THE END-TIME BATTLE BETWEEN LIGHT AND DARKNESS



The nearer the end-time approaches, the fiercer the battle between light and darkness will become. We must not be surprised; for the end has to return to the beginning. Never was in the history of the kingdom of God, the divine so close together with the satanic, as in the time of Jesus. He, the Son God came to destroy the works of Satan. For this reason, the enemy had to make, at that time, an extraordinary effort to dispute the rule of the Son of God. The most remarkable part is, that he mainly used the most pious people of that time and not the pagan powers - which would have been the obvious thing to do. It will be the same again at the end of the age before the final establishment of the kingdom of God.

We need special enlightenment and opened eyes of our understanding to distinguish, in decisive times of crises, the divine from the satanic, for Satan masquerades as angel of light to deceive.

He uses in his battle against Christ very pious people who until then, lived, according to their knowledge, a life, well-pleasing to God. However Satan can find an opening in their hidden pride, they haven't recognised as such. This pride is so subtle and hidden, that it needs special grace to recognise it. While Christ is humility personified, Satan is pride personified. He came to fall through his pride, because he did not want to submit to God and His Anointed but wanted to be God himself. The same pride he also inoculated into man. The restoration of man, therefore, can only be achieved by the complete eradication of his pride. But man could never accomplish that by himself. Therefore the Son of God had to lead the way, to humble Himself under people and endure through their hands the most ignominious death imaginable, in order to make available the divine power for them, to make it possible to go the same path and be returned to the harmony with God. For the broken harmony with God can only be restored by the complete eradication of our pride.

This happens basically, when we, by submission to His divine will, accept Jesus, dying on the cross for us, as our substitute. Without this fundamental teaching there is not salvation and no restoration of the fallen man. On this point is a parting of the ways. There is no compromise. Satan was allowed to murder the Son of God through pious, demonised people. By acknowledging the fact, that this is God's doing, lies our salvation. In this way, He atoned for and paid for our pride. Whoever is willing to go the same way, putting his pride into death, is restored to the harmony with God.

But it is evident that the restoration of fallen man is not completed all at once, but is first present in an embryonic state and grows gradually - as all life does. This growth is a process that lasts through the whole earthly life until completion. Whenever there is a standstill in this development, there is also a standstill of us, putting our pride to death. Satan will of course try to prevent the growth of the new man at every stage and gladly leave hidden pride unexposed. The Holy Spirit, however, will constantly endeavour, more and more thorough, to expose the hidden pride of man and eradicate it by an ever deeper growing repentance. The more the Spirit of God proceeds and shows the goal of completion, the fiercer the attacks of Satan, for he knows that the perfected, overcoming little flock of the first fruits will bring about his final defeat. That the completion and the total eradication of pride and sin is in the plan of God we can see in the words: "Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect." (Mt. 5.48)

(by Christian Roeckle)