You Haven’t Won Anything
The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. - John 10:10
There is a battle raging. From the moment man fell in the garden, that battle has left the human race in the middle trying to decide which side to fight for. Our nature, because of the fall, pushes us toward one side and the other side calls — beckons for us. We must decide which side we listen to, but it is not that easy.
One of my favorite songs, Son of the Morning by Oh Sleeper, tells an account of this battle. It states in the first verse:
I am the rival, I am the one who speaks in whisper Hear me now, dear, weak forgiver Hear me now, weak forgiver, hear me now Don't send an angel to face the devil You're wasting power on grace A maggot will always seek to feed from the grave Where I'll lead them and teach them to feast on the skin That defeats them, the skin they crave
I feel this verse, sums up what Satan's goal is in this world. That to him, God has wasted his power on the human race. We are born into sin and that is all we will ever know. We seek it out and Satan teaches us to crave it. We are born with the premonition to seek out death and decay. No one has to teach us what it means to be selfish or what it means to bear hatred. It happens naturally - it's something we fight daily.
Before I get to the chorus of this song, which is really the part I want you to hear the most, I want to continue with Satan's rant in the song. You can sense some frustration as he knows that not everyone in this world is His.
Every night I start my rise Climbing high into the morning sky But soon after I lose your bride And I damn your son for stealing my light This world is mine They call me the son of the morning They call me the son of the morning I can mound all your fallen past The clouds as they roll in And when I do I will claim your throne Through all these cowards you call your sons
Satan knows that this world is his, that he rules it. He knows that we are God's and he is fighting his hardest to overcome that and claim God's throne. He claims that we are cowards afraid to fight back. This is true, to some extent. We are content to just coast along life. It is easier to watch on the sidelines than to get dirty and fight in the heat of the battle.
With this in mind, I want to encourage you to fight. You don't have to fight by yourself either. I want to tell you what God says, in this song, and it is so true. He speaks directly to Satan and says:
I am the Lord of air And my dawn will last forever Go on pouring out 'Cause in the end I will have them If you could see like me You'd see you haven't won anything If you could see like me You'd see it's by my grace you're breathing If you could see like me You'd see you haven't won anything If you could see like me You'd see your precious light is fading Your light is fading
God has a plan, He is fighting for you, He is in control and knows the outcome. If we could see as He does, we would see His ultimate plan for us. Satan has a false sense of security thinking He will win, but the story isn’t finished. Your story isn’t finished
I encourage you to choose your side. I can't make up your mind for you, but I know my God is winning and will always win and I hope you choose wisely.
The entire album that this song comes from is an epic story about this fight. It ends in a song called The Finisher where God ends the battle and cuts off Satan's horns in a final act of supremacy. If you have some time, I encourage you to read the lyrics to each of these songs and watch this battle unfold.