The Christmas Story Prologue
For many, the Nativity is the beginning of the Christmas story. However, a cosmic war was raging long before that day in Bethlehem.
Scripture: Revelation 12
There's nothing like the joy and wonder that surrounds birth. How many of you remember the delivery of your children or grandchildren? You couldn't help yourself. You grinned from ear to ear and were filled with wonder. I remember the joy and wonder that was excited in my heart for the birth of all three of my boys, and that's precisely what we see in the Gospels.
When we look at Jesus' birth, it excited such wonder in those who witnessed His birth that the shepherds and the Magi had jaw-dropping awe when they saw Him. Can you imagine the saturation of God's presence when they arrived to see this supernatural child? I can only imagine the wonder and joy it evoked in their hearts. They came to worship the Lord, which is our calling on earth. We are called to worship Him, adore Him, love Him, surrender to Him, and serve Him.
It's important to note that we see from Revelation 12 is that this birth excited more than joy and wonder. Jesus' birth excited evil because it knew what the birth meant for itself. Evil knows that it was finished, and that was a significant concern.
There is a cosmic war happening, and it began in the heavens long before any of us stepped foot on the earth and even before the birth of our Savior. But the good news is that even though the war rages on, it was won through His birth many centuries ago. This message of decisive victory was belted out from Heavens' choir when the angels sang at Bethlehem.
In his masterful commentary on Revelation, Daryl Johnson writes, "The war in heaven is won through an event on earth, through the birth of a child on earth. The war is won through the life of that child. The war is won through the preaching, teaching, and healing ministry of that child. The war is won to the crucifixion of that child. The war is won to the resurrection of that child. The war is won through the ascension of that child to the throne. That child was Jesus, born into the world, to be king of the world, and He won heaven’s war on the earth."
Some of us have never seen the Nativity story in light of this cosmic war. Yet, it immediately takes us out of the realm of coziness, warmth, and comfort into a battle.
Before we begin the main message, I want to set up the three main characters of Revelation 12: the woman, the red dragon, and the child.
"A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth." (Revelation 12:1-2)
This woman is Mary, the mother of Jesus. This woman is the people of God, Israel, both before and after the coming of Jesus. This woman is also the church. She represents all three entities: Mary, Israel, and the church.
"Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him." (Revelation 12:3, 9)
As the text says, this red dragon is the devil, Satan, or the serpent of old.
"The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who 'will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.’ And her child was snatched up to God and to His throne. The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days." (Revelation 12:4-6)
The third character introduced is the child. This, of course, is Jesus. Did you know that Herod was not the first to attempt to kill the Messiah? So it was right here from the beginning; the red dragon's motivation was to kill this child.
This passage references that the devil has a tail, but I don't think it means a tail like your dog has. I think what that indicates is the devil has power. He has some power, but it’s limited. We know he had the power to convince one-third of the angels to follow him. But He didn't have the power to thwart the work of God in this little handmaiden named Mary, who trusted God in an unfathomable situation. No matter how much power the red dragon has, it's nothing compared to the great power in our Savior and in the Holy Spirit.
"Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him." (Revelation 12:7-9)
Six times in Revelation 12, it's mentioned that Satan is hurled down. I've never been to a bar, but my brother Chuck is a bodybuilder and a bouncer. The bouncer is the one that grabs a troublemaker by the neck and says, "Let me help you move outside these premises." That's exactly what God did. He forcefully escorted Satan from the heavens following his revolt.
So if you're wondering if evil has already been defeated, why does evil still seem to be wreaking havoc in this world? It's because the dragon is enraged and filled with fury. He's angry because he has been evicted. The dragon knows his time is short and getting shorter. So he wants to make the most impact in the shortest amount of time.
"When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. Then from his mouth, the serpent spewed water like a river to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God's commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus." (Revelation 12:13-17)
Folks, the church's suffering in the world is not a sign of Satan's victory. It's the realization of his defeat. He does not want the child of Bethlehem to be king. The enemy threatens to undo us and goes after God's people in three ways.
1) Guilt and accusation (Revelation 12:10)
The Hebrew word Satan means accuser. He is the accuser of each of us and our brothers and sisters in Christ. The dragon hassles and bullies God's people. He enjoys slandering us before God and continually reminding us that we are not worthy of God's love because of our sin.
Have you heard the red dragon's whispers? "You have way too much sin in your life for God to love you." Folks, I want to let you know this. This is hard to understand sometimes. God's love for you doesn't depend on you being sinless. We would all be in bad shape if it did because the Bible says that God died for us and our sins when we were yet His enemies. His love did not come to us when we deserved it. We don't deserve it anymore today just because we get a little more right than we used to. It's all God's grace.
We need to be careful, though, not to get caught up in his accusations. Some people are not free because they're listening to the accuser of their hearts. Sometimes, you have to speak the word of God to the kingdom of darkness in your life. God tells us that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and will forgive and cleanse us in righteousness.
2) Deception (Revelation 12:9)
The dragon is the deceiver, and it says he leads the world astray. Why does he do that? The red dragon has a character issue. He is fundamentally deceived; therefore, he deceives others. Jesus called him the father of lies in John 8:44. Things are as bad as they are because there is a power of deception at work in the world.
I believe that the enemy is trying to take out everything that belongs to God. The deceiver uses people to lie, and he gets them on his side by telling them partial truths. Therefore, we need to be hungry for the truth and believe it in small and big ways.
3) The threat of death.
The red dragon seeks to intimidate us with the threat of death. I visit hospitals often, and I was a hospice chaplain for a long time. People are afraid to die, even Christians. It isn't easy to wrap your mind around not being on earth anymore.
The writer of Hebrews 2:15 says that the evil one keeps people under his thumb through their fear of death. It also says that Jesus came to free us from the slavery of the fear of death. The only person that can help you with your fear is our Lord. He wants you to bring all of your concerns into His presence, including the fear of death. It's okay to have that conversation with Jesus.
The war has been won, but because the enemy will not surrender, the battle continues to rage. So how do we stand and overcome until it ends?
1) The power of Jesus' blood.
We overcome the dragon's flood of accusations and guilt by the blood of the Lamb. In verse 11, it says they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. We have a Savior who dealt with our sins. That's why you don't need to play the game of guilt and accusation with the enemy. The blood of Jesus has paid the penalty of sin. He cleanses us from the past, from present sins, and even from future sins because the blood never loses its power.
2) The power of truth.
We overcome Satan's flood of deceit by seeking the power of truth. The only counter to deception is words of truth, particularly truth found in Jesus. We get to become people of truth from the inside out. As Christians, we’re called to walk in truth at all times.
3) The power of learning how to be fearless in the face of death.
We overcome the fears over death by declaring the Gospel to ourselves. We've got to remind ourselves that death has been robbed of its finality. We do not need to be fearful of losing our lives, and we better be careful of who we're living for and is it worth dying for.
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About Christ Church Memphis
Christ Church Memphis is church in East Memphis, Tennessee. For more than 65 years, Christ Church has served the Memphis community. Every weekend, there are multiple worship opportunities including traditional, contemporary and blended services.
