Satan is a Defeated Foe

Revelation 12:7-9 ESV

 

“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.”

 

I am not a Bible theologian, so I am not going to attempt to decipher all the symbols and their meanings in this passage of Scripture. And just so you know, not everyone who does attempt to decipher these symbols agrees with one another. So, I think the best approach here is just to look at the overall meaning of what this is teaching us to our lives today. Yet, here are some possible additional Scriptures to look at on the subject of Satan’s fall from heaven which may help bring it all to light:

 

[Is 14:12-14; Lu 10:18; Rev 9:1; Heb 12:22; Rev 12:3-9]

 

The point is really that Satan is a defeated foe. He has no power over us who are followers of Jesus Christ. He may attack us in our minds, or in our bodies, or via other people’s words against us, but he can’t conquer us in the sense of defeating us if we are following Jesus with our lives, and if our trust is in the Lord. He is indeed the deceiver of the world, but if we are following Jesus with our lives, and if we are listening to and heeding the Spirit’s voice, we should not be among the deceived, but we should guard against deceit.

 

Revelation 12:10-12,17 ESV

 

“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!’”

 

“Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.”

 

 

Satan Is Defeated

 

When Jesus Christ died on that cross to deliver us from our slavery to sin, and when he did not remain dead, but God the Father resurrected him from the grave triumphant over Satan, hell, sin, and death, Satan was defeated. He had tried with all his might to kill and to destroy Jesus and his message of the gospel, while Jesus lived on the earth, and then via his crucifixion, but Jesus conquered Satan, instead. He rose from the grave triumphant over our enemy, so that we can also live in triumph over our enemy Satan, too.

 

So, what this means for us is that if we are walking in fellowship with our Lord, in obedience to him, and if we are putting sin to death in our lives, by the Spirit, although Satan will come against us, to accuse us falsely, he can’t defeat us. He can’t do anything to us to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord, although he will certainly try to convince us that he has the power to do so or that he is capable of such a feat as that. But we must reject his lies, and we must hold on to the truth.

 

Now, let me say this here. There is a popular teaching these days that we are to claim that our identity is in Christ just by a mere profession of faith in Christ, even though we may be living far from God in deliberate and habitual sin against him. But our identity is in who we are, and we are who we are by what we do. So, our identity is not in Christ if we are not truly in Christ, because we have not forsaken our lifestyles of sin, and we have not submitted to the Lordship of Christ, and because we are not obeying Him.

 

So, you can’t claim that nothing can separate you from God’s love if you are living in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord. You can’t live in sin, in direct defiance to God’s commands, and then just claim who you are in Christ as though that somehow clears you of all guilt. If you are living in sexual immorality in adultery against your spouse, you are an adulterer. You can’t claim that Satan is the one accusing you and so you fight off his accusations with your “identity in Christ,” as though that is the truth.

 

For, our salvation from sin is not some status we wear while we continue to live like hell. Jesus died on that cross that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us. He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. And his blood bought us back for God (it redeemed us) so we would now honor God with our bodies.

 

[1 Pet 2:24; 2 Co 5:15,21; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Co 6:19-20; Rom 6:1-23]

 

We are Conquerors

 

So, we are able to defeat Satan and his many schemes against us because of what Jesus did for us on that cross in putting our sin to death; and because of our faith in Jesus Christ whereby our old self was crucified with Christ in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so we would no longer be enslaved to sin, but so we’d live as slaves to righteousness; and by our walks of faith in Jesus Christ, and by our testimonies for the gospel of Jesus Christ, and by our stand on truth and righteousness.

 

For we do not love our lives even unto death. We are not trying to hold on to our physical lives, other than in the sense of trying to take care of ourselves health wise. But our physical lives on this earth are not more important to us than following Jesus in obedience, and they are not more important to us than the salvation of human souls and the spiritual maturity of our fellow Christians. Our reputations and being accepted and loved by others are also not more important to us than following Jesus with our lives.

 

Satan knows his time is short, and so he is like a roaring lion roaming around seeking whom he may devour. He hates those of us who are following Jesus with our lives and who are testifying to the gospel of our salvation to the world around us. So, he is at war with us, and he will attack us in so many different ways, sometimes just in our minds, or in our bodies (as with Job), and many times via false accusations coming from Satan through other humans who are also not on our side, but who’re against us.

 

But, thanks be to God, if we are following Jesus with our lives, and if we are obeying his commandments (New Covenant), and if we are holding fast to the testimony of the gospel of Christ as Jesus taught it, and as Paul and the other apostles taught it (read the Scriptures in context, please), Satan cannot defeat us. But we can overcome him, and we can be victorious. And we are able to not yield to his tricks and schemes and false accusations against us. All glory and praise belong to God! Great things HE has done!

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Jas 1:22-25; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; Matt 7:21-23; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rev. 2-3; Rev 18:1-6; Rev 21:8, 27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

 

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

 

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

 

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg

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