What does this tell us, why do we have to know about all these spiritual entities, and what they do? What is our role in all this? Do we even have a role to play?
Can a spirit take over a human being (spirit possession)? Spirit possession exists in many cultures and religions including Buddhism, Hinduism, Voodoo, Islam and Wicca. Possession may be considered voluntary or involuntary and may be considered to have beneficial or detrimental effects on the host. From their beginnings Christianity, Islam and Judaism have held the view that possession derives from the devil and his lesser demons (the fallen angels), and engage in spiritual attacks against human beings by the use of supernatural powers to harm them physically or psychologically.
In 1 Corinthians 6:1 the admonishing was given to the Corinthians not to go to a court of law on disputes within their fellowship but rather go before the saints (fellow believers). Verses 2-3 (Mirror): “After having discovered how thoroughly God sanctified us in Christ we now represent the principle of righteous judgement wherewith the whole world is to be judged; how can we possibly shrink from deciding trivial matters within our ranks? If the judgement we are entrusted with extends even into the spiritual realm where we are to judge celestial messengers, how more relevant is our judgement now in deciding on day-to-day matters”.
Do we really have a higher authority than the angels, and are to judge them? This brings us to the conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus in John 3 concerning ‘born again’, or better ‘born from above’ (spirit), as a different birth compared to ‘born from the water (womb)’. Humanity is both born as a baby from the womb and born of the spirit (John 3:5 YLT), “Verily, verily, I say to thee, If any one may not be born of water, and the Spirit, he is not able to enter into the reign of God”. Francois du Toit in his book Divine Embrace: “When Elohim imaged you, they thought of you on equal terms as they would of themselves; a being whose intimate friendship would intrigue Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for eternity. Humanity would be a partner in God’s triune Oneness! Elohim’s image and likeness would be unmasked in human life”. Psalm 8:4-5 (HCSB), “what is man that you remember him, the son of man that you look after him? You made him a little lower than God and crowned him with glory and honour.” This contrasts to all spiritual beings who are not ‘born of water’.
Therefore demons, and all other spiritual entities, have to obey us as having authority over them. For example, Jesus who resisted satan, drove demons out of people as did the disciples who returned to Jesus excited, “even the demons obeyed us”. And us too, for we have also been given all authority to trample on snakes and scorpions, drive out demons and heal the sick (Mark 16:17-18).
You might ask yourself what do we do with all this? Today, our society seems to be questing for, and being inordinately interested in, all these supernaturals and/or demonic activities. For example, the Harry Potter books and movies. Is this the result of moving away from God in our personal lives and society? Is this what the bible says in Matthew 12:44, “When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, passes through arid places seeking rest, he finds a house swept clean. He comes in bringing with him 7 other spirits and dwells there . The final plight of this man is worse than the first. So it will be with this wicked generation”. Throughout history the evil spirits were expelled from societies that predominantly held God’s word to be true, and the more a society moves away from this concept, and people empty of God from their own minds and practices, the more the evil spirits will fill this void. The Bible clearly states that there is only one God, beside him there is no other. People have forgotten who they really are, created in God’s image and likeness, being part of God, being part of the Oneness (John 14:20 Mirror: “In that day you will know that we are in seamless union with one another. I am in my father, you are in me and I am in you”). But instead have given themselves over to other kinds of spirits, and followed them; with good and or bad results. We are not to worship angels, demons or any other spiritual being, nor are we to fear them. You are much more worthy than they are. You are part of the Union in the Trinity. Tri-union. Tri-Unity. You are the body of Christ. So don’t run after all these things mentioned, but Awaken to the truth. One God, One Spirit and You as a human are an integral part of that.
