OVERCOMING THE ACCUSER
Revelation 12:9-11 NKJ
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.
This is one of the nuggets of insight we can gain from the Book of Revelation. I am not confident about the identity of the woman and the child, but I do know who the dragon is. That is Satan, the devil, that serpent of old. Now, if you have never considered the fact that Satan exists, it will help you to acknowledge that he is real. One of Satan's biggest deceptions is convincing people that he does not exist. But Scripture does not bear that out. Jesus and every writer in the New Testament references Satan or the devil. In our passage for today, we see some of how he works.
He is a deceiver. Jesus called him the father of lies. He lies about God, about Jesus, about the Scriptures; he is a liar. Because he cannot dominate believers, one of his main tactics is to lie. It started in the garden when he lied to Eve about the consequences of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. An objective of his lies is to raise doubts about God and the nature of God.
Satan is the accuser of the brethren. He is constantly accusing us before God night and day. I am not sure of the details surrounding his accusations, but I have experienced his accusing voice. You are not good enough. You did this wrong. You are a poor example of a Christian, blah blah blah. If you buy into his accusations, you will live condemned, not confident. What, then, is our response to his lies and accusations?
Thank God for verse eleven. We overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb. It was Jesus' blood that paid the price to redeem or buy us back to God. We are no longer under Satan's authority but have been transferred to the Kingdom of God's Son. And we have been cleansed from our sins by that same blood. The blood of Jesus was the price paid for our ransom, but it is settled and finished, and we are under the Lordship of Jesus, not Satan.
We overcome by the word of our testimony. This will include the testimony of our confession of faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. And our agreeing to everything that Jesus did for us. So when we are praising God for the freedom and the right standing that we have because of Jesus, we are testifying to the victory that belongs to us through Him.
The last part of verse eleven is not quoted as often but is still applicable to us today. Most of us will never be forced to die for our faith, although many are severely persecuted in other parts of the world. But we should be willing to not live for ourselves but live for the One who died for us and rose again. This includes crucifying our fleshly nature and being willing to say, "Not my will, Lord, but Your will be done in my life."
These are important principles about living in a fallen world yet not being overcome by the darkness around us. This is not an exhaustive list because the armor of God comes to mind from Ephesians 6. But the truths in this passage are vital to us overcoming our adversary, the devil.
PRAYER
Thank You, Lord, for Your blood and Your victory over Satan. He is not my Lord, and I do not have to succumb to his lies, accusations, and torment. With my words, I agree with You. With my heart, I submit to Your will.