Revelation 12 paints one of the most amazing pictures in all the Bible.  In this passage, we see a war in heaven, as the devil rebels against God.  In this war, the devil is defeated and is cast out of heaven.

Ok, first something you really need to understand about the devil.  He is not God’s equal.  He isn’t.  The devil is not the equal of God.  He is a created being, he is a fallen angel.  Do not ever make him the opposite of God in terms of strength or power.  He is not all present.  He is not all knowing.  He is not all powerful.

He isn’t.  Don’t ever equate with him the mind, power, or strength of God.  Now, he is stronger than us.  But he is not stronger than God.  He was defeated by God in this war in heaven, and he will be defeated again in the end.

And you and I have a part to play in that.  Listen to what is said in Revelation 12: 10-11:

10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming,
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Messiah,
for the accuser of the breathern has been thrown down,
who accuses them day and night before our God.
11 But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.

I love what it says in verse 11.  They have conquered him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony.  The devil is defeated by the blood of Jesus.  And he is defeated as we tell the stories of what God has done.

How is this?  The blood of the Lamb atones for the penalty of sin.  Because of the work of Jesus upon the cross, our sin is paid for.  Sin and the devil have no more hold on us.  They have been defeated.  The power of the devil has been forever crushed, not by our work, but by the blood of the Lamb.

The debt of sin has been paid.  You are forgiven.  You really are.  Through what Jesus has done, you are forgiven.  The devil has lost that power of guilt over you.  Through the word of Jesus, he is defeated.

And through our testimony, more folks are told about it. As we tell folks what Jesus has done, more people are freed.  More people are forgiven.  More people find grace.  Grace spreads.  And the power of evil over lives is broken.

Jesus has conquered.  And we tell people that Jesus has conquered.

The devil is defeated.  And he will be defeated. By the blood of the lamb and our testimony.  Jesus has won the battle. And we get to tell!

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