2. Christ’s Death And
Resurrection Result In The Victory Of Christ And The Saints Over The Satanic
Accuser And In The Inaugurated Messianic Kingdom. 7-12
Our first discovery here has to do with the defeat of Satan.
The Defeat And Expelling From Heaven of Satan (And Demons) Revealed
From The Angelic And Heavenly Perspective. 7-9
In verse 7 we see the war described: “Now war arose in heaven,
Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his
angels fought back….”
The dragon fighting angels and being cast out is equivalent to
Jesus’ own teaching in Luke 10:18, which leads us to see the actual defeat
taking place in the cross and resurrection of Christ: “And he said to them, ‘I
saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.’” Jesus said this in the context of having
sent out the seventy-two on mission, giving them authority to preach the
kingdom gospel, heal the sick, and, by implication, to cast out demons. When
they return, they rejoice that demons are even subject to them. It was in the
context of this rejoicing that Jesus said what he did. When Jesus sent out the
seventy-two and he said this, the cross and resurrection were just around the
corner. This complex of events was the deciding factor in Satan’s defeat. We
read of this in Colossians 2:13-15 (esp. 15): “And you, who were dead in your
trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with
him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt
that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to
the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open
shame, by triumphing over them in him.”
There are two other truths we should highlight in this verse.
First, the background to this angelic fighting vision is in Daniel.
There Michael is the angel appointed to represent God’s people (Dan. 10:13, 21;
12:1). This also stands behind John’s seeing angels as mediators or
representatives of the church (cf. how angels function especially in ch’s. 2-3
and the elders in ch’s. 4-5). Angels are identified as fighting for Israel
against the demonic rulers over Persia and Greece (nations oppressing God’s
people in Dan. 10:20-21). Dan. 10:5-21 should also be noted, where “one like a
Son of man” is joined by Michael to fight these evil forces.
The wording, “Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon…but
he was defeated” (vv. 7-8) is a reversal of the language in Dan. 7:21, “this
horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, until the Ancient of
Days came….” It is meant to show a great reversal now that Christ has come and
accomplished his saving work. No more are the true people of God defeated in
the ultimate sense.
In a similar fashion John now sees Michael representing God’s
covenant community and the messianic leader of that community, fighting in
heaven, even as Christ fought on earth. Michael functions in John’s vision much
like in Daniel’s—he is beside the Son of man to fight for him. Like with Daniel,
so in Rev. 12:7, Michael is a representative of the true Israel and has the
same relation to the Son of Man, Christ, as in Daniel 10. In other words, Michael
reflects Jesus’ earthly victory as his representative in the heavenly sphere. To
put this another way, Christ’s resurrection and the beginning of his rule are
immediately reflected in heaven by the defeat of the devil and his hosts by
Michael and his angels. Michael’s engagement in heaven was a direct and certain
reflex action put into place by Christ’s saving work on earth.
The second truth we should highlight is much shorter. When the
text says, “the dragon and his angels…,” we see evidence of Satan being a
ruling angel over other angels and the reality that these angels have fallen
with him. They are what Scripture calls demons or evil spirits and they are
those through whom Satan does the vast majority of his work since he is not
omnipresent.
Now, we not only see the expulsion of the devil and his evil
spirits from heaven, but his identity is also put beyond question in verses
8-9: “but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in
heaven. 9 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.”
There are several truths we dare not miss in these verses.
To begin, the background to verse 8 and the idea of Satan and
demons being cast out of heaven is found in Daniel. Greg Beale (with David
Campbell, in Revelation, 254) explains:
The
clause, “and there was no longer any place for them in heaven, is very similar
to what we find in the Greek of Daniel 2:35 (“and a place was not found for
them”), where a stone, representing the force of God’s kingdom (Dan. 2:44)
strikes a statue that represents the last four kingdoms of world history. Jesus
saw the prophecy beginning its fulfillment in His own ministry (Luke 20:17-18).
The Jews who rejected Him were identified with the ungodly nations who would be
judged by Him. He was the stone of Daniel 2. Christ’s resurrection immediately
unleashes the effect of Michael’s representative victory in heaven, and the
Daniel 2 imagery shows this to be an absolute and universal judgment….
Opposition to God’s kingdom and His people is decisively thwarted. …[The same
language is used in Rev. 20:11 (“and a place was not found for them”) in regard
to earth and sky fleeing from the presence of God on the great white throne in
judgment.]
The sense seems to be that the victory of Christ over Satan and
his angels in the cross and resurrection, though decisive, has effects that
were inaugurated in this age, but will not be fully consummated until his
Second Coming. What happens, then, with Satan and his angels? Verse 9
introduces the answer to that: Satan and his angels are still busy on the
earth—albeit as a defeated enemy.
Second, since the devil is called “the accuser of our brothers” in
verse 10, it may very well be that the vision of the expulsion from heaven of
Satan and his demons is also intended to show that Satan and his cohort have no
real ability any longer to accuse those who are united to Jesus Christ. Such
accusation by Satan is seen in Job 1-2. Since this is the case, his accusations
made to Christians are all so much “blowing smoke.” There is nothing to them.
Third, we discover beyond a doubt that what took place in the
Garden of Eden in Genesis 3 does involve Satan, also known as the devil,
appearing as a snake, lying to, and deceiving Eve. We see, then, that deception
has been his modus operandi from the beginning. This also will be emphasized
again in Rev. 12:15.
Fourth, we must not miss that given the descriptions of the devil
here and in verse 10, the way he seeks to hurt believers and thwart their
witness for Christ is by lying to them and making accusations against them that
threaten to paralyze them, stopping them in their tracks. Examples might
include: “You’re too big a sinner. God could never forgive you and certainly
could never work through you. It’s no use even trying.” “Since your adult child
is not walking with Christ, you are a lousy parent and lack God’s blessing. Why
even attempt to serve him, or even to follow him. You might as well give up!” “Look
around at your life. God is not good, he does not keep his promises with you.
You will have to take matters into your own hands and do it your way!” “Surely
a person is not saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. This
is not sufficient. Besides, to believe that God would intentionally kill his
Son, the God-man, is to believe in divine child abuse. What a horrid and
out-of-date doctrine!” Or, “Hey, you may not be perfect, but you are better
than most. You don’t need a Savior!”
Now we come to the heart of how to rest in the victory of Christ he
has applied to us in verses 10-12.
Salvation Is Pronounced From Heaven, Along With Explanation Of
Satan’s Accusations, His Wrath, And The Saints’ Conquering Of Him. 10-12
To start, verse 10 makes it clear that it is the work of Christ
that has defeated Satan: “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.’” Since humans in Revelation give
praise and angels pronounce salvation and judgment, this word of praise is most
likely on the lips of saints. Given the parallel nature of this to Rev.
5:11-12, the focus here also is upon the triumphal resurrection of Jesus
Christ, which brought the start of the kingdom of God. The word “now”
emphasizes the beginning aspect of the kingdom.
A role that God ordained for Satan to have for a time was that of
accusing the saints (cf. Job 1:6-11; 2:1-6; Zech. 3:1-2) and God permitted him
access to him to do so. Implicit in these and other texts (cf. Rom. 3:25) is
that Satan not only accused the saints, but also accused God of corruption
since God had not required the second death from them as penalty for sin (Prov.
17:15: “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both
alike an abomination to the LORD”). Of course, even in the Old Testament, this accusation was not
altogether right since God forgave the sins of his saints based upon the future
work of Christ (Is. 53).
Yet, according to this text, with the death and resurrection of
Christ in behalf of his people, there is now no more condemnation (Rom. 8:1)
and no one can bring a charge against God’s elect (Rom. 8:33-34, 38). The devil
has no basis for his accusations, and he is evicted from the heavenly courtroom
and counsel of God.
What is more, in verse 11, we discover how the saints rest in
Christ’s victory, the very victory he has accomplished for them: “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.”
Not only is this twelfth chapter somewhat of a climax in the book
of Revelation in that it goes to the heart of the extent of and reason for
Satan’s opposition, this particular verse goes to the heart of how saints
conquer him and thus forms a key statement in the entire book that summarizes
an important and recurring message. As such, it also points to the only means
through which God protects his people (verses 1-6, 13-17).
There are three ways saints rest in the victory of Christ applied
to them and so overcome Satan.
To begin, “And they have conquered him on the ground of the blood
of the Lamb” (my own translation). In other words, Christians must realize and
preach to self and proclaim to demonic accusers that our trust for our standing
before God is the substitutionary atoning death of Jesus Christ—nothing less
and nothing more. Don Carson gives a succinct explanation of what this means:
From
a Christian perspective, all the blessings and resources that are ours in
Christ are grounded in the blood of the Lamb; they are secured by Jesus’ death
and resurrection.
Do
you find yourself accepted before this holy God? If so, it is because of the
blood of the Lamb. Have you received the blessed Holy Spirit? He has been
poured out because of the blood of the Lamb. Do you have the prospect of
consummated eternal life in glory? It was secured by the blood of the Lamb. Are
you in the fellowship of saints, brothers and sisters who love Christ, the
church of the living God, a new body, the body of Christ on earth? This is
bought, secured, and constituted by the blood of the Lamb. Are you grateful for
the spiritual armaments that Paul tells us to deploy (Eph. 6)? The entire
arsenal is at our disposal because of the blood of the Lamb. May we go to God
in prayer? It is because of the blood of the Lamb. Do we find our wills
strengthened by the Spirit? That incalculable benefit was secured by the blood
of the Lamb.
Every
whiff of victory over the principalities and powers of this dark age has been
secured by the blood of the Lamb.[1]
And so, the first and foundational way Christians overcome Satan’s
deception and accusations is by proclaiming to self, each other, to demons, and
to those who do the bidding of demons, the truth: “Our hope is built in nothing else but Jesus’
blood and righteousness!” So, “We will not believe your lies!”
The second way Christians rest in the victory of Christ so as to
overcome Satan is that, as those who have not been paralyzed by accusations and
doubts, they are able to go forward as witnesses to Jesus Christ: “and by the
word of their testimony….”
“It is not simply a question of how we survive the accusations of the
Evil One. It is a question of how we fight the Evil One.”[2] We fight and overcome
Satan not by taking up sword and spear or even by good works or social
engagement (these latter two are important entailments of the gospel). The
“and” shows that another way of conquering Satan is being given. It is through
their testimony and, as Don Carson writes, “It refers to Christians bearing
testimony to Christ; they bear witness to Christ. They gossip the gospel.”[3]
The logic at this point seems to be this: When we understand that
the only ground of our conquering the Devil is the blood of the Lamb, we also
see that this gospel of the kingdom that calls people to trust in Jesus Christ
alone for their salvation is the only hope for others and for taking back occupied
territory and lives from Satan. And so, we not only fight and conquer Satan’s
accusations by the death of Jesus Christ in our own life—applying the gospel to
us, we also proclaim that gospel as the only hope for others and as the loving
outgrowth of our new life in Christ. Thus, “…the only way that we can be
defeated on this dimension is to be quiet. Our silence guarantees a measure of
victory to Satan.”[4]
The final way Christians rest in Christ’s applied victory so they
can conquer the enemy is this: “…[and] they loved not their lives even unto
death.”
Again there appears to be a logical progression to these three
ways of Christians resting in the applied victorious Devil-conquering death of
Jesus Christ. Because the blood (the sacrificial death) of Jesus Christ is the
ground of overcoming the accusations, lies, and discouragements of the Evil
One—the only way—Christians are moved to tell others about this good news.
Motivated by the blood of Christ as the only hope (and by joy, v. 12), they
bear witness to Christ before others and so realize the defeat of Satan as more
and more people are won to Christ. And, how serious are genuine, transformed Christians
about this? How committed are they to
this gospel ministry? They love Christ, they love pleasing him, and love making
much of him, more than they love their own life itself. So, they are willing to
suffer and die, if need be. Because of
this, they keep applying the gospel, they keep living by faith, they keep
teaching the gospel!
The net effect of what we see in verses 10-11 is that saints can
rejoice, yet those who don’t know Christ must beware since Satan is on the
loose and his wrath is kindled as one
who knows he is defeated by Christ and his time is short. Verse 12 reads: “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!” The final sentence here is instructive in that it shows why the
devil and his demonic legions are so on the warpath and seeking to cause as
much pain and suffering as they can. This is why we see such evil, pain, and
suffering—especially that inflicted by people-on-people.
This brings us to the third sub-section of Revelation 12:1-17, the
reemphasis on protection of God’s people. We will look at this section in our
next post.
Joyfully Resting On Christ Alone For Salvation And For Conquering
Satan With You,
Tom
[1]
Carson, Scandalous,
99. Carson (98-99) adds: “The great redemptive act that freed [the saints] from
their sins (1:5) and established their right to reign as priests and kings
(5:9) is also what gives them authority over Satan and enables them to overcome
Satan and all of his accusations (12:11). Satan accuses Christians day and
night…to make us feel as dirty, guilty, defeated, destroyed, weak, and ugly as
he possibly can…[and worse, he tries to accuse us] ‘before God day and night….
What can we say in response? Will our defense be, ‘Oh, I’m not that bad!’ You
will never beat Satan that way. Never. What you must say is, ‘Satan, I’m even worse
than you think, but God loves me anyway. He has accepted me because of the
blood of the Lamb.’”
Carson, Scandalous,
100-101, provides a helpful example of two men involved in the Passover of
Israel when God was preparing to lead them out of Egypt. Both place blood of
the lamb on their door. One is quite calm about the whole thing, trusting in
God to save them and pass over his children. The other is struggling more to
believe. Which one, Carson asks, has the death angel pass over and so his
children are saved? The answer is both,
because the promise of God was to all covered by the blood and death of the
lamb. It does not depend upon the strength of faith, etc.
Carson, 101-103, then goes on to provide an example
from our own contemporary setting of a Christian who bases their good sense of
how things are going on having all the right things happen in a day and their
bad sense on a day full of difficulties. Then, he asked the question (103): “On
which of these two occasions have you fallen into the dreadful trap of
paganism? God help us: the sad reality is that both approaches to God are
abominations. How dare you approach the mercy-seat of God on the basis of what
kind of day you had, as if that were the basis for our entrance into the
presence of the sovereign and holy God? No wonder we cannot beat the Devil.
This is works theology. It has nothing to do with grace and the exclusive
sufficiency of Christ. Nothing.
“Do you not understand that we overcome the accuser on
the ground of the blood of Christ? Nothing more, nothing less. This is how we
win. It is the only way we win.” He goes on to write that we overcome all
doubts and sins ultimately on the ground of the blood of Christ!
[2]
Carson, 105.
[3]
Carson, 105.
[4]
Carson, 106.
No comments:
Post a Comment