Kingdoms In Conflict

This study started life as a seminar in the Wholeness Programme that we run in our church, which is why you will find in it references to wholeness and brokenness.

During the Covid lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 our church ran daily online teaching sessions. For this, I adapted and revised ‘Kingdoms in Conflict’ as a six-part teaching series.

Its third iteration is this six-part study series.

As I was waiting on God in relation to the Wholeness Course and asking Him what He wanted us to include in it, a question that continually came to my mind was, “why are things the way they are?”

This is a simple question to ask, but not so simple a question to answer, but I believe that the teaching contained in this study goes a long way to providing the core of that answer.

Throughout human history, men have told stories about the conflict between good and evil. At the heart of every drama, whether novel, play, action movie, or ballet is the dynamic of CONFLICT. If there were no conflict, there would be no story, as every journalist understands.

We live in a world where good and evil are entangled in a perpetual, and apparently endless, wrestling match, where now one and now the other takes the upper hand, and all of a sudden the tide is turned and the victor of yesterday is the victim of today, and vice versa.

There is a reason for this, and there is an answer to this.

This study endeavours to explain that reason and to furnish that answer.

So, why did I choose an image of a chess board set up for a new game as my illustration? Am I implying that in this conflict of kingdoms there are two sides equally matched, either one of which might come out eventually as the overall victor?

Absolutely not!

The outcome has already been decided, and the result is that White wins.

So, why the chess board, then?

One reason is that this conflict is not primarily one of military might, although there are occasions when that comes into play, but rather one of words, beliefs, ideas, and convictions. Men and women either by deceit are led astray to ultimate destruction or by eternal truth are led to perfect safety.

Another reason is that, if you look closely you’ll see that the black pieces are not actually black, but rather transparent. One of Satan’s most successful ploys is hiding behind someone or something else, remaining unseen and unsuspected by innocent victims, who blame circumstances, or ‘them’, or themselves, or often God, for their misfortunes, while Satan, unnoticed, chuckles sadistically in the background.

In our liberal secular humanist culture in ‘the west’, we even deny his very existence. He is delighted. He can do whatever he wishes, and nobody even suspects him for a moment. The fault lies always somewhere else, and endless effort is invested in attempting to solve a problem whose author is continually aggravating the issue, generating more and more frustration and blaming of ‘the others’.

The conflict is spiritual, not physical, and the battleground is most often in the hearts and minds of human beings. No-one ever won at chess by being anxious, aggressive, or violent. The battle is won through faith, patience, calmness, self-control, wisdom, and by keeping to the rules.

God set the rules, and He gives wisdom to everyone who waits upon Him for victory. The battle is the Lord’s, but you and I can share in His victory if we commit ourselves to His cause.

Let’s do it!