Before the Time

       Jesus’ first coming was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a huge paradigm shift of the greatest magnitude. Jesus not only triumphed over sin in His own life, He also broke the power of sin over the lives of believers. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2). It was a crucial element of the divine to-do-list given in Daniel 9:24. But not all of the prophecy’s objectives were dealt with during Jesus’ earthly ministry. It was not yet the appointed time.
         When Jesus encountered the demon-possessed man in the land on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, the demons cried out, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” (Matt. 8:29, emphasis added). It is noteworthy that even these wicked, unclean spirits acknowledged Jesus as part of the divine Godhead. They knew better than the Jewish religious leaders! They also had some inkling concerning God’s chronos times, even though they could not know it fully because it was hidden in the mystery of God (Mark 4:11; 1 Cor. 2:7).
       We know from Colossians 2:15 that Jesus triumphed over the principalities and powers of the air that influence this world. We know He disarmed them and took the keys to Hell and Death. What does this mean? Was Satan no longer the god of this age? Was the evil hierarchy over the earth pulled down and forced to leave? If so, where did they go since God is the creator of the whole universe?
       If this were true, we would not have seen the persecution and wickedness at work in the earth, not only in the early years of the Church being established, but in every time period of history since then. No, evil and the so-called gods never left! Their ability to twist and deceive God’s Word remained. How is this possible? It’s possible because God created every human being with a will and the ability to choose for themselves who they would worship. With His first coming, Jesus tore down the veil between God and His Holy Place, and mankind, but it is only experienced when each person chooses to believe in Jesus as their Savior—the only Way to be reconciled to God.
        End-Time Lesson: This is why Jesus commissioned us to continue His ministry on the earth. Part of this assignment is the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18). None of the Gospel commissions mention pulling down the evil strongholds directly. No, they simply say to take the authority we have in Christ and stand in victory against them. Make no mistake. They will come down, but not until the appointed time, after we have been raptured and perfected.
            It’s worth taking the time to quote Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 4. “Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.  But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” This is the victory we have through Christ triumphing over the enemy. The bondage of sin and death no longer hangs over any believer. We can stand against the wiles of the enemy in the armor of Christ.
         "But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” This is the condition of those who choose to reject Christ. As long as mankind chooses to align with evil, Satan and his forces still have influence over the earth. For now, anyway. But as the demons recognized in Jesus’ time, there is coming a time when that shall change.
         In the meantime, 2 Thess. 2:7 confirms, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.” The mystery of lawlessness is the counterfeit of the mystery of Christ. Every believer is a member of His Body. We are expected to walk in the ways of Christ, becoming more and more like Him—what the Bible calls godliness. We can think of it as Christ-likeness. But we have to be intentional in growing in the ways of the Kingdom of God. We have to make the right choices to obey the leading of the Spirit.
           The flip side of this is that those who choose to reject Christ and go their own way through human pride, likewise grow in the ways of the kingdom of darkness. This is why evil seems to be accelerating in our time. It may seem as if the “gods have returned,” but they never left. They only gained more influence over the nearly two thousand years since Christ’s first coming.
         This delusion is why ignoring God’s times and seasons is so dangerous. It focuses our attention on the things of this world instead of the things of God. No wonder so many Christians are troubled and without peace and hope. For those who choose to acknowledge God’s great prophetic week, we recognize the lawlessness, but we know that the appointed time is very near.
         When the Day of the Lord dawns with the rapture at Christ’s second coming, the heavenly court will be seated with Christ in the 3rd Heaven. Then it shall be “the time.” Then and only then will the directive be declared for the archangel Michael to lead a host of angels and go to war with Satan and His angels. Michael shall triumph over them and cast them out of the heavenlies. Satan will be temporarily incarcerated in the Pit of Hell until the end of the Day. Then he shall be released to allow one final choice for all those on the earth in the 7th Day. Those who join the rebellion shall be destroyed by a fireball from Heaven. Satan and his evil forces shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, along with Hell and Death—the final enemy underfoot. Then and only then will the “gods” be gone once and forever!
          God will make a new heavens and a new earth uncorrupted by sin. God’s city, the New Jerusalem, will come down to the new earth, and eternal righteousness shall prevail! Until that appointed time, we can only do what Jesus did. We can resist the devil in our own lives. We can deliver people from demonic influence as led by the Spirit. But we cannot pull down the evil hierarchy in the heavenlies because it is not yet time. This is no way diminishes Jesus’ finished work. We continue to do the works He did, doing only what the Father has spoken as His will (John 5:30).