We are the Resistance

Over the years people have been entertained by movies and books that portray a group of people as rebels for the causes that they believe in. Star Wars, Terminator, Dances with Wolves, and most recently the record breaking movie Avatar are all films that feature a group of people being oppressed for the values that they represent. We watch these movies and we are entertained by them we cheer for the resistant group to hold fast to their values and don’t compromise even if it means becoming a martyr for your cause. When Luke Skywalker fought against the empire and its menacing leader Darth Vader he lost a hand to save his sister Princess Leia and to restore good in the world or as Yoda put it balance to the force. The idea of forces of good and evil in the world and a certain group of people becoming resisting to the powers that be is very real in the life of a believer in Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ said it best in John 15:18-19:
“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
God created earth for humans to enjoy this world as a paradise a world free from evil. God created this world absent from greed, murder, starvation, and even money. When we see natural disasters occur on epic proportions such as Hurricane Katrina and most recently the earthquake that ravaged Haiti we understand that this is not God’s doing but an evil is at work destroying mankind. God never created man to live in a world where the earth itself rebels against its peaceful nature and destroys. The believer in Jesus Christ is a person who formerly lived in this world in a fallen nature if this world was star wars we would be serving under Darth Vader. A person who does not believe in Jesus Christ is actually under the indirect influence of satan and the wicked powers that be (Ephesians 2). When a person encounters Jesus Christ and their eyes are opened they become born again and a new life is begun. A life that sees this world for what it really is imperfect. A born again believer understands that this world is not as God intended it to be and that the former life they use to live was unacceptable to God and change begins to happen. The minute a person’s lifestyle changes from the acceptable normal then the war begins.
There is an inner-conflict that takes place inside the conscious of every believer on Jesus Christ. The fight is similar to cartoons when you see a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other and person is being persuaded to pursue righteousness or to pursue their own pleasures. There is a constant struggle in the lives of disciples of Jesus Christ to rebel against Christ and go back to living life as we used to live but Jesus says we are to die to our old nature daily and continue bringing life to the new nature(Matthew 16:24). There is going to be conflict between your new lifestyle and people such as coworkers, friends, and especially family members. People aren’t going to understand why you have forsaken the things you enjoyed doing and they will call you peculiar but they are absolutely right you are a peculiar person because you are different from this world (1 Peter 2:9). When we were born again we became residents of the kingdom of heaven which means we might as well be aliens coming from outer space to live on earth because we are that foreign to people in this world. People who don’t know Jesus Christ personally won’t understand a word in the Bible therefore they can’t relate to your lifestyle. Please don’t take offense and don’t go out of your way to exalt your new life in front of them. Just relax accept people for who they are and remember you were once lost as they are so don’t force people to see things your way. The best thing to do is to live a righteous life and pray for people. Most important is now that you live this lifestyle those that hate you really desire to change like you did and questions are going to come flying your way. The job of believer is to answer those questions humbly, cautious, and very honest because it will change their lives. Under no circumstances should their questions turn into a fight between you and them.
Last but not least there is a fight with spiritual wickedness such as demons and satan himself. Remember you are human and they are spirits meaning we are no match for them so let’s follow God’s method of fighting against our true enemies. The bible encourages us to attack by using the word of God as our offense(Ephesians 6) and the bible instructs us to cut off all opportunity for sin in our life(Romans 13:14). We shouldn’t be giving satan ammunition to fight against us and most definitely we need to fight him with the words of the Holy Spirit. Most important the bible says don’t try and bind satan because that isn’t biblical, don’t try and belittle him with words or taunt him because that isn’t biblical but the Bible says resist the devil and he will run from you. This sounds easier said than done but the key is to submit to God and endure everything our enemies throws our way because believe me he will not accept defeat but will continue attacking after each battle he has with you. Sorry for the Star Wars reference I’m a bit of a sci-fi geek but I know you get the point that in this world we are the resistance and the whole world is against our leader Jesus Christ-Amen.
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.-James 4:7-8