGHTS BACK) CHRIST
LEADS THE FIGHT Christ
came to teach us how to do battle against the devil. St. Leo the
Great said: "He took up human arms by which to fight Satan's
machinations." Since he came to teach humans, He used what
we humans have and NOT what God has. Being
poor and helpless was part of Christ's strategy in defeating the
devil. Christ had to be a prisoner of His humanity to teach us
how to be free from this prison. His purpose was to destroy
death and its author, the devil, by His own death. A display of
resistance in Christ's part would have made this victory impossible. On
our part, a desire to be holy is a declaration of war against the
devils. They are tortured by our desire for holiness because
they see us attaining what they have forfeited. Whenever we are
raised up, they are cast down; when we are strong, they are
weak. Our healing is their wound. The more we walk in the
spirit the more determined will be their attacks. Christ
showed us the tactic we must employ. He did not use His
divinity; He used his humanity. The way He fought is the way He
wants us to fight, keeping in mind that it is not by the devil's power
that we overcome but by our lack of SELF DISCIPLINE. We fall by
our own choice. The devil is strong not by nature but because of
our remissness. Abbot Serenus said: "No one can be deceived
by the devil except him who has chosen to yield to him the consent of
his will. Each man goes wrong from this: Since the cause of our
fall is ourselves, it ought to follow that many perish without the
devil's help. For what did it profit Adam and Eve to be in
paradise, what did it profit Judas to be in Christ's company, what did
it profit the Israelites to be the chosen people if, because of lack
of discipline, they allowed themselves to be overwhelmed by the
devil? THE
DEMON IN GOD'S PLAN God
uses the devil to do us good, to train us to be watchful and
alert. Every misfortune is meant to benefit us. The malice
of the wicked gives splendour to the virtues of the righteous.
So the devil is meant by God to make the virtuous more
illustrious. Without
the devil, our sins would be inexcusable and the punishment would be
intolerable. Adam's sin was mitigated because of the
devil.
(06-02-05) |