Another couple of paragraphs
from a book I am writing,
“The devil is a threat to us, he is dangerous, he is the ultimate enemy
of mankind. But no matter what the devil does to us in this life, we have
eternal glory in Jesus. It’s not a coincidence that in the midst of all of the
judgement and terror going on in the book Revelation that twice, as things are
ramping up and evil has its most powerful influence in the world, that we read
this:
“9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could
number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing
before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm
branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation
belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”...13 Then one of
the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and
from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to
me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed
their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”[1]
We read the something very similar in Revelation chapter 14[2],
the chapter after the pinnacle of evil, the beast, is revealed. God is showing
us that even at the devil’s most powerful moment on the earth, in the great tribulation
itself, the Devil cannot take your soul if you cling to Christ. This
application holds true whether you consider there to be a future seven year
tribulation, or rather that we are in the tribulation now and it consists of
the whole of time before the coming end. Either way, the message of Revelation
is very clear that the power of the devil is severely limited.”[3]
Christians need to walk
in the tension of recognizing how dangerous the evil one is, but also not
giving him more credit for his power than is his due. Satan is placed within
limits by our Lord Jesus Christ, who will finish him off in the end, on our
behalf. We need to be aware of the evil one’s schemes, but not fearful of him. If
we trust in the Lord, he will save us from the power of Satan. If we trust in
the Lord, he will rescue us from the evil one’s clutches.
This should be a warning
to all the non-Christians out there, that if you are not protected by Christ,
you are in reach of the evil one. The devil has limits, evil has limits, there is a boundary fence around what it can do, but we
need to trust in Jesus to get the full benefit from those limits. It does not
mean that bad cannot happen to us, it simply means that no matter happens, we
are secure in Jesus, if we keep our faith in him...if we keep our faith in him.
[1]
Revelation 7:9-10.
[2]
Revelation 14:1-5.
[3]
Should I talk about Job here?
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