Beloved Christian author C.S. Lewis wrote, “There is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square inch, every split second is claimed by God, and counterclaimed by Satan.”[1] Lewis was alluding to the invisible cosmic conflict that rages “behind the scenes” of the physical world.
One graphic passage that illustrates this is found in Revelation 12, where John records an apocalyptic vision of spiritual warfare. John describes three main characters: a celestial woman, her royal child and a fiery dragon.
The imagery is intense, and space does not permit me to define every detail of the symbolism, but only to point out what was really going in the spiritual realm when Christ came into the world. In the vision, the mother represents Israel, who would give birth to the Messiah (Jesus Christ), yet at every turn Satan, pictured by the Dragon, would be there in opposition trying to prevent the child from being born.
From the very beginning, Satan’s purpose was to thwart the plan of God to bring His Redeemer into the world. In Gen. 3:15 we read the first prophecy of the Bible in which God formally declared war on the Serpent. God addressed Satan, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Satan knew then that he was living on borrowed time, and understanding the prophecy of the Redeemer, the Adversary did everything in his power to eradicate the child and the Jewish nation.
Soon after the fall, the Enemy incited Cain to kill his brother Abel (Gen. 4), in hopes that killing Abel would also kill the chance for a Redeemer. When that failed, Satan so corrupted the human race that God sent a flood wipe clean the evil run amok (Gen. 6). But, Satan could not touch Noah who kept God’s promise alive. Noah’s family repopulated the earth, leading to Abraham and the Jewish nation. Then came the Pharaoh who brutally enslaved the Israelites in Egypt. With the fervor of the Nazi’s, Pharaoh drowned the Jewish baby boys in the Nile River, but God was one step ahead raising up Moses who would deliver God’s people from bondage (Ex. 1-2).
In the book of Esther, we see Hamaan’s wicked plot to have the Jews in Persia exterminated. But that genocide was foiled by Esther’s courage. When the Redeemer was finally born in Bethlehem, Satan employed another puppet - King Herod - who decreed that all Bethlehem’s baby boys should be murdered (Matt. 2). But, God providentially intervened and in a dream directed Joseph to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt where they stayed until Herod’s death.
In Revelation 12:5 the
identity of the Christ child is revealed by clues in the imagery, “She bore a
male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was
caught up to God and His throne.”
First, we see the Son at His Incarnation. The first phrase points to Christmas, “She bore a male child.” In a humble manger, God entered this conflict as a combatant, and He chose the weakest form of all to defeat His enemy—a baby. The Christ who commanded armies of angels and held galaxies in His hand made Himself small, dependent and helpless. We can trace the scarlet thread of the redemption promise from Genesis 3:15, to Isaiah 7:14, to Matthew 1:23 and Galatians 4:4.
Second, we see the Son at His Ascension. The next phrase takes us to Jesus ascension after His resurrection, “Her child was caught up to God and His throne.” After a successful campaign against the Devil, defeating the Enemy at the cross with his favorite weapon—death—Jesus returned to glory a conquering King.
Third, we see the Son at His Coronation. Note the phrase, “Who was to rule the nations with a rod of iron.” This harkens back to the Messianic overtones of Psalm 2, in which we read a conversation between God the Father, and Jesus the Son: “7 The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’”
Jesus went from the
cradle, to the cross, and today He wears the crown! At Christmas an invasion
force of One came to turn the tide in the battle. At Calvary, the Enemy
received a mortal wound and by Easter Sunday his armies knew that defeat was
inevitable. One day, Christ will return having traded a crown of thorns for a
regal diadem! The first time He came there was no room for him at the inn (Luke
2:7). But the next time He comes they will be saying, “Make way for the King of
Kings!” -DM
[1]
C.S. Lewis, Christian Reflections
(Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdman's Publishing Company, 1967), 33.
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