And the winner is . . .

Our ‘home group’ has been looking at the book of Revelation (and we are none the wiser in understanding it), but this passage is still my favorite. Slowing down to “phrase” it makes it more so . . .

Now war arose in heaven,

Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon.

And the dragon and his angels fought back,

but he was defeated,

and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.

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.

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.

                 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.

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 12:7–12)

Whatever else Revelation means, however anyone might interpret it, this passage says two definite things. One is that Jesus defeats the devil! He tossed the enemy of all humanity out of heaven and even though this evil one was allowed to come here to lie and destroy, these verses speak clearly of his defeat. In fact, the verb in “they have conquered him” is in the indicative mood, which in Greek means “it’s a sure thing.”

No maybe about it – the devil met his match in Jesus Christ. The blood of the precious Lamb of God has sealed his doom. Not only that, those who give testimony to faith in Christ also most certainly conquer him, even if it means a martyr’s death – and that is the second definite thing.  

Again, whatever else Revelation means, however anyone might interpret it, two things are not only clear but absolutely certain: Jesus wins, and because He wins, His people also win. Hallelujah!