It\'s a War!
“When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman…”
Galatians 4:4
I, like you, love the Christmas season with all its sentimental appeal. But as we are going to see, the first Christmas was anything but sentimental – in fact it was scary! It was a time of great hardships, urgent travel in the 9th month of pregnancy, no room at the inn, fleeing dangerously to Egypt, and a madman on a hunt to murder 2-year-old babies – that first Christmas was far from sentimental, it was dare right scary. It’s as though Satan, knowing that God was up to something amazing, was trying to destroy His great work with all the weapons in his arsenal.
The spiritual warfare that took place on the first Christmas will never make it on a Hallmark Christmas card, it’s the deeper message of Christmas. It’s hidden, but a true picture of what was going on that dramatic day.
The apostle John recounts the first Christmas in Revelation 12:1-4, when he sees in the Spirit a great sign with a pregnant woman clothed with glory, and she’s crying out with massive birth pains. But then all of the sudden John is taken to heaven the day Satan was kicked out of heaven as Satan dragged a third of the demons with him to the earth. Just then Johns sees in this vision something so hideous and so haunting – Satan is looking like a deformed demonic dragon standing in front of the woman who was about to give birth and he’s, “…ready to devour (to shred into pieces) her child the moment He was born.”
If Satan, “the prince of darkness” could end this battle at the cradle, then there would be no battle at the cross – and I believe that Satan knew this was a huge gamble. From Bethlehem to Gethsemane, from the cradle to the cross, all the forces of hell were utilized in an attempt to cause the Savior of the world, the Lamb of God, to act out of fear, doubt, and distrust of the God the Father. Satan gambled that the Babe in the manger, as Immanuel, would never be the Lamb of God on the cross shouting “It is finished”. I can report to you that the devil gambled everything, and he lost everything! The “prince of darkness” came up short against the “prince of peace!” And aren’t you glad?
This is the greatest mystery of all time that the Second Person of the Trinity should “beam” Himself down to earth on a sacrificial journey from heaven to earth. He was transported through the womb of a virgin as the sinless Redeemer for the redemption of the world.
Jesus didn’t become a man so He could take on deity – He was already deity. He wasn’t always man, but He was always God! You see, Jesus became man because what was needed was the death of a man who was more than man. The incarnation was God locking Himself into death row. Christ did not risk death, He chose death, and He embraced death for us! That makes Jesus the Prince of Life and Satan is the Prince of Death and thank God that Jesus whooped Satan because of the incarnation!
You see, the Prince of Peace was birthed in Mary’s womb so the presence of peace can be birthed into our worries! And because of the spiritual warfare at the first Christmas was won by Jesus, every day we can walk with the Prince of Peace, and He will help us turn fleshly worries into a winning faith!
Merry Christmas,
Pastor Dave
Galatians 4:4
I, like you, love the Christmas season with all its sentimental appeal. But as we are going to see, the first Christmas was anything but sentimental – in fact it was scary! It was a time of great hardships, urgent travel in the 9th month of pregnancy, no room at the inn, fleeing dangerously to Egypt, and a madman on a hunt to murder 2-year-old babies – that first Christmas was far from sentimental, it was dare right scary. It’s as though Satan, knowing that God was up to something amazing, was trying to destroy His great work with all the weapons in his arsenal.
The spiritual warfare that took place on the first Christmas will never make it on a Hallmark Christmas card, it’s the deeper message of Christmas. It’s hidden, but a true picture of what was going on that dramatic day.
The apostle John recounts the first Christmas in Revelation 12:1-4, when he sees in the Spirit a great sign with a pregnant woman clothed with glory, and she’s crying out with massive birth pains. But then all of the sudden John is taken to heaven the day Satan was kicked out of heaven as Satan dragged a third of the demons with him to the earth. Just then Johns sees in this vision something so hideous and so haunting – Satan is looking like a deformed demonic dragon standing in front of the woman who was about to give birth and he’s, “…ready to devour (to shred into pieces) her child the moment He was born.”
If Satan, “the prince of darkness” could end this battle at the cradle, then there would be no battle at the cross – and I believe that Satan knew this was a huge gamble. From Bethlehem to Gethsemane, from the cradle to the cross, all the forces of hell were utilized in an attempt to cause the Savior of the world, the Lamb of God, to act out of fear, doubt, and distrust of the God the Father. Satan gambled that the Babe in the manger, as Immanuel, would never be the Lamb of God on the cross shouting “It is finished”. I can report to you that the devil gambled everything, and he lost everything! The “prince of darkness” came up short against the “prince of peace!” And aren’t you glad?
This is the greatest mystery of all time that the Second Person of the Trinity should “beam” Himself down to earth on a sacrificial journey from heaven to earth. He was transported through the womb of a virgin as the sinless Redeemer for the redemption of the world.
Jesus didn’t become a man so He could take on deity – He was already deity. He wasn’t always man, but He was always God! You see, Jesus became man because what was needed was the death of a man who was more than man. The incarnation was God locking Himself into death row. Christ did not risk death, He chose death, and He embraced death for us! That makes Jesus the Prince of Life and Satan is the Prince of Death and thank God that Jesus whooped Satan because of the incarnation!
You see, the Prince of Peace was birthed in Mary’s womb so the presence of peace can be birthed into our worries! And because of the spiritual warfare at the first Christmas was won by Jesus, every day we can walk with the Prince of Peace, and He will help us turn fleshly worries into a winning faith!
Merry Christmas,
Pastor Dave
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