Revelation 12:11 - Wk 3 Day 4

And they overcame [Satan]

because of the blood of the Lamb

and because of the word of their testimony,

and they did not love their life

even when faced with death.

Revelation 12:11

Revelation 12 is one of the great battle scenes in between good and evil. It points backward though – more to historical events (creation, fall, and redemption through Christ’s coming) than it does to end times and future events.    

Based on this, someone once asked, how was Satan overcome? Revelation 12 answers that for us:

·         By the blood of the Lamb (i.e. through the cross and the blood of Christ).

·         By the word of testimony by the faithful.

·         And by the faithful being willing to take up their own cross … and risk their own life … preferring faithful testimony (even if it required persecution and death) to their own life itself.

Wait … what was that question? “How was Satan overcome?” Now make it present tense. Make it personal. “How IS Satan overcome?”

Until Christ’s final coming, we’re still caught in the web of sin, death, and evil. Evil is sad, awful, and heinous. It is gnawing and deceptive. It alternately tries to lull us to sleep … and tear into us like a roaring lion. How is Satan overcome?

·         By the blood of the Lamb. And what does that mean for you? It means there’s power and hope when we claim the victory that Christ has already won on the cross. His final victory is absolutely accomplished … and yet, he allows us to live in the meantime (and it is a mean time) until he comes again.

·         By the word of testimony by the faithful. Two things are accomplished when we testify: 1) more and more people come to faith and claim the hope. (Indeed, that’s why Christ delays. He’s giving an opportunity for more and more to come unto him), 2) when we testify, we sow the faith more fully and more joyfully into our hearts. A firm faith and a joyful heart defeat Satan every time.

·         By not being afraid of death. It’s been said that fear is the first step into sin. What do we fear ultimately? Death – whether the final defeat of death or a thousand little deaths and humiliations. If Satan can play on our fears, he can get us to stop testifying. But if we love the promise of heaven more than we love our life itself, nothing can stop our testimony.

How is Satan defeated? It’s up to you!

In Christ’s Love,

A bloody mess

(I’m a messy, sinful person

washed clean and now confident

because of Christ’s healing blood)