Overcoming By the Blood of The Lamb and by the Word – Revelation 12:11-12

Overcoming By the Blood of The Lamb and by the Word – Revelation 12:11-12

Revelation 12:11-12 – “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore, rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them!  But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you!  He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.”

This passage is part of the heavenly declaration at the end of days, when Jesus returns and the faithful church claims its permanent victory.  This future declaration uses the past tense to refer back to the time in which we now live – the time when true believers overcome the Enemy (Satan), “who accuses them before our God day and night” (verse 10).  They are not just overcoming physical problems or financial problems; they overcome the “accuser of the brethren,” who uses the problem of sin to bring spiritual wrath on us.

We do not overcome the Enemy by shouting at him.  We do not overcome with spiritual rituals or superstitious habits.  We do not overcome by keeping certain rules.  We do not overcome by giving money to the church, even though giving is virtuous – stewardship is not how we overcome the Enemy.  We overcome only through two things – the BLOOD OF JESUS and the WORD to which we testify through our words and actions (the gospel).  This future declaration refers in the past tense to our situation today – we are overcoming the Enemy when we focus on the blood of Jesus (in all its dimensions) and the Word of our testimony.  Satan tells people they can overcome through other means, knowing that they will fail if they rely on anything else.  Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)

How do we overcome through the blood of the Lamb?

1)    Jesus’ blood provides atonement (the final blood sacrifice) for us so that we can have forgiveness from God for sinning against Him.  We pray and ask God to cleanse us from our sins through the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:9).  We do this at our initial conversion, to obtain forgiveness for our life apart from God up to that point, and we do it as believers whenever we fail and lapse into sin.  We plead the blood for cleansing whenever we sin by neglecting to do our spiritual duty.  “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”  (James 4:17)  Sin should be a rare occurrence for us, increasingly rare as we mature in our faith.

2)    The blood of Jesus sustains us and strengthens his life in us.  “The life is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:11-14).  We plead the blood of the Lamb every day, and his life from eternity becomes renewed within us.  This increases our faith, strengthens our resolve against sin, empowers us to do God’s will, and adjusts our attitudes and thinking so that we have a spiritual mindset (Romans 8).

3)    Jesus’ blood ushers us into the presence of God when we pray and worship (see Hebrews 10:19-22).  In his presence, as we behold his glory, become more like Jesus – a deep inner process of sanctification.  “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit,” (2 Corinthians 3:18).  When we plead the blood, it allows us to enter into intimate fellowship with the Lord.

4)    Jesus’ blood wards off demonic attacks, much like the blood of the Passover lamb turned away the spirit of death in Exodus 12.  Of course, the first three items in this list are more important, because they pertain to eternity, whereas demonic attacks are temporary incidents in this world (not permanent).  Deliverance from a demonic attack is certainly important, but it pertains to a single incident.  The other matters pertain to eternity.

They did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death… Many Christians today cannot even endure a simple inconvenience for the sake of Christ.  The smallest burden for them seems like too much trouble.  Yet many true believers in history have had to make the ultimate sacrifice for their faith, remaining faithful even when threatened with death.  God honors those believers in the book of Revelation.  It does not say they necessarily died (suffered martyrdom) in every case, but rather that they were willing to do so – they loved the Lord more than their own lives.