Revelation 12:1-4

“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.”

Matthew 1:18-21

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.”

Very soon, we will be celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus. Many of us will read from the passage in Matthew 1 and the one in Luke 3 as well. We will see manger scenes all around our churches and some towns; we will see commercials that still allow the manger scene, and it will be peaceful, lowly animals and humble humans watching over the little Baby in a manger. All too often, the scenes still have the Magi, the Wise men there, even though it is clear that they came about 2 years later after his birth.

Many of us will not ever or have not ever read Revelation 12 in relation to the Christmas story. But just about a week ago, one of my preacher brethren highlighted this passage, and as I was reading through the New Testament over the last 4 days, I was reading Revelation. Here we see this account, and because it is a part of the Revelation, we do not tend to place it with the birth of Christ story.

In the passage, we can see that there is a woman; she has a crown of 12 stars. This is a picture of Israel. We see that she is in travail, or as we call it, labor pains, and she is about to have her baby. This is the very night of the birth of our Savior, and as He is being born – as Mary is crying out in pain, as Joseph is doing whatever men did back then – there is a danger lurking in Bethlehem for this baby. Maybe this mother and father have no idea that Satan himself, the Dragon, the one who hates this little child the most, is at hand hoping to kill this helpless, innocent child. Maybe, just maybe, if he can kill the Son, then he can be god as he wants to be. The truth is that Satan knows he can never be god, ever.

I had someone ask a question that I have never considered: if Satan truly believed that eating the fruit in the Garden of Eden would make someone like God, why didn’t he eat it? He wants to be god; he wants to take God’s place; why, then, did he not eat the fruit himself and actually prohibit man from eating so that man could never be God? You see, unlike the people who deny God’s existence, Satan knows that God is real and powerful and that He has the power to destroy Satan. But maybe, just maybe, he, Satan, could kill a little, helpless child. But, that night, he did not. God protected His Son; God preserved His Son, and Jesus fulfilled all that He came to do.

Jesus would die, but not that night. He would not die as a helpless baby; rather, He died as the living God in the flesh who CHOSE to stay on the cross and CHOSE to suffer and CHOSE to lay down His life for us, and then He resurrected.

The same war is being fought today. The same characters are in play: Jesus, the true ruler of the world, and Satan, the fake ruler of the world. These two are headed to a climax in the not-too-distant future. A head-to-head battle, Jesus and Lucifer, one heading the armies of Heaven and the other heading earthly armies, maybe with a few supernatural players involved as well. Read Revelation 19 and see how that goes. The battle is swift and decisive, and it begins the end of Satan. Millions die that day, enough to feed the birds of the air for months and enough to keep the people of Israel busy burying the dead for seven months. See the prophecy in Ezekiel 39:12-17:

“For seven months the Israelites will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. All the people of the land will bury them, and the day I display my glory will be a memorable day for them, declares the Sovereign LORD. People will be continually employed in cleansing the land. They will spread out across the land and, along with others, they will bury any bodies that are lying on the ground. After the seven months they will carry out a more detailed search. As they go through the land, anyone who sees a human bone will leave a marker beside it until the gravediggers bury it in the Valley of Hamon Gog, near a town called Hamonah. And so they will cleanse the land.’

“Son of man, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Call out to every kind of bird and all the wild animals: ‘Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrifice I am preparing for you, the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood.'”

Jesus was born in a place for sacrificial lambs; He was wrapped in swaddling cloths and fed by his mother’s breast. He was warm and safe inside the place where He was born, but outside, the Dragon wanted to kill him and stop our redemption before it began, BUT GOD…

You and I are born going to Hell, BUT GOD… We have no hope to save ourselves, BUT GOD… We had no hope for eternal life, BUT GOD… We could go on and on, but you get the point. Satan is defeated, the grave is defeated, death is defeated, and salvation is ours in Jesus. You and I, once we are born into the family of God, switch sides in the eternal universal war; we switch to the winning side. Yes, you and I were born losers, BUT GOD…

Merry Christmas.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church

How To Connect With Us

In-person: every Sunday (10:30 am) at Bethany Baptist Church 70 Victoria Street, Elora, ON

Online: https://mmbchurch.ca/

Email: seangooding@mmbchurch.ca

Join us on Zoom every Sunday (10:30 am) for Sunday Service AND every Tuesday at 8:00 pm for Bible Study: Meeting ID: 700 794 460 Passcode: 032661; https://us02web.zoom.us/j/700794460?pwd=M3NFRG91ZW5Sa2Z3amVyWkFnYXd6QT09

The post Born into an Eternal Universal War :: By Sean Gooding appeared first on Rapture Ready.

Revelation 12:1-4

“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.”

Matthew 1:18-21

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.”

Very soon, we will be celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus. Many of us will read from the passage in Matthew 1 and the one in Luke 3 as well. We will see manger scenes all around our churches and some towns; we will see commercials that still allow the manger scene, and it will be peaceful, lowly animals and humble humans watching over the little Baby in a manger. All too often, the scenes still have the Magi, the Wise men there, even though it is clear that they came about 2 years later after his birth.

Many of us will not ever or have not ever read Revelation 12 in relation to the Christmas story. But just about a week ago, one of my preacher brethren highlighted this passage, and as I was reading through the New Testament over the last 4 days, I was reading Revelation. Here we see this account, and because it is a part of the Revelation, we do not tend to place it with the birth of Christ story.

In the passage, we can see that there is a woman; she has a crown of 12 stars. This is a picture of Israel. We see that she is in travail, or as we call it, labor pains, and she is about to have her baby. This is the very night of the birth of our Savior, and as He is being born – as Mary is crying out in pain, as Joseph is doing whatever men did back then – there is a danger lurking in Bethlehem for this baby. Maybe this mother and father have no idea that Satan himself, the Dragon, the one who hates this little child the most, is at hand hoping to kill this helpless, innocent child. Maybe, just maybe, if he can kill the Son, then he can be god as he wants to be. The truth is that Satan knows he can never be god, ever.

I had someone ask a question that I have never considered: if Satan truly believed that eating the fruit in the Garden of Eden would make someone like God, why didn’t he eat it? He wants to be god; he wants to take God’s place; why, then, did he not eat the fruit himself and actually prohibit man from eating so that man could never be God? You see, unlike the people who deny God’s existence, Satan knows that God is real and powerful and that He has the power to destroy Satan. But maybe, just maybe, he, Satan, could kill a little, helpless child. But, that night, he did not. God protected His Son; God preserved His Son, and Jesus fulfilled all that He came to do.

Jesus would die, but not that night. He would not die as a helpless baby; rather, He died as the living God in the flesh who CHOSE to stay on the cross and CHOSE to suffer and CHOSE to lay down His life for us, and then He resurrected.

The same war is being fought today. The same characters are in play: Jesus, the true ruler of the world, and Satan, the fake ruler of the world. These two are headed to a climax in the not-too-distant future. A head-to-head battle, Jesus and Lucifer, one heading the armies of Heaven and the other heading earthly armies, maybe with a few supernatural players involved as well. Read Revelation 19 and see how that goes. The battle is swift and decisive, and it begins the end of Satan. Millions die that day, enough to feed the birds of the air for months and enough to keep the people of Israel busy burying the dead for seven months. See the prophecy in Ezekiel 39:12-17:

“For seven months the Israelites will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. All the people of the land will bury them, and the day I display my glory will be a memorable day for them, declares the Sovereign LORD. People will be continually employed in cleansing the land. They will spread out across the land and, along with others, they will bury any bodies that are lying on the ground. After the seven months they will carry out a more detailed search. As they go through the land, anyone who sees a human bone will leave a marker beside it until the gravediggers bury it in the Valley of Hamon Gog, near a town called Hamonah. And so they will cleanse the land.’

“Son of man, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Call out to every kind of bird and all the wild animals: ‘Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrifice I am preparing for you, the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood.'”

Jesus was born in a place for sacrificial lambs; He was wrapped in swaddling cloths and fed by his mother’s breast. He was warm and safe inside the place where He was born, but outside, the Dragon wanted to kill him and stop our redemption before it began, BUT GOD…

You and I are born going to Hell, BUT GOD… We have no hope to save ourselves, BUT GOD… We had no hope for eternal life, BUT GOD… We could go on and on, but you get the point. Satan is defeated, the grave is defeated, death is defeated, and salvation is ours in Jesus. You and I, once we are born into the family of God, switch sides in the eternal universal war; we switch to the winning side. Yes, you and I were born losers, BUT GOD…

Merry Christmas.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church

How To Connect With Us

In-person: every Sunday (10:30 am) at Bethany Baptist Church 70 Victoria Street, Elora, ON

Online: https://mmbchurch.ca/

Email: seangooding@mmbchurch.ca

Join us on Zoom every Sunday (10:30 am) for Sunday Service AND every Tuesday at 8:00 pm for Bible Study: Meeting ID: 700 794 460 Passcode: 032661; https://us02web.zoom.us/j/700794460?pwd=M3NFRG91ZW5Sa2Z3amVyWkFnYXd6QT09

The post Born into an Eternal Universal War :: By Sean Gooding appeared first on Rapture Ready.