Conquered by the Blood of the Lamb
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Revelation 12:7-17
7. Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8. but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world -- he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12. Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!" 13. And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had borne the male child. 14. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. 15. The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood. 16. But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17. Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.
I found chapter 12 so poetic, that I really felt God wanted me to be soothed this morning as I face a challenging day ahead. The rhythm of it is so comforting! I know it seems kind of crazy to say that about a war being waged in heaven! The middle verses bring to mind a great epic battle like one in the Lord of the Rings or other action/adventure movie! But it is comforting to read that God wins—always!
The symbolism abounds throughout Revelation and I don’t often choose this book upon which to reflect but I was in Isaiah and Daniel earlier and a couple of notes referred me this chapter. A war in heaven sounds pretty frightening and I think John’s vision is similar to what I imagine it will be like at the end of time—Satan will fight like mad to keep his power and will frantically pursue as many souls as he can at the end in a desperate attempt to defeat God. Of course, our faith is that it is impossible to rewrite the story that way! But Satan must try—and be defeated.
So how does all this apply to us in 2004? What significance does this battle have for our daily lives? How does this compare to the war we wage against our own sin as we struggle to be worthy of the promise fulfilled for us on Easter morning? I think we can take comfort in knowing that God will win—yet again—at the end of time. Good does always win out over evil It may not seem like that is the case in the short run, but we know it to be true in the long run. Satan cannot defeat the Risen Christ any more than I can lift a car off the ground or I can fly like a bird. It just can’t happen. But he will try. And sometimes he wins out—too often—in the short run.
Because Satan, too, as been around since the beginning of time, he knows us intimately. He knows our weaknesses and frailties. And he preys upon them, attempting to, and too often succeeding in turning us away from the Cross. He wants us for his own. And he offers us a lot! He offers us everything we want in this lifetime! But he drops the ball when it comes to eternal reward! We must be ever watchful! We must guard our hearts and our minds and our souls against him. We must keep our eyes turned to the Cross, and look toward eternity—won for us by the blood of Christ.
Keep our eyes on the cross. God will provide for us everything we need on this earth, and then he gives us even more—eternity with Him. We will look upon His face, and see deeply into His eyes. All our questions will be answered, all our hopes and dreams fulfilled, all our fears relieved, our joy complete. Oh how Satan wishes he could win out over God’s offer of grace! Oh how we, in our weakness and our frailty, opt to take the “easy way” and live for the short term! But it’s not hopeless! Because of the Cross, we always have another chance to turn away from the evil one and gaze upon the cross. But let’s not waste any opportunity to say “no” to Satan and “yes” to grace. We don’t want the one chance we pass up to be the last one!
I hope you spend today like it’s your last chance for God’s grace, keeping your eyes on the cross and your heart fixed on home in heaven.
Mary
