We’ve wrapped up Parts One and Two of The Bridge from OneDayBow, and there are many surprises ahead in Part Three! Tim has been assured by the Son he will have the equipment and the Book as he continues his journey through HereAndNow. Tim understands there is a real battle, but he also knows the King has others serving Him in HereAndNow. They can all can be strong in the power of His might. Their prime directive is not defeat of the enemy, but the deliverance of those who have been deceived by the enemy. This is a rescue mission on behalf of the King, but victory comes through trusting the Son.

Just to recap: Who is the Son? Savior! What a relief to know that He will have the ultimate victory, so it only makes sense to trust Him! Which leads to a logical question: Why is the equipment needed when it is Savior Who wins the battle? The answer will become very apparent in Part Three, so allow me to bypass Tim and the allegory to openly discuss how this applies to us as Christians.

If Jesus our Savior has delivered us from the guilt and power of sin, and gives us eternal life and blessedness in His kingdom, why do we need anything else? In fact, why is there even a battle? Although those are good questions that people often raise, the Bible clearly tells why there is a battle. And the answer to that question also explains why the equipment – called the armor of God in Ephesians 6 – is necessary, here and now.

Sin entered the world when Eve disbelieved God’s word, which resulted in the disobedience of Eve and then Adam. They said “Yes” to the serpent’s deceitful temptation and “No” to God’s kind warning. We look back and think, “How could they…?” And yet, how often do we choose wrongly when faced with temptations of all kinds? Sin entered the world through Eve, but it sure didn’t stop there!

Eve’s sin, and ours, is not the end of the predicament – although it’s enough to keep us all messed up. In the Garden, Eve and Adam accepted the word (authority) of the serpent and dismissed God’s.  They soon found out that you can’t trust a snake, and you better believe what God says! Some may wonder why Adam and Eve didn’t drop dead on the spot, physically. Dying physically would come, and the dying process was then set in motion, but the spiritual death was far worse. The pair forfeited fellowship with the God, Who is Eternal Life, and a chasm bigger than the Grand Canyon separated Holy God from sinful man. The faculty within man, which is called spirit, was no longer able to commune as before with God, Who is Spirit.

Only in Jesus our Savior could a right and satisfying relationship with God be restored, and it was at the cost of His own sacrificial blood. But, each one makes the choice to believe and receive, or deny and reject. We must choose: Will we believe what God says? Will we recognize and submit to His authority over us? Will we do what He says? Coming to faith in Jesus is not accepting a ticket to Heaven, no strings attached. It is a decision of the will to accept God’s right on your life and trust in Jesus as His means of making us acceptable in His sight. Faith is not the end of the matter but the beginning of a lifetime of saying “Yes” to God!

If you’ve put your faith in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, when God looks at you He sees the righteousness of Jesus. You are accepted in Him, and the Author of Life gives new life in His Spirit!

Which brings us back to the first question: Then why the equipment?  

Which we will discuss more, next time…