Week 7: The Armor of God in Athens

Athens was the major city of ancient Greece located 5 miles inland. Athens was known as the city of learning. Philosophers and scholars spent much of their time discussing the latest ideas. The children remembered that we discussed Athens earlier and how the city was filled with temples to many gods.


The Aereopagus was a hill named after the god of war, Ares. This was the original meeting place for the city council and court. People would gather at this place to hear new ideas and discuss the latest events.

Since Athens was an important city in the Roman empire, there were many types of people that would gather there. There was a large contingent of Roman soldiers that would be based in Athens to ensure that peace and order were kept in the city. Paul uses the example of the soldier's armor to teach the church in Ephesus about being prepared to share the Gospel and fight the spiritual battle with Satan.


We read from Ephesians 6 and talked about each piece of armor that the soldier would wear and how it applied to the Christian faith:

• The Belt of Truth - the soldier's belt protected his stomach and held his tunic in place. In our spiritual battle everything is based upon truth. The belt of truth is the most basic part of our armor.
  
  
• The Breastplate of Righteousness - a breastplate covers the upper body and protects all the most vital organs, including the heart. Righteousness is our protection against evil so we must guard our heart.



• The Gospel of Peace - proper footwear was essential protection for a soldier from all types of natural elements... heat, snow, rocks, thorns, etc. We can stand strong on the Gospel of Peace because the battle has already been won by the sacrifice of Jesus.
  


• The Shield of Faith - a soldier's shield was critical in protecting him from enemy attacks of all kinds. Faith in Jesus is our shield against Satan and temptations. It can be an extremely powerful shield when Christians join together.
  

• The Helmet of Salvation - No soldier was properly equipped without a helmet to protect the head, nose and neck. Our critical battles are fought in our minds, such as temptations, fears, doubt, anger and many others. Salvation is God's promise that He will always give us the power to defeat sin.

• The Sword of the Spirit - The sword is the offensive weapon among all the soldier's armor. We need to do more than stand and defend ourselves. We have to be prepared to attack sin. Paul tells us that God's word is the Sword of the Spirit and it has the power to cut down Satan and defeat him.

We practiced our new memory verse together... help your kids practice them at home!

"Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously." 2 Corinthians 9:6

"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:7,9