September 29, 2024 – St. Michael and All Angels Text: Revelation 12:7-12
Dear Friends in Christ,
Satan that sneaky little devil is quite the liar. He has way of convincing people in our world that he is not real. If he doesn’t exist, he can work his evil schemes more effectively under the radar.
The Scriptures reveal Satan for who he truly is. From his fruit tree trickery in the Garden to his boastful tempting in the desert with Jesus. It is the work of Jesus in overcoming Satan and the forces of evil that come to a climax in our text. The joyous message is that this great accuser of mankind, Satan, is no longer in heaven to bring accusations against us. This text unveils the truth . . .
“CONQUERED BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB”
As a competitor one line I never like hearing is: “It doesn’t matter if you win or lose, only how you play the game.” Then why am I out there? That line is much easier to swallow if you are the victor. If we lose, we don’t like it. We may give our best and still walk away with head down. “It is just not fair.” We may be right.
The struggle for many is that the battles they fight so often are battles they must fight alone. Even the people of God feel this way at times. The power of the enemy can be so strong, we can be so weak. Victory often goes to those who oppose God and His truth.
Look at the world around you. What do you see? You see sin, death, and Satan seeming to win battle after battle. We have unending conflicts between countries. Hatred and violence toward others. Political upheaval. The Lord mocked and ridiculed by many voices. No sense of right and wrong. The sound of a broken world is deafening.
Let’s break through the noise. Satan’s rebellion and removal from heaven is one of those mysteries that God tells us very little. We do know Satan led a substantial rebellion of angels after creation and before the fall of Adam and Eve. Our text is a place where this becomes clearer. Revelation makes it clear that after Satan’s fall he still had access to the presence of God for some time. His primary activity was to bring accusations before God as our text states, “The accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.” (v. 10) Not a pretty scene. Satan reminding God of the sins of mankind day and night.
The good news trumpeted by our text is that this kind of Satanic activity is no longer effective. Satan has been defeated, cast out of heaven, thrown down to earth. “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.” (v. 7-9) Alrighty then, let’s cheer. Michael and the good angels defeated this wily serpent and his minions. We win! We win! Yes!
Who should get the credit for this conquering victory? The text is clear: “They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb.” (v. 11a) Jesus the unblemished, perfect sacrifice whose blood makes payment for all sins of mankind. Christ as Advocate interceded for us. Paul writes: “Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” (Rom. 8:34) The source of this victory in heaven, then, is the blood of the Lamb.
We all know people who like to pump iron. They lift weights to build up muscle in their bodies. They want to be stronger than the next person. Was this Michael’s secret? Did the archangel pump more iron in heaven than Satan had in hell?
No. The key battle in the war against Satan was not one angel, Michael, confronting another angel, Satan. It was the Lord Jesus Christ confronting Satan and all the forces of evil as the sacrificial Lamb whose blood was pumped out on the cross as payment for our sin. Michael and his angels are not an independent militia who had pumped more iron in the gym than Satan and the evil angels. They are the army of the Lamb enforcing the victory of the Lamb by casting Satan out of heaven.
We do not fight alone. The great evil has been overcome. Thank God for this victory in heaven, won by Christ on the cross and carried out by Michael and the angelic hosts. Feels good to win, doesn’t it? Conquered by the Blood of the Lamb.
Amen.