VICTORY IN CHRISTIAN WARFARE
(Second Edition)
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IK Series: Book 1 – Chapter 1
CHAPTER 1 A First Look at the Conflict
Some time in eternity past. Date unknown. War between God and a band of angels. An invisible war between good and evil. A good God and an evil rival. A battle for the rulership of the universe. Fast forward. The twenty-first century. Planet earth. The army of God’s rival battles God’s army for supremacy on earth as a gateway to the rulership of the universe.
A battle over the lives of every human being. God’s battle plan for every human being—a plan, which if followed, cannot fail. Which army will each person on earth join? The army of God’s rival or God’s army? A paradise and everlasting life for those persons who join God’s army and never defect to the army of God’s rival. How will the war end? Will it ever end? Who will win?
The Conflict
God, who wants nothing more than a perfect universe, finds the love, joy, peace, and harmony of the universe shattered when evil arises in the universe through one of the angels in heaven. In response, God sets in motion his attempt to unmask the wickedness of His rival and to eradicate evil from the universe; this effort pits God against the angel who is God’s rival. This then is the ongoing conflict in the universe.
God at War on Two Fronts
On one front, God was battling His rival’s army for supremacy in the heavenly realms. This was a battle for the allegiance of all the intelligences that live outside of the earth. However, some of the intelligences outside the earth have so far to date seen enough of the evil of God’s rival that they have decided to be firmly on God’s side in the war. Nevertheless, these intelligences still do not understand all the issues involved in the conflict. So, God’s purpose remains unchanged—to completely unmask the full extent of the wickedness of God’s rival and to eliminate evil from the universe.
Some of the intelligences who live outside the earth have already joined the army of God’s rival and His rival seeks to win over the remaining intelligences in the heavenly realms who make up God’s army. So, the intelligences who live outside of the earth are divided into two camps—one camp, as was said before, on God’s side and the other camp on His rival’s side.
On another front, with respect to humanity however, all are naturally inclined to be members of the army of God’s rival. Hence, the efforts of God’s rival are focussed on keeping all of humanity from defecting from his side and joining God’s army.
Now the nature of the war is not the same on both fronts. In the case of the intelligences in the heavenly realms, God is not invisible, neither is His rival’s army invisible. Furthermore, they are aware of the history of the conflict and its current manifestation. However, in the case of humanity, not only is God invisible but both armies, God’s army in the heavenly realms and His rival’s army, are also invisible. Moreover, humanity is unaware that there is a conflict and unaware of the history of the war.
Some time ago, the war shifted from the heavenly realms and the earth became the stage of the ongoing conflict, in that, the war became focussed on the inhabitants of the earth. Ever since that time, God’s rival has sought to rule the earth by retaining the allegiance of all humanity. Therefore, God’s focus in the war has shifted from the heavenly realms to the earth, in that, God has been seeking to win the allegiance of all humanity to Himself.
God’s Difficulty
Surely, God has a difficulty. He is in love with humanity who love His rival. God has a universe to govern, yet this difficulty has His foremost attention. He is surrounded by an innumerable company who adore Him, and whom He loves, yet His heart yearns for humanity who do not love Him. For God, giving up on winning their love is not an option. His desire for these people is strong. Stronger than death. Yes, God has a real difficulty.
Those whom God loves, they love one who is evil and cunning. The one the people love is the master of deception. The people God loves follow the ways of his rival. Yet God still loves them. God’s rival is his bitter enemy. Can God win them away from this foe? God is anxious to see if the people will love him. Will they turn away from his rival?
God’s thought is, What shall I do to win the people’s love? Ah! I know. I will demonstrate my exceeding love for them. Surely, they will love me then. I will send my Son to them. His love for the people is identical to mine. He will be my Representative to the people. Through my Son my love will be fully displayed.
God is love, but the people He loves are the opposite of Himself. God is loving, unselfish, truthful, doing good and only good at all times. The people God loves are noteworthy for their selfishness. They are hateful, hating each other. They are just like God’s rival. But God loves the people even though He hates their evil ways. God’s thought is, Surely the people, when they see my love displayed by my Son, will desire to be like me. How else could the people delight in me and I delight in them?
The people God loves think love is what God’s evil rival says it is. They are deceived and blinded by the cunning of God’s rival. Thus, the love they show to other people is really selfishness. The love that resides in God’s heart is the one and only true love. God’s thought is, Will the eyes of the people be opened when they see the love displayed by my Son? Will they be attracted to my Son? Will they love my Son and, hence, love me?
God is as a stranger in the eyes of the people He loves. They know him not. God’s thought is, What shall I do to introduce myself to the people? I know. I will send them a love letter. In it I will describe my love for them, what I am like and what my evil rival is like. In it I will describe what I love and what I hate. In my letter I will appeal to their hearts and invite them to reason with me, invite them to get to know me. Of necessity, my love letter must instruct. Will the people refuse my instruction? O, that the people would love me and become like me! How else can we enjoy each other’s companionship?
God has a remedy for the people’s selfishness. It is a simple remedy, but will the people accept it? Of necessity, the people must have a change of heart in order to implement God’s instructions on how to be loving. God’s thought is, I can change their heart from hatefulness and selfishness to true love. It is not an impossible task for me. But will the people agree to be changed? I will not force them to change. I want them to willingly accept my remedy.
God’s thought is, I want the people to love me because I am good, and to love me of their own free will. Surely, they will accept my remedy. Surely, they will, therefore, turn away from my rival and love me instead. Yes, with a change of heart they will love me. Yes, God has a difficulty. But God rejoices because there is a way out of his difficulty. If only the people would accept God’s remedy!
The Role of the Individual in the War
God calls upon every human being to engage in warfare with His rival on their own behalf. They must change from a character of evil to a character of love in order to be accepted by God as a member of God’s army. To aid them in this change of heart, God has provided humanity with an example of true love in the Person of His Son. In addition, God has provided humanity with a love letter from Him which is, in effect, a battle plan to be used by every human being to win the war on their own behalf.
For God’s rival, knowing that humanity is evil, seeks to keep every human being from having a change of heart from evil to love. God’s rival knows that, if the individual has a change of heart, they will reject him and choose God. This then is the war that should exist between every human being and God’s rival. Each person, with God’s help, must win this war. They must individually take hold of God’s remedy for humanity if they wish to have paradise and everlasting life.
How God Plans to Win the War
All of the intelligences who live outside of the earth already have some understanding of the objectives of God’s rival and how he operates, his methods used in conducting his warfare against God. Humanity, on the other hand, have no understanding of the invisible war in the universe. Neither does humanity understand how both God and His rival operate in conducting warfare.
Nevertheless, God’s plan to win the war is the same for both groups—the intelligences who live outside of the earth and humanity. God plans is to fully unmask his rival as evil, for His rival hides his real character behind a pretence of goodness. God knows that if His rival is unmasked then all the intelligences in the universe outside of the earth, as those who value goodness, will never give up their allegiance to God for an allegiance instead to His rival. Likewise, those among humanity who have come to value goodness will give their allegiance to God and never give it up.
The actions of God’s rival on earth will help to completely unmask His rival in the eyes of those of the intelligences of the heavenly realms and those of humanity who have joined God’s army. It will also reveal His rival’s real objective in the conflict.
All intelligences, including humanity, who have chosen the side of God’s rival, who chose evil over good, will when the time allotted by God for the war to be waged comes to an end, be annihilated by God in order to eliminate evil in the universe. That is, they will cease to exist.
This act of destruction by God will not then alienate God’s army which is made up of those intelligences in the heavenly realms and the people on earth who have taken God’s side in the war. These in God’s army are those who have chosen good over evil and, thus, have given their allegiance to God. For they, at that time, seeing God’s rival unmasked as evil and understanding all the issues of the war, will agree with God that their annihilation is necessary to eliminate evil in the universe.
This then is how the war will end, for God is not limited in power. God can easily destroy all His enemies, but God exercises restraint for the time being, in an effort to keep the allegiance of the intelligences in the heavenly realms and win the allegiance of as many among humanity as He can. For God does not wish to have to annihilate anyone, but those who cling to evil will leave God with no other choice than to destroy them.
In This Book and Beyond
The rest of this book will be the retelling of this story and more in detail, and it will largely be told in God’s own words. In this book, you will learn about God’s love letter, which is God’s battle plan for humanity, the state of the universe before evil was introduced into it, and the rise of the conflict. Also, you will learn about the tactics of God’s rival, the work of God’s Son on earth, and the two battles that every human being must individually fight and win in order to gain paradise and everlasting life.
The aim of this book is to unmask God’s rival as evil, and to give you a correct understanding of God and the ongoing conflict as it relates to the God’s remedy for humanity. For God’s rival has counterfeits of God’s remedy in an attempt to deceive the unsuspecting and keep them from joining God’s army.
This book then will prepare you to escape annihilation by God by giving you the truths of God. Also, this book will teach you how to effectively take hold of God’s remedy. Therefore, you will win the war against God’s rival by having the necessary change of heart, if you correctly apply what is taught in this book.
The story and instruction given in this book is not the end of all that you need to know so that you are adequately prepared for warfare against God’s rival. Therefore, this book is only the first in a series of books. (The remaining books in the series will be released in the future.)
Each book in the series will unmask God’s rival with respect to some of the various issues in the ongoing war, as the deceit and cunning of God’s rival is great. Until you know the truths of God and, hence, can discern all the lies of God’s rival, you are not adequately prepared to win the war. The knowledge contained in this series of books then is indispensable. (The remaining books in the series will be released in the future.) There is much to know, to understand, and to implement, if you wish to win the war on your own behalf with God’s help.