WORSHIP SONG SIX

Revelation 12:10-12

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 our comrades has been thrown down,
who accuses them day and night before our God.
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.
Rejoice then, you heavens
and those who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
for the devil has come down to you
with great wrath,
because he knows that his time is short!”

March 9th

See the bottom of this post for how to use this daily devotional

PRAY

READ ALOUD Revelation 12:10-12

REFLECT

I was born shortly after World War II and often heard my parents talk about the war. They told me about food rationing, women in the work place, longer work hours, and waiting for news from the front, especially Edward R. Murrow’s “This Is London”. They remembered D-Day with excitement, and VE-Day and the its celebration of victory.

My father told me that with D-Day and the Allied invasion of Normandy they knew that the defeat of Nazi Germany was certain. There would still be fierce battles to fight, but with D-Day, victory was never in doubt. Theologian Oscar Cullman compares the cross of Christ and His resurrection to D-Day. Cullman points out that in most every war there is a decisive battle that determines the outcome of the war. There is a Gettysburg, a Waterloo or a D-Day that leaves no question as to the war’s outcome. Christ’s victory over sin and the grave forever determined God’s war against the forces of darkness. (Oscar Cullman, Christ and Time)

The apostle Paul thought of Christ’s cross and resurrection as God’s decisive battle against evil:

And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it (Colossians 2:13-14).

Paul lined up his thinking with Jesus who also spoke of His cross and the resurrection as the decisive battle of heaven and earth: “Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out” (John 12:31). When seventy excited followers of Jesus returned from their mission of proclaiming God’s Kingdom, Jesus foretold: “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning” (Luke 10:18).

Today’s Scripture gives a glimpse of heaven’s jubilant celebration of Christ’s victory: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah, for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down…” There will still be fierce battles for us to fight in the power of the Holy Spirit, but our victory is certain! We will conquer by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony!

READ ALOUD Revelation 12:10-12

WORSHIP