Two millennia ago in the days of Christ, the captives of Satan were a pathetic lot whom nobody could help, like the demoniac who lived in the graveyard. "No one could bind him, not even with chains, ... neither could anyone tame him" (Mark 5:1-5). Another example, the lady whose daughter "had an unclean spirit" (7:24, 25). And many more. But Jesus Christ delivered them all.
Today the helpless but pathetic captives are addicts: slaves of alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, pornography, kleptomaniacs, even gluttons whose appetite they can't control. On and on the list goes. There are even slaves to shopping who feel driven to buy stuff they will never need.
The Book of Ephesians presents a power greater than that of all the addictions the devil has invented: the power which raised Jesus Christ from the dead. That's beyond any guru! Paul says in Ephesians, "I pray that your inward eyes may be enlightened, so that you may know ... how vast are the resources of His [the Father's] power open to us who have faith. His mighty strength was seen at work when He raised Christ from the dead. ... He put all things … beneath His feet" (1:18-22, REB).
A few verses later he reminds us that we have been "dead because of your sins and wickedness. ... We too were ... ruled by our physical desires, and did what instinct and evil imagination suggested ... like the rest of mankind" (2:1-3). But now there is salvation:
"God is rich in mercy, and because of His great love for us, He brought us to life with Christ when we were dead because of our sins" (vss. 4, 5). Wait a moment: let's look at that again. When the Father raised Christ from the dead, says Paul, He raised us too! But we weren't even born then!
Paul's "big idea" is this: (a) In joining our humanity, Christ became the "last" or second Adam; and this is forever. (b) He assumed all our liabilities, took our guilt, died our second death, redeemed the human race. (c) He became totally our Substitute--the law cannot demand second death from us now (unless of course we take the condemnation back upon ourselves--many do). (d) Thus when Christ was resurrected, "we" were resurrected "in Him." All this is our "inheritance." Paul speaks of it as our right, given to us; nothing but our own choice of unbelief can prevent the same divine power from saving us today from our evil addictions.
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 1, 2003.Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.
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