13 “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”(Ephesians 6:13-17 NIV)
This passage of Scripture was written in a letter to the Ephesians by the apostle Paul. He was in Rome, under house arrest for preaching the Gospel. Paul is addressing the Spiritual strength and courage that are necessary for protection against spiritual warfare. He uses the analogy of a Roman soldier, ready to go to war. It’s a picture to which the Ephesians can easily relate. Paul is encouraging them to put on all the armor that God prepares and gives us by grace.
The belt of truth is God’s sovereign truth put on by faith. It gives us discernment amidst all the information that comes our way, so we can live a life of integrity.
The breastplate of righteousness guards our will and emotions from temptation. It keeps our responses and actions grounded and yielded to God’s will for our lives.
Feet fitted with sandals of peace keep us ready to serve God as Jesus did. Ready to go wherever God wants us to go. Serving the needs of others and sharing the Gospel.
The shield of faith protects us as we deliberately choose faith in all circumstances. When we encounter doubts, trials, hardships, things we cannot understand, we hold on to our faith. In the words of the author of the book of Hebrews, 11 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)
The helmet of salvation protects our thoughts. In the words of the apostle Paul, 8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things,” (Philippians 4:8)
The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. The Bible contains our daily instructions. Nothing is more powerful. My New Testament professor in college would often say “you forgot your sword!” to a student who entered the classroom without a Bible. I had no idea what my professor was talking about then, but I do now!
Paul recommended equipping ourselves with Spiritual armor to protect our souls against the attacks of the Evil One, and God also gives us another kind of “armor.” He designed the human body with its own protection against the attacks of biological illness and disease. Living in the midst of the COVID 19 pandemic, my thoughts often turn to God’s physical protection. The CDC reminds us to wash our hands, wear a mask, and social distance six feet apart. Social distance seems like an oxymoron to me, but then I remember when I taught ninth grade, never a day passed that I didn’t say, “Keep your hands to yourself!” And indeed, it turns out that this advice applies to more than just squirrely freshmen.
The first line of defense against infectious disease is to not touch the face because this prevents pathogens from entering the body through the mouth, the nose and the eyes. The human body is protected exteriorly by its largest organ, the skin. The four tissue layers of the epidermis provide a physical barrier to prevent the entry of any unwanted element into the body. And a fifth tissue layer is added to the palms of the hand, soles of the feet, fingers, and toes for extra protection. The body is continuously shedding dead cells and replacing new cells. Think about a time when you scraped your knee. It didn’t take long for new cells to replace the injured cells, did it? In fact, approximately every 27 days, your outer layer of skin regenerates itself.
The skin also provides chemical protection through the secretions of sweat, saliva and sebum. These three secretions along with wax in the ear canal and tears in the eyes, provide additional protection from pathogens.
God didn’t just give us external protection, though. Another part of the first line of defense are the mucous membranes that protect the internal organ systems of the body. Mucous membranes line many tracts and organs of the digestive, urinary and respiratory systems. Let’s use the respiratory system as an example of how mucous membranes provide a barrier that protects against respiratory disease.
The entire respiratory tract, the nasal cavity, trachea (windpipe), bronchi and bronchioles are lined with ciliated pseudostratified columnar epithelial tissue. This tissue gives the appearance of being multiple layers because the nuclei of the cells are located at different levels. Goblet cells (purple) which secrete mucous are located near the surface, which is lined with tiny, hair-like cilia (yellow.)
In the diagram of the respiratory system pictured here, you can see that as air enters the nasal cavity, it is filtered by mucous that traps dust, allergens, and pathogens. Tiny, hair-like cilia sweep the mucus and debris towards the pharynx or throat, where it is swallowed or removed from the body by coughing. Even though coughing can be annoying, especially during a concert or in a library, it’s the body’s way of removing harmful invaders. Coughing prevents pathogens from moving deeper into the airway. Infections in the upper respiratory tract may result in a cold or sinus infection.
At this point, if the pathogens are not successfully removed, there’s still hope that they will not reach the lungs. Remember the entire airway is lined with tissue that secretes mucous, and cilia that beat continually in a wavelike motion to protect the lungs. But should the infection reach the bronchial tubes, bronchitis results. If it reaches the alveoli or air sacs, it then develops into pneumonia. The deeper into the respiratory tract the pathogen invades, the more serious the illness. Just like the outer layer of skin, the mucous membranes also regenerate to replace damaged cells with new cells. However, we must remember that the more times a cell makes a new copy of itself, the more chance there is of a mutation to occur. Unfortunately, sometimes these mutations produce a defective skin cell or lung cell that results in skin cancer or lung cancer. Without those crucial first lines of defense mentioned earlier, the body would be continually susceptible to these more serious ailments.
Apart from protection against disease, the body’s first line of defense is yet another example of how we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). Whether it’s a physical or chemical boundary, the body continuously fights to keep harmful foreign invaders out. And the first line of defense is not the end of the story. Thankfully, the human immune system has multiple weapons in its arsenal which add to the first line of defense in fighting the battle against illness.
Although we may at times “forget to bring our sword” in our Spiritual battles, God has carefully designed our bodies to automatically fight physical battles. In other words, He never forgets! As you equip yourself with God’s armor to protect your discernment, your emotions, your desires to serve, your faith, and your thoughts, remember that all of these are housed in a physical body that is also well-defended. This knowledge is definitely “excellent and praiseworthy,” so let us “think about these things!” (Phil. 4:8)
Tissue Photo 93292569 © Jlcalvo | Dreamstime.com
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made 