3 Jan. Good against Bad - The Holy Spirit conquers an evil spirit.
"Jesus went to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and on the Sabbath day, he taught the people. They were amazed at his teaching, because he spoke with authority."
"In the synagogue, a man who had within him an evil spirit shouted in a loud voice, 'Jesus of Nazareth! What do you want with us. Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are - God's Holy One!'."
"Jesus commanded the evil spirit, 'Be quiet! Come out of the man!' The evil spirit threw the man down to the ground before all the people and then left the man without hurting him."
"The people were amazed and said to each other, 'What does this mean? With authority and power he commands evil spirits, and they come out.' And so the news about Jesus spread to every place in the whole area."
(Luke 4:31-37)
This is the story of the whole Bible encapsulated in one incident: Good versus evil; the Holy Spirit versus an evil spirit; the Holy Spirit wins - the evil spirit is conquered.
Following the rejection in his home town of Nazareth, Jesus went down to Capernaum, a large port on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. On the Sabbath, he began to teach the people. In the synagogue, a man with an evil spirit shouted out, “Jesus of Nazareth! What do you want with us? Did you come to destroy us?” (Luke 4:34) Jesus commanded the evil spirit to leave the man, and after throwing him to the ground, it left him without harming him. The crowds were amazed that Jesus had the authority to drive out evil spirits.
This story IS amazing; but what is even MORE amazing is that Jesus gave the power and authority of the Holy Spirit to defeat evil and 'cast out' evil spirits to ALL his followers.
In Matthew 10:1-15, Jesus sent out his twelve close friends to spread the Good News of the coming of the Kingdom of God. We're told, "he gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and sickness". (Matthew 10:1).
In Luke 10:1-12, Jesus sent out 72 other followers with similar authority to spread the Kingdom of God. Again, good conquered evil, and they returned saying, "Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we used your name!" (Luke 10:17)
In Mark 16:15-18, the risen Lord Jesus told his followers to "tell the Good News to everyone... those who believe will be able to do these things as proof: they will use my name to force out demons..." (Mark 16:17)
Have you ever used the name (calling on the authority) of Jesus to "force out demons". We have! It doesn't happen every day, but occasionally Jesus puts his followers in a situation where they need to use the power and authority of the Holy Spirit to conquer evil and to free someone from the evil powers that are controlling their life. Good versus evil; and with the authority of Jesus, the Holy Spirit still conquers the power of evil today.
This is one way in which we spread the kingdom of God - where God reigns in people's lives - across the world.
The photo shows Africa and Europe from a million miles away (NASA).
You can read more about the Holy Spirit empowering Jesus's followers @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/the-believers-are-filled-with-the-holy-spirit