Spiritual warfare: Incarnation vs. Destruction
- Kyla N. Wiebe
- Nov 17
- 11 min read
This Sunday, I was given an opportunity to speak about my art and spiritual warfare at church. I figured it would be worth my while to reiterate what I said on this blog platform as a way to include some of the things I couldn’t get to because of time constraints and to invite you to think about your role in the spiritual battle that is going on around us.
A simple definition of spiritual warfare
When we hear the term “spiritual warfare,” certain dramatic images may come to mind: The Exorcist, perhaps. Or Elijah, calling fire down from heaven. Or the crusades. Or the phrase, “the devil made me do it!” Take a moment to think about your own conception of spiritual warfare. Remember what you’ve been taught, or what popular culture has illustrated for you. Maybe the thing that comes to mind is “God wants us to be kind. Satan wants us to be mean.” Or, “God wants us to follow the rules, and Satan wants us to break the rules.” Or, “God wants my political party to win, and Satan wants the other one to win.”
There are many misconceptions about spiritual warfare, and I hope that this post helps to clarify the topic.
Who is the war between?
In short: God and his servants, vs. Satan and his servants
What are their respective agendas?
God’s agenda: to reveal himself, glorify his Son, and reconcile humanity to him for his worship and our freedom.
Satan’s agenda: to steal from God, kill God’s children, and destroy God’s work.
How do they accomplish their agendas?
God’s method: incarnation
Satan’s method: lies and destruction
What is humanity’s role?
Because we are made in God’s image, we are particularly prized and loved by him, and have received special attention from God in his plan of revelation and reconciliation. Therefore, we are also the recipients of “special attention” from our enemy, who wishes to destroy anything God loves.
You may think of some other directions I could go with these questions. Certainly the real, true answers can only be described in full once the entirety of history has run its course! For now - though I may miss some important points - I hope what I write sparks good thought processes and leads you to truth.
God’s agenda: revelation
The very first words out of God’s mouth, “Let there be light!” become the pattern of his agenda all throughout scripture. Light, truth, revelation, witness, beholding, knowing, understanding… the more you read, the more you see that what God wants is for people to see him for who he is, to witness his son Jesus, and in beholding him be transformed into his likeness and be reconciled to him.
There are dozens of examples of this in Scripture. Here are a few I liked:
God’s plan, as spoken to the nation of Israel:
Isaiah 43:10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.
…as spoken by Jesus about himself:
John 18:37 “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
…as spoken by Jesus to his disciples:
Acts 1:8 …You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
…as spoken by Jesus to all of us:
Matthew 5:16 …let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Yes, God’s is all about being acknowledged and glorified for who he is! And what do we get out of aligning ourselves to his agenda of being seen, known, and praised?
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
We get freedom, intimacy with God, and the gift of life eternal!
Satan’s Agenda: destruction
Satan’s main agenda is rebellion against God. He hates God. Therefore, his main activities are motivated by a need to counter God’s agenda for the world. God wishes to reveal Jesus’ glory to the world. So, Satan wishes to conceal Jesus’ glory from the world. God wants us to be free. So, Satan wishes we would be enslaved.
John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
1 Peter 5:8 “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
John 8:44 “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
You don’t need to look far to see the fruit of Satan’s work in this world. It is evident, and obvious! There is deception everywhere, and destruction follows close behind. It makes you wonder… what is God doing? Why does evil appear so much more prominent than good? Why are lies louder than the truth? Why?
The way God chooses to reveals himself
It has often been asked: “If God wants us to see him, why hasn’t he simply shown himself? Why can’t I see him right now?” Yes, from our perspective that certainly would make things easier! There are two ways to answer that question:
1. He has shown himself, in natural revelation, and in his Son’s life on earth. But, also...
2. He does conceal himself! As the proverb says, “It is the glory of God to conceal; it is the glory of kings to search out.” (Proverbs 25:2)
Based on the historical evidence we have been given, from the beginning until now, God’s favourite chosen method of revelation is incarnation. He delights to deposit his spirit in physical bodies, demonstrate his power in weakness, hide his bigness in small things, exercise his authority in humility. He uses this method of contrast all the time! I could point to many stories in the Old Testament (The miraculous exodus of enslaved Israel, the triumph of David over Goliath, Gideon’s tiny army, to name a few), but the best and most pivotal story of God’s favourite strategy for revealing himself is, of course, the birth of his son Jesus.
Spiritual Warfare and the Christmas Story
Jesus’ life on earth was the penultimate revelation of God’s character, motivation, and plan for the world. And how did this revelation start? Jesus first showed himself as a baby, born to a regular girl, in a humble manger.
Luke 2:10-12 “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
God concealed all the glory and majesty of the heavens into a tiny, common, earthly receptacle, to reveal the truth of who he is. What a wonder; God himself… as a baby! The juxtaposition is striking.
The result? God was glorified. Angels looked down in wonder, and praised God. Shepherds sought him out, to see a glimpse of their saviour. Wisemen travelled far to seek out the One who was born King of the Jews. Mary looked on and treasured everything in her heart.
The way Satan retaliates
The witnesses to God’s grand entrance did not all receive it with wonder, awe and worship. When King Herod heard that there was a King of the Jews born in Bethlehem, he was thrown into turmoil. In an effort to preserve his own power and suppress the true King of the Jews, he immediately fell into line with Satan’s main machinations.
Lying: He attempted to deceive the wisemen into handing the baby Jesus over to him.
Destruction: After the wisemen learned the truth and snuck away from him, he killed every baby boy in Bethlehem under the age of two.
Consider the insanity of Herod. Who sees a baby and feels threatened? Who acts upon their fear of one baby by killing hundreds of other babies upon the chance that the one baby he fears may be killed, too? Surely people don’t do that, do they? Yes. It happened, then, and it has happened time and time again with other fearful, corrupt governments. Why? Because, their eyes being darkened, they naturally fall in line with the Enemy of God, who is the kind of guy who—on the off-chance that someone may see Jesus in a manger—would happily carpet-bomb the whole city to keep people in the dark.
After all, if you think of it logically, why would a modern government feel threatened by Christian missionaries? Why would they capture and enslave members of underground churches? Why deliberately indoctrinate children against Christianity? Why ban Christian humanitarian efforts, even if it means communities in their countries will starve to death? Why? What sense is there in reacting so strongly against a peace-loving, “love your neighbour as yourself” people? Why choose suppression, lies, violence and starvation? Because we are in a spiritual battle, and our enemy wants us all to die without ever knowing the truth.
How I’ve noticed this in my own life
My awareness of—and engagement in— spiritual warfare began in earnest when I joined YWAM. Before, I had only read about spiritual warfare in the Bible. But on the mission field I started hearing stories of people striving to reveal truth in dark places, coming up against strongholds, engaging in intercessory prayer, and sometimes seeing God break through. Eventually I began to see the battle clearer in my own life as well, and now I have my own story to tell of my experience with spiritual warfare. I have seen the work of Satan, and I have witnessed the incarnational power of God.
God’s Strategy: Manger Work
As a member of a relatively small ministry, I keenly feel the “manger-ish-ness” of our work. We are not famous. We don’t have a large body of staff. Our chosen audience are the “left-overs” of the missions efforts: unreached and unengaged folks who have likely never even heard of Jesus before. Even the products of our work are small and humble! Children’s books only have space to encompass a bite of truth, and necessitate simplicity and brevity.
Continuing along this pattern of “manger work": we recently hosted a live seminar in Thailand to teach other workers how to write and illustrate children’s materials for unreached people groups. Our staff and students flew in from all around the world, representing the Body of Christ from a dozen nations. Each of our students were relatively inexperienced in storybook writing/illustrating, but each was filled with the love of God for the children of their nations. A small group, not impressive in the eyes of the world, but in-dwelt with Jesus.
But at Create Seeds, smallness, humbleness, and “manger-ness” are welcome sights, because we recognize clay pots as God’s favourite containers for his light. We prayed all year that God’s will would be done - that God would send us the students he wanted to be there, that they would learn what they needed to know in order to return to their work with new vigour and ability, and that God’s glory would be multiplied because of our CBU Live seminar.
God answered our prayers. Each of our students took what they learned in the short time we had together and returned to their respective countries and ministries feeling encouraged and enabled to reveal the nature and character of God to children. And we praised God’s name.
Satan’s Retaliation: lies and violence
But, the triumph did not come without trouble. As I look back on this year, I can see clearly how Satan has retaliated against God as we strive to align ourselves with his mission.
Personally, Satan has tried to overcome me with lies. Often I finish an illustration project, send my work out to the next person in the process, and just hope that it wasn’t a complete waste of time. How could I know? The distribution and reception are completely out of my hands. So, Satan takes this as an opportunity to lie to me. “It didn’t go anywhere.” “You did that for nothing.” “What good will a children’s book do, anyway?” Sitting here, alone in my studio, I am in the dark about the true answers to these accusations. Satan’s lies are predictable, but somehow still so easy to believe.
Satan also tries to overcome with widespread destruction. Without a God of “love your neighbour as yourself,” governments, institutions and systems struggle with internal chaos, corruption and selfish ambition. It is difficult to function in such a world! I’d describe this as Satan’s “carpet-bomb a town to kill one baby” strategy. So, when I, my fellow staff, and our students made an effort to meet together in Thailand to learn how to better reveal Christ to the nations, each of us bumped up against significant roadblocks along the way: strikes, theft, missed flights, poverty, suspicious visa employees, cripplingly convoluted bureaucracy, racism… Each of us had a story to tell! And as we got to know each other, we were amazed and horrified by the states of each of our countries. Corruption, violence and evil are everywhere.
You may ask, “what chance does a baby in a manger have against a corrupt king set out to kill him? What chance do Christian minorities have against governments who consider them a threat? What chance does a children’s book have to open the mind of an illiterate child?”
Look once again to the words of God.
Isaiah 43:8-13 “Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears! All the nations gather together, and the peoples assemble. (…) “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. (…) there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?”
Look at Jesus! His work on earth—when it was brought to completion on the cross—tore the veil that concealed God from the world. His great victory came through death. But in his resurrection life no person need die ever again! He is alive to this day, and he invites you to look to him and live!
Look at me! Satan tried to obscure the truth from me and convince me that my work was worthless. But God in his mercy allowed me to connect with people who knew me back when I started my work with Create in 2012. They revealed that a Bible story colouring book I did that first year with Create is still used as a means to educate children about Jesus’s life and character, AND to educate new workers in learning the local language in order that they can illuminate the truth with their voices. My eyes were opened, and my hope was restored.
Look at us! Though our staff and students were in varying degrees poor, weak and small to the outside observer, we prayed to God and asked that his will would be done. He made a way for each of us to meet together, and when we saw how Satan’s plans to stop us failed, we looked at each other and proclaimed, “Once again we have seen the hand of the Lord. He is worthy of all glory and honour and praise! Who can stop his work?”
Look at yourself! You are engaged in this battle, too. God is eager for your heart to be the manger he rests in. No matter how hard Satan tries to steal you from God, kill you, or destroy you, God is able to make his Son manifest within you! If the Son is in something, angels will look down at it and worship the Lord. Shepherds will find it and praise God. Wise men will seek it out and bow down in awe. Satan will rage, and kings will plot to kill, but if the Son is in it, it will - like the proverbial mustard seed - “grow larger than all the garden plants and become a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
Romans 16:20 “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”
