A Conquered Foeಮಾದರಿ

We Must Now Prevail

v17 : Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

Since the dragon failed to prevent Jesus's birth and failed to prevent Jesus from accomplishing His mission on earth, he now shows his anger by making war against those who follow Jesus. And though God can turn for good any harm that Satan does to us, we are reminded that we are in a war and must take steps to ensure that we are not overcome by the battles we must face.

1 Peter 5:8 says, "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." Just like Satan tried to devour the child that the woman would bear, he now tries to destroy or lead astray those who follow Jesus. He will try to tempt us just as he tempted Jesus in the wilderness. And so, Peter says we should be sober-minded and watchful. We should prepare ourselves for Satan's attacks. From Jesus' experience in the wilderness, we learn that one of the tools that we can use to resist Satan is to internalize God's word. Knowing the truth will help us recognize and counter Satan's lies.

Ephesians 6:11 says, "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil." Anyone who goes into battle first puts on armor to protect themselves in the fight. We need armor to protect ourselves in the war against Satan. The armor that God gives us is described in Ephesians 6:14-18 - "Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication." Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation - these make up our armor. These are essential for us to prevail in a world which doubts God's existence, which believes that truth can be different for each person, and that responds with hate and violence to those who are different. We need the armor of God to keep us from getting influenced by the world. We also have the Word of God as our sword. And prayer is useful in both offense and defense. We are to use all of these to resist Satan's schemes.

But while we must face battles with Satan in our life, the hope that we are to hold on to is that we know what the final outcome will be. Jesus broke Satan's power on the cross. These battles are just the last skirmishes before the end of the war. John 16:33 says, "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." In the end, the devil will be thrown into the lake of fire and Sulphur (Rev 20:10), then he will no longer be able to wreak havoc on this earth. That is when this war will finally be over for good. We just have to persevere until then.

Are you equipping yourself daily with the spiritual tools that God has provided so that you can stand firm in times of trial?