“WHEN JESUS COMES: JUBILATION”
(Advent 2010, Week #4)
Rev. 12:1-12
Sermon Objective: “We win; we win; Hallelujah we win; I read the back of the book and we win!”
SERMON INTRO
As the children leave for Children’s Church it reminds me that their Christmas pageant is this evening. They will be acting out the nativity story for us.
‘Tis the season ya know … so this morning we are going to read the Christmas story together, but not out of Matthew or Luke. The Apostle John also recorded the Christmas story but not in his Gospel. He did it in Revelation 12; particularly verses 1-12 but we will read the entire chapter together.
REV. 12:1-17
1A great and wondrous 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. 2She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5She 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. 6The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
7And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9The 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.
10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.
11They 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.
12Therefore 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."
13When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. 15Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
SERMON
Wow! How’s that for a version of the Christmas story!? I heard this week that Hollywood has not made a new Christmas movie in 2 years and that they have none on the schedule for the near future. The reason is that they have run out of new ideas to talk about Santa.
Well, maybe Hollywood should read Revelation 12. It’s not about Santa however; it’s about the Christ child. I refer to this as the “R” rated version of the Christmas story. I would give it an “R” rating due to adult themes and graphic violence.
I wonder what it would look like if our children acted out this version of the Christmas story for us tonight? One thing’s for sure … they’d have everyone’s attention and we’d be thinking of the story afresh afterwards.
John’s version of the Christmas story encompasses far more than just the birth of the “One who would rule the nations.” It is pre-Christmas and post-Christmas as well. We will look at this chapter in more detail in coming weeks but today, the final week of Advent, we will see another common event that accompanies the coming of Jesus --- JUBILATION.
In chapter 11 we discovered that the Advent (the coming) of Jesus (whether it be His first advent, the intermediary advent of Pentecost, or the final advent of the second coming) is accompanied by:
• Justice (11:15-17)
• Judgment of sin (11:18-19)
• Justification [salvation] (11:18-19)
And our final week discloses that, WHEN JESUS COMES: JUBILATION. That makes sense doesn’t it? It seems to be the logical sequence to me. Jesus comes and makes things right – He not only gives people what they deserve but also gives them what they need; Jesus then addresses our sin (on the cross); then He provides a right standing before God (justification); and finally produces a spirit of jubilation within the redeemed.
All of that is encapsulated and summarized within the Cosmic Christmas story of chapter 12.
As I have mentioned to you in the past, I do not view The Revelation as a book of sequence but as a book of cyclical repetition. It is showing us the history of humankind from various vantage points.
• The seals showed us man’s corruption and destruction.
• The trumpets are announcing the same corruption and destruction but from the perspective of evil. If the demonic hordes of the trumpets did not convince you of this then the dragon, beast, and false prophet of chapters 12-13 will.
• Later we will see (with the vials/bowls) the same accounts of human history from the divine perspective (wrath and redemption).
Some have explained chapters 12-15 as a symphony, an opera, or even a dramatic play. The movements or scenes depict a messianic war which starts with the incarnation (chapter 12:2) and ends with victory in the second coming.
The scene of chapter 12 has a few images that are intended to steal the show.
• First, there is the woman who represents the promised/covenant people of God. The woman’s identity includes the Virgin Mary, but also Israel from whom the Messiah comes; and she morphs into the church (which is also the covenant people of God) in the middle of the chapter.
• Second there is the Son; the protagonist. The exalted, protected, salvific, “Anointed One” who battles the enemy.
• Third, there is the dragon; the antagonist. He hates God. He hates those who align themselves with God. Like the woman he, too morphs in the middle of the chapter. He morphs from a dragon into a serpent that pursues her offspring – the church.
This is, among other things, the story of the nativity on a cosmic scale and from a cosmic perspective. Luke and Matthew tell us what humans saw … this tells us what the angels saw. Ordinary limitations of time and space to not apply because the warring parties traverse a battlefield that stretches from the heights of heaven to the abyss beneath the earth.
• A woman appears in the sky with her feet above the moon and stars encircling her head, yet she flees from heaven to seek refuge on earth (12:1,6).
• Her adversary the dragon has a serpentine tail that sweeps across the vastness of the night sky, brushing myriads of stars down to the ground (12:4).
• Angelic warriors grapple with the dragon and his henchmen in the skies, sending them tumbling from space to earth where the battle continues (12:7-12).
• The dragon angrily dusts itself off in order to embark on a new chase scene, and the woman who stood above the moon sprouts wings so that she can fly away from the dragon (12:13-14).
• In what modern audiences would consider a feat of animation, a river gushes out of the dragon’s mouth, while the earth opens a mouth of its own in order to swallow the river (12:15-16).
Modern readers may find the cosmic drama being described to be something like a movie that thrills audiences with special effects, as heroes and villains traverse the galaxies in battles for control of the universe. Such a comparison to modern popular culture does not trivialize Revelation, but actually offers a way to understand what the story is doing.
(Special thanks to Craig Koester’s “Revelation and the End of All Things” for the above two paragraphs.)
As I said, Hollywood needs to look no further than Rev. 12 if it is looking for a new movie idea about Christmas. There’s no need for fantasy and sappy Santa … there is enough here to make George Lucas or Peter Jackson millions of dollars!
WHEN JESUS COMES: JUBILATION
Jesus’ coming brought justice, judgment, and justification. None of these were without a price and none of these came easily. It required nothing less than the blood of the Lamb; and all hell broke loose to try and prevent the redemption of humankind from transpiring!
But, in the end … Satan was conquered. We can learn a lot about our enemy in this chapter, and in coming sermons we will explore that, but today’s focus is on the birth of the Messiah and what happens thereafter.
Did you notice what happens? Jesus overcomes the enemy! The expulsion of Satan from heaven is the result of the victory of Christ on earth (12:10-11). The devil and his angels are cast down to earth; angry and frustrated. Like a losing football team hopelessly behind with only two minutes to go, having already lost, they determine to do as much damage as they can in the remaining brief time.
1. THERE IS SAFETY
And Satan’s expulsion from heaven means that he no longer is in a position to denounce the saint’s before God (12:10).
The word Satan means “adversary” and Devil means “accuser” or “slanderer.” By portraying Christ as the slaughtered Lamb, Revelation reinforces the idea that Christ’s death is the sacrifice that purifies people from sin. Satan’s expulsion from heaven shows that Christ’s blood effectively “conquers” the Devil (12:11), because it means that he no longer has any business denouncing the saint’s whom Christ has cleansed (cf. Rom.8:33-34).
Satan has been defeated. You are safe from the ravages of the enemy and the ravages of sin. You can live a victorious life because the conqueror lives in you. The author of this book says in another book he wrote (I John 4:4) that “greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.”
You no longer have to be a victim to the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-39 says,
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
2. THERE IS CELEBRATION!
The dragon has been hurled to earth. He has been defeated and that is reason for celebration!
As in the drama that is unfolding in this story so, too, in reality … it is the beginning of the end for the enemy. The conclusion is already written and those who are faithful to Christ can rejoice even in the midst of adversity.
10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.
11They 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.
12Therefore 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 drama is meant to give the people of God undergoing hardship heart and restore their “hallelujah.” They (we) know that Satan and all his toadies are defeated.
You see, whenever and wherever Jesus comes to you sin is defeated and victory is assured … and joy follows! Jubilation comes.
WRAP-UP
I don’t remember who sung it or when I heard it, but many many years ago I remember hearing a Southern Gospel group sing and the only line from the song I remember is “We win! We win! Hallelujah we win! I read the back of the book and we win!”
That is appropriate as we consider jubilation on the final week of Advent.
Maybe you’d like to say that with me!
“We win! We win! Hallelujah we win!
I read the back of the book and we win!”
We have reversed the order of our service this morning on purpose. Let’s spend some time in worship this morning; celebrating the coming of our redeemer as we sing Christmas songs.
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This sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
Potsdam Church of the Nazarene
Potsdam, New York
www.potsdam-naz.org
