December 24th Read Rev 12:1–17 Rev 12:1-12 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. (2) She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth… (5) She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, (6) and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. (7) Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, (8) but he was 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 brothers 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) 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 chapters twelve through fourteen give us another depiction of the end of the world. It covers Genesis through Revelation in bible history. It starts with the woman who is the Church, the Bride and mother of Christ. For the Church is the Bride of the Lord even as Israel is the Bride of the Lord and she gives birth to Christ. Yet the Church is also the Bride of Christ. In Genesis, it is written, Gen 3:15 “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. And so Christ Jesus is born of the Woman, suffers, dies, rises and ascends to the right hand of the Father. The time now must be cut short, hence the three and a half years, the time of the Church from Pentecost to the Last Day. Now Satan has been cast out from the judgment seat of God. He can no longer accuse us before God in heaven. It is written, Luk 10:17-20 “The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name! (18) And he said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. (19) Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. (20) Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’” Yes Satan can no longer accuse us before God. The district attorney of heaven has been cast out of the courtroom of God. We defeat his accusations to our hearts with the blood of the Lamb knowing that through it we have a clear conscience before God. This faith that trust in this is worth more than life itself, because it gives us eternal life and makes us children of God. The devil, the deceiver, his time is short. He wants to not believe in the mercy of God by the blood of the Lamb. Reject his deception and trust in the promises of God. God promises are our only hope and power against the accuser who rages against us in this short time we are here. Lord Jesus Christ, ever give us your Holy Spirit, that we may trust in your promises, washed in your blood through baptism and stand before God’s throne with a clean conscience knowing your blood covers and washes all our sins away on the day of judgment. Amen.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 12:01:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015