Date of message: 19 October 2003
Issue
114
Subject: The Accuser Has Been Defeated
Shalom, Boker-tov (good morning),
Last week I shared how Believers in the Lord will each receive a heavenly
body when He comes back to take us home to be with Him forever. Our earthly
bodies have a limited life-span and the decaying process started the day
we were born. Some people experienced accelerated decay like the case,
which I read in the newspapers some time ago, of a boy who was only twelve
years old but his body degenerated so quickly that he ended up having
a body that was in its fifties.
The apostle Paul encouraged the Church in Ephesians 1: 13-14: -
13. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with
the Holy Spirit of promise,
14. who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the
purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
When we purchase an expensive item and require home delivery, we normally
pay a deposit to the vendor and the balance will be paid when the item
has been delivered. The act of paying the deposit is termed 'consideration'
in contract law and that binds both parties to the contract. The vendor,
after he had received the consideration is bound to deliver the item purchased
to the place designated by the buyer. Failure to deliver the said item
would render a breach of the sale contract and the buyer will be entitled
to recourse in a court of law.
After Jesus rose from the dead, He promised His disciples that He would
send the Promise of His Father upon them (Luke 24: 49) and on the Day
of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon all those who were present
in the Upper Room that day. All 120 of them were filled with the Holy
Spirit and the Church was born.
The Holy Spirit was given to all Believers since then and His very presence
signified a down-payment of sorts assuring us that the full delivery of
our bodily redemption is pending and will be fulfilled in due course.
That should be good news to all. What is even better is that the redemption
period for our earthly bodies is drawing quickly to a 'maturity date'
(to borrow a term from the financial sector).
Certainly this good news should set us all jumping for joy and being exuberant.
Unfortunately not all are doing that because some have been blinded by
the accuser of the Believers, who is none other than the devil himself.
In the New Testament, he is known as 'diabolos' in Greek meaning 'the
devil' while in Hebrew, he is called 'ha satan' which is translated as
'the accuser'.
What does he accuse us of? In the book of Job, we read of the devil appearing
before the throne of God and accused Him of special treatment for Job;
of associating his piety and his blessings. And today we are not spared
his accusations either. Every day he comes and accuses each of us of all
our sins and where we have fallen short of God's standards; he does not
want us to be enjoying the Lord's blessings but he wants us to go around
feeling dejected, defeated and downcast.
Well, I have great news for all. He is no longer a force to be reckoned
with after Jesus died and rose from the dead. The apostle John wrote,
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, of the finality of the devil's
position in Revelations 12: 10 - 12: -
10. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and
strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ has
come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God
day and night, has been cast down.
11. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of
their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
12. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the
inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you,
having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time."
Satan knows that he only has a very short time left on this planet; soon
his time will run out and he will be locked away in the lake of fire forever.
He has great wrath as a result and his target will be the Believers -
not that non-Believers will be spared, but that they are easier targets
and less effort is needed for them.
The apostle John reminded the Church that the devil had indeed been defeated
when Jesus died on the cross and by rising from the dead, He had defeated
the last enemy - death itself. Because of the blood of Jesus, the accuser
has lost his place in heaven. He has been cast out of heaven and his next
destination is the pit of fire in hell.
Once we as Believers understand and appreciate the truth of the statement
in verse 10 above, we will be able to resist the devil and we will claim
our protection in the blood of Jesus. The devil will be dumbfounded for
all his accusations will fall flat on his own face. The apostle Peter
reminded his readers that the devil goes around like a roaring lion seeking
whomever he may devour (1 Peter 5: 8). Praise the Lord that there will
be some whom he cannot devour because they know that the victory had already
been won by the Lord Jesus Christ when He hung there on the cross. By
dying and rising from the dead, our Lord sealed the devil's destiny forever.
Victory has been achieved by the Lord Jesus at His death. All authority
and power had been placed at His feet including death itself. But each
of us has to appropriate that victory to our own individual lives. Paul
reminded the Church in Rome that God will crush Satan under our feet shortly
(Romans 16: 20). It is one thing to know that the victory had been won
by Jesus and that all things have now been placed under His feet but it
is another thing to appropriate that victory over our own lives.
The devil will have no power in our lives once we are convinced that he
had been defeated at the cross and therefore had lost all his power over
us. His strangle-hold over our lives has been loosened and soon we will
be translated into heaven by way of the Rapture; truly we will crush him
under our feet.
You too can enjoy the power of the blood of Jesus in your life. Believed
in the Lord Jesus and receive Him into your heart and He will empower
you to become His children. These are favored positions specially reserved
only for those whom He loves dearly (John 1:12).
One day (and I personally believe that it will be very soon), after all
the Christians have been taken home to be with the Lord, and should you
perchance be reading this article, be assured that Jesus loves you so
much that He already demonstrated His love for you on the cross and there
will be no condemnation for you once you put your faith in Him but you
will have eternal life (Romans 8:1). The Lord cannot lie. For Him, whatever
He speaks will come to pass.
If you have not already received Jesus into your heart and you would like
to do so, then pray this simple prayer to invite Him into your heart and
immediately you will experience His peace coming your way.
O God our heavenly Father, thank you for the victory that is ours because
of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ that was shed when He died for all
our sins. Thank you that Jesus took all my punishment upon Himself and
because He died, I will not be condemned but I receive Your eternal life.
Lord Jesus, thank you for coming into my heart and making my heart Your
home. Thank you for the witness of the Holy Spirit in my life that I am
now a child of God the Father and as Your child, I can start enjoying
all Your blessings for my life.
Thank you because of what You had accomplished for us on the cross and
having risen from the dead for our justification, I am now eternally forgiven
of all my sin, greatly blessed among all men, a highly favored child of
God, deeply loved by the Father and completely protected in the Lord and
in the most precious name of Jesus Christ, Yeshua Ha' Mashiah, I pray
Amen.
If you have prayed this prayer for the first time, welcome to the Family
of the Father (and it is a very large universal family). It is important
that you are not alone facing your personal challenges but that you can
obtain good help wherever you are. Why not take the time to find your
own local Christian family (local church) and worship the Father together?
You will be greatly encouraged when you meet together to worship the Father,
for fellowship and for the study of the Word of Christ.
Start receiving the blessings of the Father as you walk with Him in faith.
It is your inheritance in Christ and He wants you to start enjoying these
blessings right now. You do not need to wait until you reach heaven and
there is more from where they come from.
The Lord blesses you and keeps you,
The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and all
your loved ones,
The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you His shalom peace.
Numbers 6: 24 -26
Have a blessed week ahead, Shavrou-tov
Shalom,
Andrew L W Lee
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