by Jacob Ninan
Spirits that influence the times
God has warned us that as the time draws near the end of this world, spirits of deception will become more active. They will try even to deceive the children of God. This passage from Paul is especially relevant for us to understand. "Beyond question, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory. But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron" (1Tim.3:16;4:1). What we can see at first is that while God sent His Son to lead us to the way of godliness, the attempt of deceiving spirits is to turn people away from the faith. These spirits use people who have become seared in their conscience, willing to believe lies or to accept falsehood, as their agents to spread their deception across the world. These are powerful spirits that manipulate people's minds in order to accept and then propagate through the media ideas that everyone used to consider as false till then. The media are looking for sensational ideas that will catch people's attention. When they present these ideas with no proper concern for the facts of the matter but as if they are all true, people get swayed in their thinking. The more bizarre or controversial the ideas are, the media knows that this is how they can win more attention. Slowly people begin to believe and accept what they used to know is wrong deep in their hearts because they imagine that the experts now know more information. If anyone dares to point out the error of these assumptions, they are classified as regressive, bigots, ungracious and hate-mongers. So, those who want to be seen as being progressive, even those in the church, slowly succumb to the pressure.Zeitgeist is a German word used in English to refer to the spirit of the times, or the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time. This is a characteristic of the mood of the people, which, from the understanding of the Bible, has been brought about by demonic spirits working behind the scenes. So, when we talk about the spirit of the times, we are not speaking about the demons themselves but the prevailing attitudes of people which they have caused.
What are some of the strongest ideas that have changed the world in the recent past? We want to look at some of them here and try to understand how they have influenced the world, and how churches have been affected in turn.
1. Gender equality
Let us look at this from God's point of view, and then see what is actually going on around us. It is very clear that when God created man (human beings), He created both male and female in His image (Gen.1:27). In other words, neither male nor female is superior to the other in this respect. When God considers the salvation of mankind and the blessings He gives, He values both men and women equally without any discrimination (Gal.3:28).When we leave this earth and get into eternity, men and women will stop being male and female and will both be like the angels who have no gender (Matt.22:30). But while we are on earth, He has made a distinction between male and female. On earth we differ in our anatomy and physiology, and we also differ in our abilities, strengths and roles not only in marriage but also in society. God has unambiguously stated that the woman will be subject to man, the man will be subject to Christ and Christ will be subject to God the Father (1Cor.11:3). Within the family, the husband is the head of the wife (Eph.5:23), and she is to submit to him (Eph.5:22;Col.3:18).
Even within the Biblical context of wives submitting to their husbands, many men have only thought about what they imagined to be their 'authority' and forced their wives to submit. But actually, making husbands the head over their wives was to say that now it was the husbands who bore the full responsibility over her and the family. It is husbands who are to be held accountable for the well-being of the family in every direction. They are to carry out this responsibility like Christ did for the church (Eph.5:25). It is when husbands take this responsibility seriously that it makes it easier for the wives to respect and submit to them. (And when the wives do that, it encourages the husbands to carry out their responsibilities better!)
However, it is a sad fact that over the centuries, a lot of men have been domineering, dictatorial, cruel and callous towards the needs and feelings of women, and have treated them almost like worthless people. A women's liberation movement began to rise up in the 19th century, primarily aiming for women's legal rights, especially voting rights. But in the later part of the 20th century, it moved into feminism, wanting to establish equal rights with men in every area, including work, family, politics and sexuality. The concept of an egalitarian family came, rejecting the idea of the husband as the head, and patriarchy has now come to be a bad word. Women began to throw off modesty and began to assert their rights in dressing the way they liked. Churches slowly began to give in to the pressure, allowing women to be pastors and leaders in the church and to reinterpret the parts of the Bible which gave such roles only to men. People who wanted to be seen as being progressive and in tune with changing times now had to allow their conscience to be 'seared' in order to believe and advocate this falsehood.
Can we see that this is one of the spirits of our times, turning people away from the ways God has laid out for men and women, instigated by demonic spirits from behind, and propagated through the media? Can we see where this is going to lead, to chaos and misery, as we can already see happening? We need now to stand with God, and follow His word, who alone can bring order and happiness.
2. Personal rights
God has created us in His image – to be like Him – in that we too can think, feel and make decisions like Him (Gen.1:26). The ability to make independent decisions came under test when God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen.2:16,17). Satan tempted Eve by telling her that she could independently have knowledge of good and evil, apart from leaning on God, and become able to act like God (Gen.3:5). When Eve chose to obey the devil and disobey God, she was, in effect, making a declaration of independence from God. Acting in that independence is the essence of all sin.This sense of independence from God is nowadays being made to look like a great virtue, calling it 'personal rights'. What we are being told by the media is that we are to stand for and exercise our personal rights and not bow down to any authority that tries to take it away. For example, the current thinking is that what two adults do with each other sexually is their business and that no one else has the authority to decide what is right or wrong for them. On accepting this notion, immediately, adultery is no longer a crime, and the law that most countries had about adultery has been withdrawn. If two people of the same sex decide to get married, that is, of course, their personal right, and others have to redefine the meaning of marriage and change the laws accordingly! If a man decides one day that he is a woman, no one has the authority to question him. Earlier, if someone discovered homosexual tendencies, others could try and help them to get back to a normal state, but now in some places, it is illegal to counsel them to change. Churches are giving in one by one, conducting same sex marriages, ordaining homosexuals, and some Christians are even advocating the use of inclusive pronouns to avoid indicating people's gender.
We can see how this predominance given to personal rights is just a form of lawlessness, but over time, this spirit has so influenced people that what they knew earlier to be false is now accepted as truth.
3. "We are gods" When Lucifer was the anointed chief of the angels in heaven, he became so puffed up about his cleverness and knowledge that he thought that he could be like God himself (Isa.14:13,14). Of course, he was thrown out from heaven and he managed to take away a third of the angels with him. Thus he became Satan and his angels became demons or evil spirits. But he has not lost his goal of becoming equal to God and receiving worship as God. One temptation he came to Jesus with was to get Jesus to worship him (Matt.4:9). The temptation he gave to Eve was to make her desire to become like God (Gen.3:5).
What we need to be clear of is that God alone is God and that we are just created beings. We exist at His pleasure, and without Him we cannot even have our next breath. With that understanding we bow down before Him and worship Him. But that is not the concept among many eastern religions. Some consider god as a force we can tap into for our own use using different techniques. The practice of crystal healing by placing different coloured crystals over different parts of the body in order to draw in or channelise this force to the body for healing is based on that assumption. Vaastu, reiki and pranic healing are other such practices. One of the teachings of Hinduism is that we are same as god (aham brahmasmi). The goal of yoga is to finally recognise this and merge with god.
But see how, as eastern mysticism began to influence western thinking, some Christians also began to get such ideas without recognising what was going on. People began to talk about 'activating' faith by speaking words in a way that other people tap into the god-force. Some others began to think that our words have power in themselves to make things happen. Instead of praying to God and requesting Him to do something for us, people began to declare and decree things and expect them to happen. Some preachers have expressed this concept boldly by saying we are gods.
Just imagine, if we really had the power to speak and make things happen, why would we have to depend on God? If we were able to activate faith and then make things happen with the words we speak, why would we have to pray to God? This spirit has managed to turn many away from God to believing in themselves.
4. "This is what I believe"
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me'" (Jn.14:6). Jesus allowed Himself to be crucified and then rose from the dead proving that He was indeed what He had claimed all along, the Son of God. What He has said is the benchmark for truth, and anything that contradicts Him is false. But the spirit of the times encourages people to believe that each one has the freedom to believe what he chooses, and what he believes becomes his reality. Immediately, truth becomes relative and no longer absolute. Morals are open for each person to decide. Then each one creates his own philosophy of life and the way for him to find happiness. Whatever way anyone decides on, this spirit assures them that it will finally lead to the same god. But Jesus is the Truth and the Way. Only He can lead us to the true God.Coming to the present times, now people can believe what they like about their gender, and they can also change their beliefs from time to time. Biological facts have no relevance now! Aren't many people being deceived by this ultimate lie that they can define truth?
Conclusion
Satan is the ruler of this world, and his intention is to deceive and turn people away from God and His ways. One of the things he does is to infiltrate the minds of people by planting ideas that look on the surface to be admirable, but whose core is against what God says. Many Christians also fall a prey to this because they are not firmly grounded in the truths of God's word, but they allow themselves to be moved by what people say who appear to be knowledgeable and impressive.We cannot fight against the truth and survive. As we can already see around us, those who have gone experimenting with their novel ideas are already discovering that they have not become happier. But, in fact, things have led to chaos. We hope they will recognise their folly and repent. On our part, let us learn to hold on to the truths of God irrespective of what the trends in the world say.