We’re familiar with the Biblical attire of the faithful. We are to wear the whole armor of God. It covers us from head to foot. We are complete only when we are dressed in the coverings of Christ.
Isaiah 59:17 tells us our breastplate is the righteousness that flows from the hand of God. It protects us from the frontal assault that comes straight at us. Our helmet is our salvation given to us by Christ’s death on the cross. This is our guard against things that come to us from behind, those unexpected events that are unseen, that hit us when we least expect them.
These are shields rather than offensive weapons, however, items of armor that deflect attacks rather than take down the enemy. With our shield and our helmet, we are hunkered down within the protection of our God. We are turning the proverbial “other cheek” and letting the attacks of the devil slough off, leaving us shining and pure before our Savior and King.
Isaiah 59:17 doesn’t stop there, as wonderful as our breastplate and helmet are. The second half of the verse tells us:
“He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.”
This means the Spirit of the Lord fights for us. This verse describes the second return of Christ as our returning King. He will come flashing the fire of vengeance in his eyes, and his arms will be filled with the zeal of his overcoming power.
These are the weapons Christ gives to us today.
2 Corinthians 10:4 goes on to tell us:
“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”
When the devil comes at us, battering our defenses, we don’t battle with our human arms of bone and skin. We war in the spirit, and our power is in the divine presence of the Holy Spirit. When we put on the whole armor of God, we can’t forget to include our garments of vengeance for the righteousness of the Lord, and our cloak of zeal for winning the lost. Without those, we are only partially dressed, and we will never know the true success of a life fully lived in Christ Jesus.
We are to turn the other cheek, but sometimes we need to crush the devil in the process.
Copyright © 2016 MyChurchNotes.net
Code: FGO.B.27.16.vp.kjv.esv