What Jesus says about War

Jesus said, "He who is not with Me is against Me and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad" (Matthew 12:30, NKJV).

Anyone who is against God is an enemy of Jesus. The primary enemy of God is Satan. Because of pride and rebellion Satan opposed God from the beginning, even before Adam was created. Satan became the "god of this age" (2 Cor. 4:4) when Adam sinned. Therefore, those who are not with Jesus and those who do not believe Jesus as their Lord and savior are all under the dominion of the "god of this age" - whose kingdom is in opposition to the Kingdom of God. War began when the kingdom of Satan opposed the Kingdom of God. There are always wars between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world whose king is Satan. There are always wars and conflicts between darkness and light, wars between the good and the evil, wars between righteousness and sin and wars between Christ and Satan. In other words, these two opposing Kingdoms are always at war with each other until the end of the age.

Paul said, "Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Col. 1:12-14, NIV, emphasis added).

Notice, there are two kingdoms. There is the kingdom of light, in which our inheritance lies. But there is also the dominion of darkness. The word translated "dominion" is the Greek word "exusia", which means "authority". In other words, whether we like it or not, Satan has authority. He is the ruler of a kingdom that the Bible recognizes. So these two kingdoms are engaged in mortal warfare and the war is coming to its climax in our day as this age comes to a close.

War begins in the spirit - the spirit of the world wars against the Spirit of God. And then physical wars follow. The types of wars existed are spiritual war, religious war, physical war and political war. It is beyond the scope of this message to dwell on each type of wars in any details.

Jesus Accepts War

The Scripture indicates that Jesus not only allows wars to happen, but also accepts war as part of the present world-order. In fact it is one of the conditions of discipleship. When we are born again by the Spirit of God we become representatives of God's Kingdom here on earth. Whether we like it or not, believers find themselves involed in an an all out spiritual war with Satan's opposing kingdom. What begins in the spiritual will be manifested in the physical. And this is the main reason why there are physical religious and political wars.

Jesus says, "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet" (Matt. 24:6, NKJV, emphasis added). Other Gospel writers said the same thing (Luke 21:9 and Mark 13:7).

In other words, Jesus says there will be wars and rumors of wars in the last days - and all of us are living in the last of the last days.

Jesus said to his 12 disciples that He did not come to bring peace (the opposite of war) but a sword on earth. There will be war even in a man's own household (Matt. 10:34,34,35).

Physical wars are due to sin of selfishness and greed:

"Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask" (James 4:1,2).

Wars are under the full control of the Almighty God:

Solomon (the preacher) said, "A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war and a time of peace.

In other words, everything has its time - to everyting there is a season, and God gives time to fulfill his every purpose on earth:

"A time to be born, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted; a time to kill and a time to heal; A time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh ...." (Eccle. 3:2,3,4).

We may not understand it, but I believer this is God's answer for those who are killed in a war. I can not find any other reason given by God in the Scripture.

God decides when wars shall cease and the final victory belongs to Him:

"He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire" (Psalm 46:9, emphasis added).

"These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful"(Rev. 17:14, emphasis added).