October 7 Victory to the Saints

Revelation 12:10-12 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.”
 
THIS is a three-stanza hymn. An angelic voice first sings loudly of God the Father’s and the Son’s kingdom and power. Satan had battled for control in heaven. He has been sent out a defeated foe. There is no more threat in heaven because God has delivered heaven from the Evil One.
    The second stanza sings of the Christians’ victory over Satan. With faith in Jesus’ atoning blood, they are free from satanic attacks. Jesus destroyed the devil’s power that horrible day on the cross. His blood poured out for many brings us peace from the sin’s deadly poison. Colossians 1:20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. The second stanza sings, too, of the martyrs’ blood. Praise God for all who did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. The faithful face death on earth because they joyfully anticipate a life with Christ in heaven. The Tempter is finished tempting the saints. The Lord God has in heaven prepared his home for them (John 14:2).
    Victory for the saints – for Jesus’ church – is the central theme of Revelation. Are you saved in Jesus’ blood? Rejoice in your victory in Jesus.
    But the war still rages on earth. The third stanza sings of Satan’s evil now on earth. God allows the devil’s authority still as a means of judgment and sifting. The Lord permits tests to his church to check our faith. The saints on earth today will experience temptation, trial and tribulation. Ultimately, hard-hearted unbelievers and soft-hearted “believers” who reject Jesus’ atoning blood will sadly suffer Satan’s fury forever. The devil is an angry force focused on disrupting God’s creation. His desire is to limit the kingdom of God as he expands his own deadly realm.            
    The hymn, then, is two verses of heavenly joy, one verse of worldly strife. It is the picture of yesterday, today and tomorrow until heaven and earth become one perfect new creation.
 
Prayer: Strengthen our hearts against evil, Lord God. We pray you quickly conquer Satan and establish your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.