Revelation 12:10-12 – “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”  NKJV

 

In John 8:32 we read that if we know the truth (of Christ) that truth will make us free.  Hosea 4:6 declares that God’s people perish due to lack of knowledge.  In the Gospel record of the encounter between Jesus and the devil repeatedly our LORD declared, “IT IS WRITTEN” and silenced the devil with truth.  The Christian Life is Warfare and sometimes I feel Christians have forgotten this or failed to understand this reality.

If we could somehow communicate and convince believers that we face a colossal problem in the spiritual realm which spills over into the physical or natural we would have accomplished much.  We are beset by a host of self-conscious evil personalities called demons who are responsible for much, if not most, of the personality difficulties, complexities, spiritual pressures, strains and aggravated forms of evil in modern times.  Satan is alive and well on planet earth.  Yes, in the end he loses but he will fight to the finish and it would behoove each believer to understand that.  I am convinced that ignoring the devil’s activities is to empower him and place ourselves in a dire position.

In Revelation 12:11, after describing the war in heaven and the expulsion of the devil and his angels, John explains that there is a warfare launched against believers.  This is a war that can only be won by “The Blood of the Lamb and the Word of our Testimony.”  That brings me to a question I have asked Christians many times, “Was Calvary a Defeat or a Victory.”  Normally the response is victory but am often left to wonder if our response is “head knowledge” more than “experiential conviction.”

Here the reference to “The Blood of the Lamb” identifies the most powerful weapon the believer has in our spiritual conflict and is a direct reference to The Cross of Calvary.  It is a direct reference to the Victory won by our Lord through the shedding of His Blood for mankind.  I miss hearing and teaching about the Blood and believe that if we are going to effectively utilize this Spiritual Weapon we must first understand what took place at the Cross.  I also believe that to understand this truth we have to go back to the Garden of Eden and examine what took place in the Fall of Man.

Man, as originally created, was given authority.  Man was made to have dominion and immediately upon his coming forth from the creation experience he was given rule of the earth. (Genesis 1:26).  God gave man a bona fide grant of dominion over the earth and all that was in it.  In the Fall man, through disobedience, transferred his allegiance from God to the devil and allowed the devil to become the legal and actual ruler on earth.  He is the god of this world and the prince of the power of the air.  Some have suggested that God could and should have ignored man’s act and stripped the devil of his legal claim through Adams’ disobedience.  Had God done that it would have violated his nature, character and divine justice which demands “due process of law”.  It would have violated “divine jurisprudence” and thereby been a violation of principles to which God binds Himself.

Man legally transferred his right to dominion to the devil and since man did this the only way it could legally be reclaimed was through man.  It was lost by man’s wrong choice.  Adam’s allegiance created a situation in which man was no longer free but a slave.  He is now a slave to sin.  The devil had legal claim to man as a result of Adam’s disobedience and rebellion.

The only way this could be broken was to find a “Qualified Representative” to satisfy Divine Jurisprudence and literally “buy back” man from the devil and strip Satan of his legal claim.  Jesus was that representative and thus the tireless effort of Satan to find even “one tiny flaw” in Jesus ensued.  Satan tried but Jesus defeated him with THE WORD and OBEDIENCE.  I am convinced that one of the reasons the devil wanted Jesus on the Cross was a hope He would resist the Father’s will and reject the Cross.  He did not and Satan’s dominion was broken.   When Jesus went to the Cross He not only defeated the devil in that conflict but He CANCELLED ALL OF SATAN’S CLAIMS on mankind!

Therefore, Satan is defeated, not annihilated but defeated.  All the legal claims he held through Adam have been cancelled through Jesus.  As a result of the Cross he has no rights or legal claims and all the power he exercises today is solely by deception and bluff.  He is operating ILLEGALLY and that is the basis of Jesus’ statement in Matthew 28:18 – “All power [authority] is given to me in heaven and in earth.”  Then in Luke 10:19 He says, “Behold I give you power [authority] to tread on serpents and scorpions [demons], and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall be any means hurt you.”

Satan still roams and goes about as a roaring lion but if we, believers, ENFORCE THE VICTORY OF CALVARY we find that “legally” the Cross was the complete undoing of the devil.   “Legally” the Cross completely destroyed the devil, not annihilated but destroyed.  “Legally” all of the devil’s claims were cancelled when Jesus went to the Cross.  However, like any other LEGAL transaction for the Victory to be enjoyed it must be enforced.

I have gone long and want to say a bit more on this so until next time may the LORD of Host go with you and may the Power of the Spirit of God flow through you.  Blessings!