The Armor Is The Battle
Johnson, Chris. The Full Armor. 2022.
Digital with Midjourney AI, BeCasso, Procreate, Adobe Photoshop
EPHESIANS 6: 11-19
I can still remember the day in 1998 when I first learned the true nature of Christian warfare, I was an apprentice missionary in Glasgow, Scotland. During my nearly two years there, I experienced highs and lows that helped me to appreciate the challenges faced on the spiritual battlefield. It was unlike anything I had faced before in life. Suddenly I knew the truth about Christianity, We were at war!
SPIRITUAL WARFARE IS VERY REAL.
Like those before me and after me, I had tasted the pain of disobedience and the victory of salvation. I had enjoyed the grace of God flowing like a river over the wounds of my sinful flesh, as well as the disappointment from failing to live up to the righteous standards of God. I knew the spiritual war well. I was an engaged soldier in the battle for my soul. Thus, I had to learn how to fight this conflict and face this enemy that sought to destroy me.
PUT ON THE FULL ARMOR OF GOD.
Most Christians know the spiritual warfare rallying cry. “Put on the full armor of God.” If I, like so many before me, had hoped to find success in the battle for God, I must first put on the full armor. And so, I made it my daily mission to “suit up” in God’s holy gear. I can stall recall learning about each item as it became new to me. I learned the importance of faith and could be heard saying, “So this is the shield of faith that he calls me to carry when facing Satan’s flaming arrows!” I studied about salvation and gladly boasted that the “helmet” was firmly placed upon my head. Each piece of armor in those early years was an exciting discovery to be made. From the belt of truth to the breastplate of righteousness, and even down to the shoes of preparation of the gospel of peace, I laced up and girded myself with every item as I knew how. I was a man ready to fight.
LIFE STRIKES HARD.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that warfare isn’t easy. Faith battles were never-ending. No more quickly had I fought off one temptation but another came to take its place. The schemes of Satan were relentless and eventually I quickly discovered that I was ill-prepared for combat. First there was the challenge of reading the Word daily. It took me forever to get into a consistent routine. Once I finally did read daily, another challenge rose to the surface. I could find myself picking up the sword of the word of God, while placing the shield of faith down at my side just for a moment. And in that moment Satan sprung to the attack. Literally, my pursuit of daily Bible reading as a young man had become a legalistic substitute for trusting in God. Thus, I wrestled. I fought with that dilemma of faith for a time until I could once again read scripture with trust and arm myself with both sword and shield. However, it was then that I started questioning my salvation and could almost feel the helmet fall from my head. This pattern and routine of rotating armor became the norm for me. When my helmet was finally situated, my belt went missing. When I eventually got the belt back on, my breastplate was lying on the ground. I feared that I could never put on the full armor in time to defeat the Devil’s schemes. And you know what? I couldn’t.
PUTTING ON THE ARMOR IS THE BATTLE.
Frustrated, I ran to the only source of wisdom I knew. It was the Scottish missionary who taught me a valuable truth that day, “You see, putting on the armor is the battle.” It’s amazing to me how these simple words resonated through my heart and mind. The missionary was right. Battling against Satan is a fool’s game. Humans are incapable of waging war against such ancient, dark spiritual forces. Indeed, another evaluation as I read about the armor of God, I realized that the call of the Christian is simply to stand firm in the armor (Ephesians 6:11, 14). We don’t put on the armor so that we can individually wage war and defeat Satan. Christ has already won that battle. Rather, we have been called to simply put on the armor. That’s all we really can do, isn’t it? We read. We pray. We contemplate. We share. We believe. And we allow God to vanquish evils in our lives. The battle for us is simply to put on the armor.
IT’S TIME TO ENGAGE THE BATTLE.
It may be hard to believe that my role is simply to stand firm in God’s armor. It may be challenging to comprehend the calling to merely “get dressed” as the purpose of my spiritual mission. And yet, this is the divine conscription handed down to us by our Lord and commander Christ himself. “Put on the armor.” There is no greater battle and no more important calling. This is our war. Put the armor on!
The Full Armor Tee
