All soldiers have a commanding officer – even the highest ranking generals answer to the President of the United States. Soldiers obey their commanding officers. They fight when and where they are told. They fight how they are told. It is the nature of being a soldier – obedience to the chain of command.
When being questioned by Pilot, Jesus makes this statement:
My kingdom is not of this world, if it were my servants would fight for me. But it is not.
Earlier that night one of Jesus’ closest followers and servants – Peter – used physical violence to try to protect Jesus from those who came to arrest Jesus in the garden. But Jesus turns immediately and reprimands Peter. “Put your sword away…” Jesus even healed the man Peter had injured.
There are three key takeaways from Jesus’ statement to Pilot and Jesus’ reprimand of Peter:
🪖 Jesus is our commander. He is the king and He is the general.
🪖 His servants seek to protect Him and fight for Him but we are not to use physical violence.
🪖 To be a soldier for Christ means you are part of a spiritual army, not a physical army fighting for a spiritual kingdom not a physical one.
If we are going to be soldiers for Christ we must accept all three of these realities.
🪖Jesus is our general.
🪖 We protect and fight for Jesus spiritually – not physically.
🪖 We are soldiers in a spiritual army fighting a spiritual war for God’s spiritual kingdom against God’s spiritual enemy – the Devil.
While we live and interact with others in this physical world, we must learn to see beyond what our eyes can physically see. Jesus does not want us to fix our eyes on a physical battle or a physical enemy or a physical kingdom. He wants us to understand we are part of His spiritual army fighting for His spiritual kingdom.
After all, if Jesus truly needed or wanted physical protection He could told what He told Peter and call ten legions of angels to fight for Him. But that’s not the type of battle Jesus wants us to fight – He wants us to follow His example and fight for God’s
spiritual kingdom. He wants us to fight in the greatest battle known to mankind – the spiritual war for the souls of man. He wants us to help defend and spread the borders of His spiritual kingdom.
So, drop your physical weapons. You won’t need those as we head into the fray. But don’t worry – God won’t send you into the war zone unprotected. He has given you plenty of spiritual armor to fight in this war.
Embrace your true calling as a soldier for Christ – fight for God’s spiritual kingdom. #soldiersforChrist #TheLordIsMyBanner
Adonai's Appeal 