Scripture
10Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last—salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God,and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth—the one who accuses them before our God day and night. 11And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. 12Therefore, rejoice, O heavens! And you who live in the heavens, rejoice! But terror will come on the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you in great anger, knowing that he has little time.” Revelation 12:10-12
Observation
For most of my life I have concentrated on the powerful promise of this passage that shows how we overcome the devil. The Devil loses, he has been thrown down. We are a part of that victory whenever we tell others of our testimony and how Jesus has changed us. Whenever we choose to love Jesus more than our own lives we are certifying and sealing the enemies fate until Jesus comes back for us. That’s the part that I usually miss. The time in between when the devil is cast out of heaven and when Jesus returns to lock him up forever in hell, is a time when he is here on the earth. He’s already been defeated. His fate is sealed. Yet, he has a little time to destroy as many lives as possible while on this earth. How is it that we, as believers, walk around as if there is no spiritual battle? Stats show we’ve stopped sharing our testimony and many are falling away because we are living as if the earth is neutral ground. There’s no such thing as neutral ground. We have believed a beautiful lie… ‘there’s no such thing as spiritual warfare”.
Application
CS Lewis once wrote, “There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.” Can you imagine the soldiers in World War 2 saying, Hitler isn’t real. I’m not sure he even exists. Let’s just hang out here on the beach and get a tan? Yet, that is how many Christians live and then they wonder why they are not living in the victory of Christ and the Cross. John Mark Comer writes in his book, “Live No Lies”, about the parallel between the defeat of Hitler in World War 2 and Christ’s defeat of the devil. Without the brilliant planning and heroic sacrifices of the D-Day invasion, the Allies may have never defeated the Nazi forces in Europe. On June 6, 1944, more than 156,000 American, British and Canadian troops stormed 50 miles of Normandy's fiercely defended beaches in northern France in an operation that proved to be a critical turning point in World War II. Jesus’ victory over the devil was like D-Day to World War 2- the decisive battle that marked the beginning of the war’s end. The devil’s fate was sealed on the first Easter, as Hitler’s was on June 6th 1944. Battle of Normandy was another 12 weeks alone. German surrender wasn’t until almost a year later on May 7th, 1945. Thought Hitler was defeated there were still many miles to cover to reach Berlin. In the interim, the Nazi’s practiced a ‘scorched earth’ protocol and destroyed everything town in their path on their retreat. In our interim, the short time he has on this earth, the devil is more like a wounded animal, a dying dragon, and more dangerous than ever. The devil is not in hell. He’s here on earth. When we pray the prayer of Jesus, “Let Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” it’s because the enemy is enacting his ‘scorched earth” protocol so it’s more “on earth as it is in hell.” There’s no such thing as a spiritual Switzerland on the road to Berlin. We don’t get to sit this one out until Jesus comes back. We can’t pretend the battle ground is neutral ground and wonder why we keep getting hit with bullets. We have won, but we have to secure that victory with every square inch of the journey of faith. Every day we can find ways to overcome the enemy though the blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimony, and not loving our own lives of comfort more than the Cross we’ve been called to carry.
Prayer
Thank you Jesus for this wake up call this morning. Forgive me for living as if I’m not at war. Forgive me for subtly buying into the beautiful lie that I’m not at war. When the devil realized he had been thrown down to earth he didn’t waste any time. Forgive me for wasting the time I’ve been given on selfish pursuits when there’s a war for souls going on all around me. Give me Your eyes to see through the lies. It’s time I started walking in authority You’ve given me on this road You’ve called me to secure for Your Kingdom!
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