By Dr. Adenike Yesufu
One of the objectives of Christ’s coming to earth was to destroy the devil’s work.  At Easter, we were reminded of Jesus’ victory on the cross, over death, hades and Satan. .  The strife is over, the battle won. In spite of this victory, the battle continues to rage. Satan remains a powerful adversary.

Satan is still waging war, against Jesus, against the church, against the body of Christ.  Jesus did not underestimate his enemy .  He referred to Satan as the prince of this world.  Paul called him the god of this age.

John declared that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.  Peter said that the devil prowls around looking for whom to devour.

In my reflection I thought, with this ongoing war, I do not often hear the clarion call to battle for Christians.

Are we not supposed to be militants  for Christ?  I know what you are thinking. How can she be talking about war when she is supposed to be talking about peace?  Just war, it is called.  I am not talking about just war, the pre-emptive strikes, the war against terrorists, both home grown and outgrown, that President Obama defended in Copenhagen when he received  the Nobel Peace Prize.

I am talking about the war that have been raging since the creation of the world, when we are told in Genesis 6:11 that the church was filled with violence.  I am talking about the war in heaven, when archangel Michael fought the dragon, ( Revelations 12:7).

Ephesians 6 reminds us that we are not at war against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

The evidence of this war is manifest in man’s inhumanity to man, brother against brother, oppressive systems, homelessness, injustice, inequality, deprivation, marginalization, domination, secularization, politicized religion, erosion of Christian values, political correctness, declination of family systems, intimidation, manipulation, aggression, violence, children’s recalcitrance, permissiveness, pervasive poverty in a world that Mahatma Gandhi says, has enough for everybody’s need, but not for every body’s greed, and so on.

So what are we Christians of today required to do? The good thing is that we have the assurance that hell cannot prevail, but does that mean that we should be complacent? The early Christians were aware of this continued war, so they penned songs like, Sound the battle cry, Stand up, stand up for Jesus, Hold the fort, Fight the good fight with all your might.

My favorite is, Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war, Jesus our commander expects us to continue the fight, to march on as to war till he comes back to subdue the enemy.

A song writer sees the mighty host of Satan coming  fiercely.  In this war, we are required to sharpen our weapons as Israel did in times of old against its enemies.

Our primary weapon is the Man of War Himself; every battle belongs to the Lord.  We need renewed zealousness for our Royal Master in a world that is reeling with adulation of the enemy. As soldiers of the cross, Ephesians 6:11 urges us to put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

All the talents that have been received must be stirred up and brought into action.  Each fragment of ability, each opportunity must be used, for the foes are many.  We need spiritual discernment among those engaged in  conducting the enterprises of Christ.  We need unity because a house divided cannot stand.  Paul said we should be disciplined.  The whole process is like military training.

This war is a conflict between right and wrong, between the gospel of Christ and false principles.  The nature of the war is that we cannot be neutrals, we cannot be indifferent.  Each moment of time, we must be ready in and out of season.  Finally, like David in Psalm144, we must ask the Lord to train our hands for war and our fingers for battle.  Amen.