AND THEY OVERCAME
Revelation 12:9-11 NKJV
9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 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.
Regardless of what we believe or want to believe, there is a devil, and he is real. To me, the idea of Satan, who opposes the people of God, is a comforting thought. Comforting from the standpoint that I can pinpoint the source of evil and deception and it’s not God. So many are confused as to who is killing, stealing, and destroying. Jesus said it was the thief, referring to Satan. And Jesus did not kill, steal, and destroy when He was on the earth. In fact, He went about doing good and healing those who were oppressed by the devil. Jesus said about Himself that if you have seen Him, you have seen the Father. Jesus was the express image of the Father God. God is good; Satan, the devil, is bad. That’s simple theology, but there is no need to complicate it further.
In our passage for today, we see four things about Satan. First is that he was cast out of heaven. He is not equal to God, not even close. He was thrown out, and the angels who followed him were cast out with him.
Second is that Satan is a deceiver. This is how he operates. Jesus said he is a liar and the father of lies. One of Satan’s key tactics is to deceive. To spin a web of lies that is contradictory to God’s Word. This is the way Satan tricked Eve in the garden. He deceived Eve into believing that if they ate of the forbidden tree, they would not die. Rather, they would be like God. It was a lie, and we are still dealing with the aftereffects.
Third is that the devil is the accuser of the brotherhood of believers. He accuses us to God and accuses us in an effort to keep us off track. Whenever you hear what a failure you are, and what a poor excuse of a Christian, then you can be confident that you are hearing from the accuser. If Satan can bring us under condemnation, feeling so bad as believers, his job is almost done. Condemnation is the killer of faith and confidence. With our faith and confidence shot, we are not going to be getting much done.
And last of all, the devil can be overcome by us. Verse twelve says they overcame him, Satan, by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. Also, they were not overly concerned with their own life. It’s much harder to intimidate a person who is not worried about dying. Jesus’ blood was the price paid to purchase our freedom. He shed His blood once for all on the cross, and this act of love will never need to be repeated. When we add to the power of the blood of Jesus the word of our testimony, we are making progress. The word of our testimony is what Jesus has done for us. We are speaking these truths out loud, and Satan cannot stop us. Rather, we have flipped the script through Christ, and we are now on the winning side, declaring what has been done for us and Satan’s defeat.
We have an enemy. Satan still tries to deceive and accuse. But he has been defeated by Jesus, and the blood of Jesus purchased our freedom. The words of what has been done for us have enabled us to enforce the victory that Jesus bought. We may have an enemy, but we ain’t scared.
PRAYER
Thank You, Lord, that Satan is cast down and defeated. We believe in the power of Your blood, and we declare what You have done for us. Thank You for giving us the ability to overcome!