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BY THESE THEY CONQUERED
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.
Revelation 12:11, NRSV
Our Lord’s death was more than something he and his Father agreed would take place, it was a purposed attack on the shanghaied power structures of the world that enslave countless millions in a satanic kingdom. Revelation 12:11 in an outburst of joyful praise tells us the followers of Christ overcame Satan “by the blood of the Lamb”. Not by his pitying love, not by his warm affection, not by his tolerance and bravery, not by his sweet words and true teaching, but by his blood! All these other things must be taken up into that death or that death has no meaning or atoning value. But all these things must be taken up into his death because his death was the crowning moment of his life; it was the point at which he offered all that he was and did and meant to do on our behalf. However it is to be spelled out, the death of Christ is the judgment of God against the sin of an entire humanity for the redemption of an entire humanity. [Borrowed from The Dragon Slayer, Kindle Edition Weaver Publication.]
They conquered him by the word of their testimony. That is, what they bore witness to. This is not speaking of the individual Christian’s story of salvation [though that can never be severed from His Story]—it speaks of the truth that the People of God bear witness to concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. They live and proclaim and live to proclaim the Story of God and his wondrous Son, the Lord Jesus.
And because they do this, because they proclaim the glorious gospel about a glorious Lord they speak wondrous things into existence and they dismantle a satanic world. Our weapons are not “of the flesh” though we are in a war where worlds and empires are in collision. The Lord Jesus does not put in our hands or hearts spite or vindictiveness or weapons to tear down lives. If we have such weapons we didn’t get them from him! Our weapons are the truths about God in the Lord Jesus and they are powerful enough to bring down strongholds of damning lies and every evil imagination and specious arguments that get between the human family and God. These truths have in them the power of God to drag every life-denying thought into captivity before the feet of the Lord Jesus to serve his purpose [2 Corinthians 10:3-5].
They conquered him by not clinging to life even when faced with death. There’s something worth dying for. Aren’t thousands daily proving that that is what they believe? They look at something profoundly important to them and then they look at the life they enjoy and refuse to cling to life even when death looks them right up close and personal. And isn’t life for many of us so precious—it is, so to deliberately and consciously give it up excites our admiration—no matter who it is that’s doing it.
For Jesus Christ, that the Story might be honored and that he might bless the human family by it, millions have refused to cling to life even in the face of death. Not only were they willing to live and bear witness to what they knew, they were willing to turn life loose.
By these the satanic world is conquered and humans are set free!
