The Great Battle

I found myself in the midst of a battlefield. I was standing and facing a mighty and fierce army, which had lined up to battle their foe. The ranks of this mighty army were too numerous to count, and it stretched out as far as the eye could see. As I looked closer, I saw that the various generals of the army divisions were standing in a row at the front line, their troops behind them. 

Amidst the great multitude of soldiers and weapons, I saw that one of the frontline leaders was looking directly at me. He was a big ugly monster with fierce teeth, a large snout and gold chains around his neck. He carried a banner and I knew who he was. His name was Shame. He had wanted my flesh for so long. He had come to me many times before to take my mind and curb my actions. He came to remind me of the past and to keep me bound there. Behind him were countless troops bound in chains, slaves that he had captured, and fought for him now. He seemed to sense my frailty, and to perceive that I was an easy target. He was laughing now, he knew that in any moment when the battle started, he would have my flesh. 

The General beside him was also familiar to me. He was a terrifying sight to behold; a three headed monster, large and green with three open mouths. There were hissing poisonous snakes emanating from each of the three mouths. These three heads operated all together, intertwined and intermingled. I was well familiar with this army General too. Often, I would awaken in the morning and he would be there, reminding me of yesterday. He was a constant voice in my ear telling me what I had done wrong. He would tell me daily that I was not worthy to be a follower of the Perfect One. He would hiss and slither around my ear, “they’re watching you, and you’ve blown it again”. So often he had tried to place the label ‘Bad Witness’ on my neck. And I had listened to him. He was adept at whispering to me that I had fallen away from under the protective umbrella of God’s love. He would hiss that I wasn’t doing enough, and I had lost my salvation. I knew him all too well. His banner read Condemnation, Guilt and Regret. Feeling the pressure rising in my throat I looked away, but the next sight was not comforting. 

Beside him stood a tall man with powerful muscles and flowing blonde hair; imposing in sight. He held in his hand a sharp javelin. He had sharp eyes, a sharp nose and a haughty face and he was laughing in scorn. As he laughed, black smoke came out of his mouth. Catching sight of me set him off laughing again. His name was Rejection. I knew that he had a brilliant mind. He kept tabs of every interaction throughout my life as fodder for his attack against me. He would use every single relationship and experience to present his case against me; I wasn’t worth loving. Certainly, based on my multiple and numerous experiences on earth, I couldn’t trust that God eternally loved me. If even the people closest to me could hurt and reject me, where could my identity find its foundation? Indeed, the troops behind him in chains were all bowed low. They were a sorry and pitiful sight - they had lost all sense of value and worth amidst their entrancement in the black cloud that came out of this man’s mouth. He was fierce indeed, and intelligent. How could I ever withstand him? 

As if it couldn’t get worse, the soldier beside him was crueller and even more dangerous, and I realised that each of the generals I had seen so far were under the authority of this one. He was perhaps not as immediately imposing as General Rejection beside him, but just looking at him caused me to break out in a sweat. He was a very tall man, much taller than the other creatures in the army, and unnaturally thin. His skin was a greyish green colour, and his eyes were large and dead. There was almost a snake like air about him as his head moved from side to side. I knew this man too. His name was Fear. There were many different ways in which this General would attack you, but the effects of his onslaught were obvious. He would paralyse you; render you immobile. He would cause your mind to jump backwards and forwards, such that you could not make a decision. He would cause you to hold back from relationships, refrain from opening your heart or your mouth. He would smite you with silence. I turned my gaze from him because I did not wish to look upon the face that visited me regularly. 

Beside him was a small man with a shifty face and cruel smile. I would not have noticed him if I had not been looking closely. This man was very crafty, and I realised at that moment his ingenious success. He would turn members of the opposing army against each other. He would cause them to believe that their fellow soldiers were the enemy. As he caused the soldiers to turn against each other, this large evil cohort would jump in and destroy the opposing army, having their way. His name was Offence. 

As I looked there were many other Generals who had many slaves in their ranks. In one, there appeared to be healthy and able young men, but yet upon closer inspection I noticed that there was something wrong with them. Their eyes were glazed over and they could not walk straight. In this division there were even small boys. They held weapons and guns in their hands, but their eyes were vacant. I knew in this moment that these children had killed before. This General seemed more interested in mollifying his troops then in focusing on the enemy. He was handing out bundles of supplies to his troops. But the soldiers were being given different things. Some were given alcohol. Others, including the children with guns in their hands, were given injections filled with drugs. Others still were handed pornography. And though these troops seemed healthy and strong, I knew in that moment that their strength was not effective; each was shackled under the name of their General. He was called Addiction. 

Alongside Addiction and his troops, was a strange sight that I could not quite make out. Some members of these troops were angry and shouting. Others seemed silent and aloof. These troops in a way did not seem unified. Yet, then I realised the factor that united them. They were all women. Some of these women were dressed in sensual clothing, with heavy make up on their faces. These women were holding up signs and crying out “we have found our worth”. Their value seemed to come from their ability to capture the gaze of the men beside them. The men who gazed upon them indeed seemed hypnotised by these women. I heard the battle cry of these troops, “we gain control by using our sexuality”. The troops seemed to vacillate between a hatred of men and a desperate need for their attention and admiration. I noticed that at the back of the ranks of this division was a booth recruiting soldiers. The General himself was waiting at this booth. He was signing up new recruits, but at a very great cost. He was asking them to divest themselves of their womanhood. He was demanding the produce of their wombs in the name of equality and freedom. He promised his troops that they would be like men. No longer burdened by childbirth, no longer reduced to human incubators. No longer chained to the house, no longer under the authority of men. No longer counted nor considered in any way different to the opposite sex. He was offering them what he termed, “perfect, pure equality”. As these troops signed up, they handed over their womanhood, being blind to the cost of this loss. And they gave him the flesh of these unwanted children. The leader of these troops had a name, it was Feminism. 

At this moment it became all too much for me. This army was overwhelming. The generals were evil, and they had deceived and enslaved the soldiers in their ranks. It was not a fair battle. And how could I overcome them? So many of these generals were so familiar to me and had defeated me many times in the past. I started sinking into the ground in terror. 

Suddenly there was a mighty rush of wind from behind me and I turned around. There stood one like a man, yet not like any man I had ever seen. At one glance at him, I was overcome and lost all strength and self-composure. He was more awe inspiring than all of my enemies combined and I could not stand in his presence. I fell to the ground. There was a glorious light all around him, brighter than the sun itself. His eyes blazed like fire emanating purity and justice. I knew at that moment that he had never been enticed or enslaved by anything impure or imperfect. 

Out of his mouth itself came a sharp sword. I knew that no lie had ever or could ever come from his mouth. The sword was perfect, razor sharp and pure truth, and it destroyed every lie and deception that enslaved. This man would never entice slaves with lies like the opposition. He would liberate them with the truth. 

His voice was the most powerful yet wonderful thing I had ever heard. It was like the sound of oceans of gushing waters and breaking waves. This voice seemed to have the power itself to destroy, like a mighty tsunami, every strategy and battle plan of the enemy troops. 

The skin of this man blazed like bronze. Yet I saw that his body bore scars; his hands and his feet had been pierced.

As I watched, this glorious man approached the middle of the battlefield. He stood firm, and under his pierced feet was the head of the commanding leader of the entire enemy troops; a large serpent. It was then that I realised the truth. This man had given up his life to be pierced and killed by mankind. He had died in exchange for the death deserved by every member of mankind who had given themselves to be enslaved by these evil generals. He had died to set mankind free from every lie that had enticed them to enter into the enemy troops and fight against him, the Pure and Perfect One. His blood had bought the liberation of mankind from slavery. 

Then, as though a lightbulb had been turned on, I saw clearly that I myself had been bought by the blood of this man. He had paid for my life, and I was his. Furthermore, I lived in his victory. He had defeated these enemy troops. I did not belong to them. They had no rights over me. I belonged to Jesus. Suddenly, the evil generals melted away from my mind as if they had vanished. In gazing at the glory of this man, every other thing became insignificant and powerless. 

The wonderful man with the voice like rushing waters was calling his troops to war. Behind him were multitudes of troops dressed in white. His war was fought with weapons of love and truth. 

This love set the captives of the enemy forces free from Rejection and proclaimed them chosen and accepted.  This love overpowered and released them from the cold grip of Fear. This love had motivated Jesus to pay the debt for the captives enslaved by Shame by giving up his own life and dying. His death had bought a powerful forgiveness for all that overcame all Condemnation, Guilt and Regret. This man had overcome death itself and bought for mankind a freedom that broke the shackles of Addiction. The truth of his word told women their value, their true identity and liberated them to be who he had made them to be. 

I realised then that though there was a raging battle, this Perfect man had won the victory, and that it was my privileged position to gaze upon him. I was his. Forever.