¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

This is the real Matrix (v. 12). A spiritual plane in which battles of mammoth proportion occur perpetually. Yet inextricably tied to these veiled struggles is the combat we face daily in the matrix below.

The truth is, our failure to win out in the evil day over the same forces of wickedness, who are unrestricted to either matrix, are every bit as monumental, because Satan’s strategy hinges not on destroying countries and kings, but on annihilating me and you, and marriages and the church. These are his strategic targets.

Our matrix, where Jesus had to come to conquer death once and for all, is the principal battleground.

If I stand up to sin and stand firm for Christ here below, Satan loses simultaneously in the matrix above.

In fact, he loses all around.