Knowing God through His Word … Day by Day

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 brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.  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.  Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! 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!” Revelation 12:10-12

Dr. Kim Riddlebarger has a wonderful sermon series from the book of Revelation.  In the message on Revelation 12, he takes a step back and reviews all the previous chapters before moving on, and I highly recommend this review.  Here is the conclusion of the sermon, “By the Blood of the Lamb:”

….let us be mindful of what John says to Christ’s church which must face the rage of Satan after he is cast down to earth. Despite the Devil’s rage, he cannot defeat us!

Rather, John says, [we] overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of [our] testimony; [we]did not love [our] lives so much as to shrink from death. Here again we are reminded of the weapons

God has given to us which equip us for this great struggle. God has given us the gospel–the power of God unto salvation–which announces to us that Christ has died for our sins and that he has been raised for our justification.

Since the guilt of our sins has been removed–Christ paying our debt in full–Satan’s accusations have no merit.

No longer can he accuse us before God.

Sin no longer has any hold upon us. Its power over us is broken. The penalty has paid in full.

The truth of the gospel has set us free.

And since Jesus Christ has conquered death and the grave in his resurrection, we need not fear death.

For even if the beast is permitted to take our lives, we come to life and reign with Christ. And then we take our places before the throne, and join that multitude so vast they cannot be counted as we await the resurrection at the end of the age.

Beloved, John’s point is simply this. We overcome the Devil and all his works by the blood of the Lamb.

Therefore, we need not fear the sword of the beast, nor lies of the Devil. In fact, we need not fear even death itself. Through the shed blood and triumphant resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have overcome all our enemies. Amen!