Are you caught up in the adventure? Do you feel the battle call?
I love the imagery in the Lord of the Rings. The Dragons and the Orcs, swords, horses. Movies like this vividly show the epic battle between good and evil. Sometimes when I watch a movie like that, I feel a little disappointed to return to my job the next day where I sit, staring at a computer screen all day.
I'll change my computer background again... a castle... cool.
Sigh
Action and adventure movies tug at something inside us don't they?
What if there were some truth woven into those tales? What if there were a warrior within each of us being beckoned to join an epic battle?
We have all read Luke 2 and are familiar with the earthly account of Jesus' birth. The shepherds and the manger. That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.
However Revelation gives us the spiritual account of what it looked like in the heavens when Jesus was born. Reading through these verses can feel like we are watching a movie trailer.
"Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. Its 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 it might devour her child the moment he was born. She 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. The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The 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." Rev 12:1-7 (NIV)
The battle came, the war was on. This is the place where we live today, we live in the days of that epic battle.
Notice what Jesus tells his disciples when they returned after he sent them out to preach the Gospel. They were excited and told him,
"Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name."
He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." Luke 10:17-20 (NIV)
When Satan fell from heaven, what did he go off to do?
"Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God's commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus." Rev 12:17 (NIV)
Um, that sounds a bit like he went after you and I doesn't it?
Make no mistake, we are caught up in an epic battle. There are people out there, each day having their lives ruined by Satan. There are people out there who need to hear the words of our Savior. There are people out there blind to the truth and dying in their sin.
The battle is for their very souls. Keith Green once said something to the affect of, "This generation of believers is responsible for this generation of souls."
This is our place in the battle, ours and no one else's.
When Paul met Jesus for the first time, this is what he was told. Let's think about these words today. Take them to heart, this is our charge.
"'Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' "Acts 26:16-18 (NIV)
Do you feel the call?
Gather, grow and go!
