The ‘darkness within’ is a trope of popular movies and stories. There is a certain kind of relatability we have with the modern villains. But when it comes to the ‘underworld’ (that includes angels and demons, the devil, death and the spiritual realms), it’s out there in the darkness at the edge of society, certainly far from the center of our being.
The popular portrayal of these realms is one of fantastic horror and unbelievable fantasy. That means that the Christian’s understanding of such realities will very much be shaped by the popular and dramatic storytelling taking place through the media. And we should all know by now that such popular storytelling is often egregiously in error (albeit in an entertaining way).
Could it be that the underworld is more mundane than we are led to believe?
In a sense, yes.
You see, the influence of the underworld (whether the devil, demons, or otherwise) holds power only insofar as it uses the resources we provide them with. What might that valuable commodity be? It is the sin that lurks within. Sin is the currency of the underworld. Peter Bolt in his book Living with the Underworld puts it this way, “The underworld can only do what it does because it exploits the weaknesses that exist in the rest of us.” p31.
It seems a brazen move to say that the ‘supernatural’ is actually rather natural. But Bolt makes an important connection we should not miss. He highlights Jesus’ words to Peter in Matt. 16:23. Peter is trying to derail Jesus’ death and Jesus bursts out with, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things a man.” Here Bolt paraphrases Jesus to make his point, “[Peter], you aren’t thinking like God; you are thinking like a human being.” P 73. Which is to say that the devil’s ways are our natural “human” ways of operation. Bolt goes on, “To think in a typically human way is to be on the side of Satan rather than God… Peter is thinking like a human being. The whole world lies in the power of the evil one. All the kingdoms and all their glory are his. By the time we come to any moment of decision, we are already ensnared in the devil’s ways, because the world that we call home is so deeply enthralled that to think like a human being is to think exactly how the devil wants us to think. We are held captive by him to do his will.” p74
It’s quite damning to consider that our everyday mundane existence can be so leveraged by the underworld because we carry within us all the mark of sin – its effects, its debt, its pull. That is because the world of the underworld is so linked to our everyday world. But we must also remember that the death of Christ on our behalf has freed us from sin and thus from any leverage it might afford the devil against us. But do not miss this point. It means that the Lord Jesus has changed our entire world, our existence and relation to it, but specifically our world’s relation to the underworld. This idea is at once a condemnation of everything we would consider “ordinary”, yet shows us how cosmic and all-encompassing Jesus’ death and victory is.
We relate to the underworld as vicarious victors. Although that is not to say that the war is not still going. It’s more like our victory has begun but it’s being worked out in time, until the apex of Judgement Day.
So how can we relate to the underworld as vicarious victors in the meantime? Bolt reminds us, “Christians are never called upon to directly engage with the devil and his forces. There is no exhortation in the New Testament for anyone to perform exorcisms. In fact, the only passage that speaks of ‘spiritual warfare’ directly – Ephesians 6:10-20 – doesn’t mention anything remotely like exorcism. What it mentions is what you might call the ‘ordinary’ things of the Christian life: faith, salvation, gospel preaching and prayer.” p140.
In one sense you might think that this is ‘too ordinary’. But Christian, nothing could be more extra-ordinary than a life of victory in Christ lived out through faith and prayer.
Bolt, P. (2007) Living with the underworld. Kingsford, N.S.W., Australia: Matthias Media.
Bigvai and Shiphrah 