Saved from our Enemies

Luke 1:71 ESV

---

When he says that God will bring light and guide our feet into the way of peace. He is expecting a messiah he will bring about peace by fighting the Romans and throwing them out of Israel. Zechariah, would have been a typical Jew of his time and recall the stories of Hebrew scripture where God was often on the battlefield with the armies of Israel.

American Standard Version

God led them in battle to defeat and conquer their enemies of old. Peace in Israel was brought about by the mighty hand of God against their enemies. Mary is not carrying in her womb a military messiah who will bring peace through might, but one who with the dawn from on high will bring about the tender mercy of God. In this passage, there is a servant of God described. For the people of Israel, and for us today, there is a monumental shift in how peace is achieved that becomes reality through the incarnation, through Jesus taking human form.

Sometimes when looking forward to the Second Coming of Jesus we talk about the apocalypse, which is often described at times in the Bible with striking and almost violent imagery. Dark skies, the sun and moon turning red as blood, turmoil across the earth.

For many Christians, the apocalypse has come to serve as code for a cosmic and spiritual war to end all wars. It will be a battle where God will strike down and conquer any enemy of God and Christians throughout the world. But does this sound like how Jesus would bring about peace? Through violence, through war, through conquering? Does this sound like the Prince of Peace? James Alison in his book Raising Abel suggests a different way of looking at the end of time when Jesus comes again.

He asks us to look at the second coming not as apocalyptic but as eschatological. Eschatology is a fancy word for a how Christians talk about the end of time. Not the end as in the finish, but the end as in the completion, the goal, the fulfillment. Apocalypse is about a violent ending to the creation, a retribution by God against the tyrants, and the vindication of God's people. Behind this understanding of the completion of all things is a God who is a super version of ourselves.

He will redeem and cleanse the world from its violence and evil, by using even more violence. The sheep will be separated from the goats, and we inevitably think we can perceive the lines of that separation, despite long experience that we get it wrong. Yes, Jesus would come to get rid of our enemies. But not by fighting them, but by loving them.

Luke 1:71 ESV

Conquer him with love. This was a powerful and strange message to those in Israel who were looking for God to take care of their enemies and give them what they had coming to them. We live in a time and place, where too many people are looking to strike out against their enemies, where too many people are looking for enemies where there are none.

Some of our leaders have discovered that the quickest way to power is not to unite people, but to divide, to label this group or that group as the enemy. If we have made a good witness we have completed our task. When a non-Christian offends you the goal is not to forgive but to witness - they don't care about forgiveness; your forgiveness doesn't save their soul. However if your witness can bring them to Christ then they will receive forgiveness from God and as new Christians your forgiveness will have meaning.

For Christians who offend you however, the goal is forgiveness but again the New Testament gives us several different situations where this forgiveness can be worked out. It's hard to imagine someone offending us seven different times in one day returning for forgiveness each time - but if it did, Jesus would ask us to do it.

This example, however, reminds me of that brother or sister who, because of some personality fault or habit or attitude, offends me all day long. My only comment to God about these people in my life is "Why? I believe that the answer God gives is that He wants us to grow through the discipline of forgiveness.

People that challenge us to repeated acts of forgiveness cultivate in our character all kinds of virtues including patience, tolerance, graciousness, kindness and ultimately Christian love. In other words the repeated acts of forgiveness cultivates in us a loving character. If you have ever asked God to teach you the love, or to expand your capacity for love, He will put you in a spiritual gymnasium and make you repeat the exercise of forgiveness over and over again in all of its forms because:.

As you forgive repeatedly, the character of love will overtake and eventually superimpose itself over your character.

Sometimes there is a person who offends you at the church and is unrepentant. The greatest single cause of division, strife and heartache among church members is that they do not follow this teaching when it comes to dealing with others who have knowingly or unknowingly offended them, or sinned against the church immoral lifestyles, unfaithful etc.

LUKE KJV "That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;"

What people usually do is tell or complain to someone else gossip. Or they repress their feelings of anger and let it simmer in silent resentment towards that person or persons. This is not an option, Jesus says that if your brother sins not just a perception or gossip of sin but you can actually substantiate that an offense has occurred you must:. If we followed this teaching in trying to deal with unrepentant sinners who offend us or the church we could eliminate cliques and feuds and personal division between brethren and we would demonstrate that we are not afraid to discipline the immoral, the divisive and the unfaithful - maybe save the their souls.

Other Translations

This is the trickiest situation because sometimes we are hurt by people who never intended to offend us or who are completely unaware that they have, by their words or deeds, made us feel bad. We usually have several options with them. To freely forgive someone who has offended us but is unaware is truly not letting the right hand Know what the left is doing and is so much more satisfying than demanding an apology when dealing with the repeat offender, the unrepentant offender, the brother who is unaware of his offense This situation is easiest to understand but the most difficult to accomplish.

We know in our hearts when we're wrong and as Christians we know what we should do. But we put it off until tomorrow or we rationalize it by saying it's no big deal or they'll get over it - "I wouldn't be offended" or we blame the other person for provoking us. Sooner or later we have to face God to praise Him or make our requests known to Him and He says that these things will fall on deaf ears unless we are right with our brothers first.

How can we be sincere in our love for God if we consciously are the enemy of someone else and do nothing to make peace with them? We need to remember that in situations where the offense is between brothers and sisters in Christ the objective is not to win the argument or the apology - the objective is to win the brother, and restore the unity of the Spirit in the hand of peace Ephesians 4: In the end, dealing with our enemies whether they be Christians or non-Christians involves our reacting with Christian love to their actions.

When it comes to dealing with the offenses of our enemies against us God requires the most difficult expression of that love - the one that sees us dying to self, facing our fear of rejection and hurt, in order to save someone we don't particularly care about at the moment - this is what loving your enemy is all about. Peter doesn't say that love justifies or excuses sins but rather that love, through its humbling efforts will restore their brother's soul and in so doing will cover their sins with the blood of Christ, and demonstrate clearly that we are true disciples of Jesus Christ.

When considering these things, what do you think your need is as far as dealing with your enemies is considered? YouTube Amazon Prime Download: Video Audio Slides Captions Topic: Christians are in a unique situation when called on to deal with their enemies. This lesson will outline the various strategies that the Bible provides when believers must face those who injure them in some way. I'd like to sort out some of these passages that deal with our attitude towards our enemies.

Non-Christian Enemies - Matthew 5: Respect what is right in the sight of all men.

In practical terms then, he is saying - when someone slaps you on one cheek turn to him the other in the following way: It may be appealing, satisfying, justified, but don't do it. Don't escalate; seek peace. Upgrade to the best Bible Gateway experience! Try it free for 30 days! Psalm 43 Psalm Enrich your faith and grow in spiritual maturity with the incredible Bible study and devotional books listed below.

Try it for 30 days FREE. Cancel at any time. You must be logged in to view your newly purchased content.

• Messenger of the Dark Prophet (The Bowl of Souls Book 2)
• Trayendo a Joy al Perdón (Spanish Edition)
• Timberwolf - A Spooky Short Story
• Overflowing
• Evaluer les compétences: Du recrutement à la gestion de carrière (Pratiques dentreprises) (French Edition)
• Game of Crowns: Elizabeth, Camilla, Kate, and the Throne
• Daisy Thornton