Recently in the news was the report of a man attacking
someone with an axe. He said that a demon told him to start the rise of hell on Earth.
Undoubtedly he was regarded as being mentally ill but I believe that his
experience was real. What we are witnessing
is the rise of the satanic realm in the Earth. Most people will shrug that off
as ridiculous, but Spirit filled Christians know the reality of the spiritual
realm and understand the nature of the conflict we are in right now.
During the temptation of Christ, Satan showed him all the
kingdoms of the world and their glory and boasted that all of this was his. He
would give it all to Jesus if He would bow down worship him. Jesus didn’t
dispute Satan’s claim. Authority over the world was delivered to the devil when
Man submitted to him in Eden. Now ‘the whole world lies under the sway of the
wicked one.’ 1 John 5:19. Jesus went to the Cross to bring Satan’s boast to
nothing. The Cross is about more than taking you to heaven when you die; it’s
about reclaiming the Earth for the Kingdom.
Satan had legal claim to the Earth because of Man’s
rebellion but the Cross of Christ has changed all that. God now has a new breed
of Man in the Earth - cleansed, restored, eternally alive in Christ and given
authority in Jesus Name. Since the Resurrection, Satin has been working
frantically to maintain his hold on the Earth. The Bible speaks of him as
having great wrath, knowing that he has but a little time. We are witnessing
the rise of hell in the Earth. The values and principles which undergirded our
nations are being cast aside, faith in God is derided and more and more we see the
persecution of Christians.
Yes hell is rising in the Earth, but the good news is that Heaven
is coming down. The Holy Spirit of God is going to rise up in the people of God
and bring them ‘unto the measure of the stature of Christ.’ [Ephesians 4:13] Romans
8 speaks of the ‘manifestation of the sons of God,’ a time that all creation is
waiting for, because at that time it will be delivered from corruption also. When Man fell, creation fell; when sin grew
in the Earth, there was a further cataclysmic change at the time of the great
flood. Whenever there is reviving and renewal there has been a measure of
restoration seen in the surrounding area as seen in the Transformation series –
the crops yield abundantly, pollution recedes, the fish come back in the
streams. The spiritual state of Man is reflected in the physical state of the
Earth. With the moral breakdown of our society, we see the escalation of the devastation
of the Earth – more earthquakes, more drought, more fires and destructive
hurricanes.
The ‘manifestation of the sons of God’ speaks of a time when
God’s people rise to live out of their position in Christ. In Him we are righteous and holy; ‘seated in
heavenly places in Him.’[Ephesians 2;6] i.e. having spiritual authority in the
Earth. ‘As He is, so are we in this world.’ [1 John 5; 17]. What kept Israel in
the wilderness for so long? They didn’t know who they were. God called them ‘My
Son’ [Exodus 4:22] but they saw themselves as only grasshoppers. When they
finally believed they were who God said they were, they rose up in victory and
the walls began to fall. What God has done in Israel is there for the instruction
of those ‘upon whom the ends of the ages have come.’ [1 Corinthians 10:11]
The time has come when the sons of God will rise up and
really BE the sons of God. Then we will see the Victory of the Cross expressed
in the Earth and the Kingdom of God begin to be established in preparation for
the Coming of the King. The Battle of the Ages is upon us! Amen! Come Lord
Jesus.
