One of the affects of having heavenly wisdom is being able to sniff the approaches of Satan. Receiving salvation is the beginning of saving wisdom. The grace we receive at that time comes with profiting wisdom. Whoever builds on it goes on to gain access to the Lord’s understanding of how the devil works to derail a peaceful life. He or she begins to see him with invincible eyes. It epitomizes Peter’s word on growing with respect to salvation. If one is habitually falling to Satan’s plans, he or she has become stagnant in Christ or is missing the wisdom that profits. On the other hand, when one is able to detect his treachery, he or she grows in faith leading to his defeat and their joy.
The Bible contains numerous instances of Satan’s treachery. As we read through them, God’s wisdom enables us to understand his nature and intent toward us. Again, when we become prey to his tricks, we learn of his ways. A magnificent way of becoming aware of his tricks is living in intimate relationship with Christ. Remember, there is a great advantage with Christ. He never once fell for Satan’s deception. He conquered him numerous times in the wisdom of God. So, it is judicious to say intimacy with Him avails all the wisdom to conquer Satan. Nevertheless, there are two things that can break us and Satan watches us for them – the loss of desire toward Christ leading to lack of appropriate wisdom and dormancy toward wisdom. It is only in these instances that Satan can employ his schemes at us and if one falls, it is in these instances. God wants us to conquer them by His wisdom so we get to live and enjoy the life He prepared for us. So, He inspired Paul to the following – “So that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes” (2 Cor. 2:11).
Defeating Satan by understanding his schemes brings great joy to God for His choice of us. Each time we thwart his trickery we are proving wiser than him and journey toward fulfilling God’s judgment. Paul in the above verse declares the understanding that if one is in Christ, he is not ignorant of Satan’s schemes. On the other hand, it also implies that if we fall, we fall after having ignored Christ; for a perfect conscience received through faith and baptism cannot keep us under ignorance. This then speaks volumes concerning the kind of relationship we must have with Christ. No one can ever defeat Satan with a conscience not made perfect. Unfortunately, there are many such consciences. These cause others to disengage from intimacy with Christ and in worse cases, restrain some from knowing intimacy with Christ. Subsequently, there are many trespasses with no occasion for sanctification. And it is for no less reason that Paul had to say, “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come” (2 Tim. 3:1). When there is no awareness of Satan’s schemes, difficult times appear. Paul goes on to explain those times and it is excruciating. No sanctified person would want to engage himself with those times. He keeps his house in order so that Satan will have no opportunity against him.
The primary reason to face sufferings is living apart from heavenly wisdom. We go on to make bad choices through Satan’s involvement. Bad choices lead to painful results signifying the absence of Christ. If we are conscious of demonstrating Christ’s wisdom beginning with the very little things, we escape pain. Listen, the idea of saving wisdom is that you trust God through intimacy with His Son to certainly help you understand Satan’s treachery and overcome it. We have to become wise and if we are of Christ, we cannot be ignorant. When Christ is the wisdom of God and there is no wisdom greater and powerful than God’s, then it is only possible for us who are in Christ to detect Satan at his every attack. Our understanding of him will be as astounding as the following. “And he said to me, ‘The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues’” (Rev. 17:15).
The apostle clearly understood that which Christ was showing him. He had the necessary intimacy with Him for it. What’s significant here for our context more than the meaning of the verse is the manner in which Christ helps us understand. He clearly helps us see what’s coming with Satan. From the verse itself we know that the harlot is sin carried on or conducted by Satan and the waters are people. The initial wisdom is that sin rules the world with the power of Satan. Still, we must be able to detect it and this is where Christ and intimacy with Him matters. What did John see? He saw Satan’s sin and the extent of her dominion that is with power, deception and destruction. If we can see the same through Christ, we cannot be ignorant of Satan’s schemes and so, escape pain. It can only result in one thing. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 1:2).
Thus, Paul, as a loyal believer of Christ, said this of himself and his companions. “For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you” (2 Cor. 1:12). We can now see or envision the substance and the effect of being aware of Satan’s schemes. If we go on in fleshly wisdom, as are the many, we miss God’s grace and thereby, allow the harlot to rule us. And we signify many undesired things concerning relationship with Christ. Alternatively, heavenly wisdom paves way for holiness and godly sincerity and thereby, brings about a dignity and character that is beyond reproach. With such precious things we can only go on from grace to grace and peace to peace. In this we fulfill our life for Christ.
Not that you are unaware, but I want to revive your intimacy with Christ by looking into the following act. For there can never be any loss in making constant statements and reminders regarding intimacy with Him. “Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume” (John 12:3). The level of your intimacy with Christ will determine the strength of fragrance you emit, which helps you frustrate Satan’s schemes. How much money you spend in His name or the wonderful remarks you make on Him are secondary, but the more important is your heart’s response to His desire for you. His desire for you is inevitably immeasurable. The more you respond the wiser you become.
To desire Christ, desire His intimacy and desire heavenly wisdom all begin with a simple and yet, a committed thought. When you see the need for joy and peace that comes from withstanding grace to escape the futilities of life, such thought is not at all difficult to appear. Then that thought changes everything just as with the following – “For she thought, ‘if I just touch His garments, I will get well’” (Mark 5:28). Just think of touching Him as you know how in His absence in the flesh and you will feel His intimacy. And may God bless you more and more through it as you fully become aware of Satan’s schemes.