Our Strategic Position

Welcome back once again. We’re now in Session 17 of our Spiritual Warfare class.

In the last few sessions, we’ve been zeroing in on the strategies and schemes of the enemy. We’ve seen that Satan rarely attacks head-on—his work is usually subtle, deceptive, and devastatingly effective when we’re not alert.

Let’s review a few of the tactics we've covered so far:

  • Subtle traps set especially for God's leaders

  • Schism and division within the Body of Christ

  • Siege tactics, prolonged suffering meant to wear us down

  • Surprise attacks, like flaming arrows coming out of nowhere

  • Enslavement, spiritual bondage lasting for years

And then the personal tactics:

  • Bitterness and unforgiveness

  • Pain and suffering used to break our hope

  • The fear of death, always lurking

  • Wicked intentions injected into people’s hearts

  • Demonic entry or control in extreme cases

  • Torment and hindrance against God’s servants

  • Lies and mistrust, the enemy’s native language

All of this has been laying the groundwork for a key shift.

🛡️ It’s Time to Move from Awareness to Action

Today, we make a turn. We're stepping out of the analysis of Satan's tactics and into our counterattack.

We’re moving from:

"What’s the enemy doing?"
to
"Where do we stand—and how do we fight back?"

And here’s the good news:

We fight from a position of victory.

Let me say that again—we’re not trying to gain victory in Christ…
We’re fighting from it.

🏀 A Story About a Game Already Won

Let me illustrate.

I was reading recently about the 2004 U.S. Men’s Olympic Basketball Team. A missionary named Phil was traveling overseas, working in Asia. He called home and was talking with his son back in the United States.

Now, Asia is many hours ahead of the U.S., and during their call, Phil’s son said, “Dad, the U.S. team is playing right now. We’re down by 10 points. It’s not looking good!”

But Phil wasn’t worried. He calmly said, “Relax. We’re going to win.”

His son didn’t understand. “No, Dad, I’m watching it right now. We’re losing!”

Phil just kept reassuring him: “We’re going to win. Just trust me.”

What the son didn’t realize was this: the game was already over in Phil’s time zone. Phil had already seen the final score. His son was living in real time, stressed out by the struggle. But Phil was speaking from a place of certainty.

That’s your position in Christ.

You might feel like you’re in the middle of a personal or spiritual battle right now.
You might feel like you're losing.

But the truth is—the outcome is already determined. Jesus has already won.

🏆 The Victory Has Been Secured

As one teacher said:

“We don’t fight for victory.
We fight from victory.”

That’s our strategic position in spiritual warfare.

🛡️ We Fight from Victory — Not for It

We’ve been talking about spiritual warfare, and here’s a truth that changes everything:

We fight from victory, not for it.

We are not scrambling to win some uncertain battle.
We are stepping into a fight that’s already been won.

This changes our posture.
It changes our courage.
It changes how we live.

💬 Chip Ingram puts it this way:

“We’re not trying to win.
We’re enforcing the victory that Jesus has already secured.”

That’s powerful. In Christ, we’re not powerless—we’re invincible. Not because of our own strength, but because of His.

📖 1 John 4:4 (WEB) says:

“You are from God, little children, and have overcome them;
because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”

Let that sink in:

The One who is in you
— the Holy Spirit —
is greater than anything this world or the enemy can throw at you.

If you belong to Jesus Christ, you are in Him, and He is in you. That means the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in you (Romans 8:11).

📖 1 John 5:4-5 (WEB):

“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world.
This is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.
Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

That’s it.
Faith in Jesus is the key to victory.
Not effort. Not performance.
Faith.

🩸 Revelation 12:11 (WEB) gives us the battle cry:

“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb,
and by the word of their testimony.
They didn’t love their life, even to death.”

They overcame.
They won.

How?

  • By the blood of the Lamb — Jesus' finished work on the cross.

  • By the word of their testimony — declaring what God has done.

  • And by refusing to cling to their lives, even in the face of death — because they knew eternal life was already theirs.

🙌 Stand in Victory

So, what does this mean for us?

It means we step into battle with confidence, not fear.
It means we speak truth, we resist lies, and we stand firm — not because we’re strong, but because Jesus is.

You’re not fighting for victory.
You’re standing in it.
Live like it. Walk like it. Fight like it.

And never forget:

The One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

⚔️ Our Strategic Position: Disarming the Enemy

As we continue looking at our strategic position in spiritual warfare, let's look at what James, the brother of Jesus, tells us:

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
(James 4:7 WEB)

It’s simple, but profound:

  • Submit to God — Yield your will, your mind, your heart to Him.

  • Resist the devil — Stand firm, speak truth, live in righteousness.

  • And what happens? He will flee.

Satan doesn't flee from our strength.
He flees from the presence and power of God in us.

✝️ Disarming the Powers: Colossians 2:15

Now, let’s take a look at one of the most theologically rich — and deeply encouraging — verses on spiritual warfare:

“Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
(Colossians 2:15 NIV)

Let that settle in.

On the cross, Jesus disarmed the powers and principalities — Satan and his demonic forces. He stripped them of their legal weapons, their accusations, their hold over humanity.

🪖 A Picture from History

Think of World War II, at the moment of surrender — enemy soldiers laying down their rifles in massive piles, defeated and disarmed. The battle is over. They can’t fight anymore.

Or at the end of the Civil War, when Confederate soldiers turned in their weapons. The war was finished. Their power to wage battle was removed.

This is the image Paul is painting.

At the Cross, Satan lost his grip. His ultimate weapons — sin, guilt, death, shame — were shattered by Christ’s sacrifice.

😈 Satan’s Power Was Broken — But Not Gone

Now don’t misunderstand. The enemy is still active. Jesus still called him the “prince of this world” (John 14:30). But his power is limited. His defeat is guaranteed.

Why?

Because Jesus triumphed at the cross.

🧭 Another Translation: “He Spoiled the Principalities”

Older translations like the KJV put it this way:

“Having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” (Colossians 2:15 KJV)

The word "spoiled" here means plundered — like a victorious king stripping his enemy of weapons, armor, and pride.
He publicly humiliated them. He didn't just win; He made a statement.

What looked like Satan's greatest moment — the crucifixion — turned out to be his total defeat.

It was victory snatched from the jaws of apparent defeat.

🙌 We Fight from This Victory

This is the key:
We don’t fight hoping we might win.
We fight because the battle has already been won.

So whatever spiritual battles you're facing — temptation, fear, bitterness, bondage — remember:

  • Jesus already broke the chains.

  • Satan’s weapons are disarmed.

  • The Cross is your victory.

  • The Holy Spirit lives in you.

Now… stand firm in that victory.

🔥 From Seeming Defeat to Ultimate Victory

And once again, we return to the Cross—that moment where the enemy thought he had won. Can you imagine it?

Picture the glee of Satan, watching Jesus, the Son of God, nailed to a cross. To him, it must have looked like the ultimate triumph:

“Finally, I’ve defeated the Messiah. Finally, I’ve silenced the One sent to redeem humanity.”

But in God’s paradoxical wisdom, the Cross—the very place of suffering and death—became the enemy's ultimate defeat.

Satan didn't see it coming.
What he thought was a victory… was his destruction.

Defeat was snatched from the jaws of apparent victory.

✝️ The Thief on the Cross: A Picture of Hope

One of the clearest illustrations of this comes in that haunting, beautiful moment between Jesus and the thief crucified beside Him.

Two criminals.

  • One mocks: “If you’re the Son of God, save yourself—and us!”

  • The other rebukes him, and in humility says:

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

And Jesus, even as He hung dying, speaks one of His Seven Last Words:

“Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
(Luke 23:43)

That moment—on the Cross—Jesus declares the eternal victory over sin and death. The price is paid. The gates of Paradise are opened.

That thief didn’t fight for victory. He received victory by grace.

So do we.

🕊 No Condemnation. No Separation. No Defeat.

Now let’s go to what I believe is one of the most glorious declarations in all of Scripture—Romans 8.

It opens with:

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
(Romans 8:1 WEB)

No condemnation. None. Ever.
Jesus didn’t just forgive your past — He freed you for eternity.

Paul goes on:

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?”
(Romans 8:35 WEB)

These are the very tools the enemy uses in his warfare: hardship, pain, shame, suffering, violence.
But Paul is saying: Not one of them can touch the love of Christ.

He even quotes the Psalms:

“For Your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

But then, Paul answers the question:

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
(Romans 8:37)

🛡 We Are More Than Conquerors

You’re not just surviving spiritual warfare—you’re thriving in it, because your victory has already been won.

You don’t fight for victory.
You fight from victory.
And the Cross is your banner.

🔥 More Than Conquerors—Sealed in His Love

Paul writes with unwavering confidence:

“In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
(Romans 8:37)

And then this bold declaration:

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
(Romans 8:38–39)

That’s your anchor in spiritual warfare. Whatever storms come—whether external conflict or internal doubt—God’s love holds you fast.

🌍 “All Authority Has Been Given to Me…”

Now hear the words of the risen Jesus to His disciples:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations... And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:18–20)

Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ.
And nothing can separate you from the power of Christ as you step into His mission.

Whether you're battling discouragement, confusion, or direct opposition, Jesus says:

“I am with you. Always.”

🔥 The Festival of Dedication – A Deeper Revelation

Later, during the Festival of Dedication—what we know today as Hanukkah—Jesus walked in Solomon’s Colonnadeat the Temple.

The religious leaders asked:

“If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

Jesus replied:

“I did tell you, but you do not believe... My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand… My Father is greater than all... and no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
(John 10:25–30)

Let that settle in:
You are in the hands of Jesus.
You are in the hands of the Father.
No one—no scheme of the enemy—can snatch you out.

✨ A Song of Victory – Our God Is for Us

Let me leave you with the lyrics of a song that captures this victorious spirit. It’s called “Our God Is For Us” by CityAlight:

🎶

“Even when I stumble, even when I fall,
Even when I turn back, still your love is sure.
You will not abandon, You will not forsake,
You will cheer me onward with never-ending grace.”

And the chorus:

“Sing with joy now, our God is for us,
The Father’s love is a strong and mighty fortress.
Raise your voice now, no love is greater—
Who can stand against us if our God is for us?”
🎶

🕯 The Hanukkah Connection: Cleansing and Light

Remember: Hanukkah celebrates when the Jewish people—led by the Maccabees—cleansed the temple after it had been desecrated. The lights were restored. God’s presence returned to the center of His people.

That’s a fitting picture of what spiritual warfare accomplishes:

A temple cleansed.
A people restored.
A light that cannot be snuffed out.

⚔️ We Fight From Victory

So as we close this session, remember this truth:

We fight not for victory—but from victory.

You are loved.
You are empowered.
You are not alone.

Blessings—see you next time.

Last modified: Thursday, May 29, 2025, 7:24 AM