Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
Last week, we touched briefly upon Revelation 12:7-9: “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” We know from Ezekiel 28:11-19 and especially Isaiah 14:12-15 that Satan has already been cast out of heaven (for example, Isaiah 14:12a states, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!”) Revelation 12:4a is consistent with this Old Testament teaching, indicating that Satan has lost his residency in heaven due to his rebellion (as have the fallen angels). The book of Job does reveal that Satan currently has limited access to heaven (a fact that troubles many Christians), but we should note that he “came to present” himself to God at that specific time (Job 1:6), demonstrating the sovereignty of God in summoning him. However, at the midpoint of the Tribulation, our accuser (the meaning of “Devil”) and adversary (the meaning of “Satan”) makes another vain attempt to attack heaven and overthrow God. “Michael and his angels” had to fight (the better translation of “fought”) because of this Satanic effort at unsummoned and unfettered access. An old Gospel song flatly states, “Satan, your kingdom must come down.” Indeed, even as Satan wreaks unholy havoc during the Tribulation, he will be defeated in heaven – not even directly by God Himself – but by God’s holy servants. We should take strong comfort in this truth.