The Bible pictures our world as being under the dominion of evil forces seeking to control and to ultimately destroy us.
The great controversy is, of course, the result of the Lord’s work against these powers. The great news is that, after the Cross, victory against them is assured, even though the battle continues to rage. The conflict is dramatic, cosmic, and fierce, but the victory belongs to God, a victory in which we can share by faith.
Study the following texts: 1 John 3:8, 5:19, John 12:31, 16:11, Eph. 6:12, Col. 1:16, 2:15, Rom. 8:38-39. What do these reveal to us about the reality of this battle? What great hope and promises are found in them for us?
Many people of the twenty-first century world function on the basis of a scientific worldview alone. This means that things are examined mainly from a naturalistic perspective, the only perspective that many believe to be valid. For these people, a world populated with evil forces and dominated by demonic hostile powers is predominantly viewed as a holdover from an age of superstition and ignorance. In contrast, the Bible presents, as part of the reality of our world, an array of hostile forces comprising demonic principalities and powers. Though the biblical worldview incorporates naturalistic and scientific concepts, it certainly doesn’t base all understanding of reality on them. The Bible’s view of the world is large enough to encompass both natural and supernatural worldviews.
In Romans 8:38, for instance, the word translated as principalities is the Greek archai, which could refer to civil rulers as well as to supernatural powers that attempt to exercise evil dominion over men. In Ephesians 6:12, the literal phrase the rulers of the darkness of this age could also be translated as world rulers of this darkness. Clearly Paul is referring to personal evil spirits, who exercise a degree of authority over the world. Compare the phrase prince of this world, describing Satan, in John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11. The personality of the devil was also clear to the revelator (Rev. 2:10; 12:10). − The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1044.
How does the reality of the great controversy reveal itself in your own life? In what ways do you sense the struggle? What’s the only way to be defeated in this struggle when you have the promise of Christ’s victory in your behalf?