Tagged: Jesus of Nazareth
They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb — Revelation 12:11
Previously: A loud voice in heaven — Revelation 12:10
The scripture
Rev. 12:11 – They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not love their lives in the face of death. (HCSB)
They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
Verse 11 reads: “They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not love their lives in the face of death.” There are two ways in which the “brothers” (v. 10) have achieved victory over Satan, according to the voice in heaven. Both of them involve death, a seemingly counterproductive way to win a battle – at least by the world’s standards.
First, the brothers conquer Satan by the blood of the Lamb. Satan’s desire to kill Jesus, or even to prevent his birth, is evident throughout scripture, most recently in Rev. 12:4 as the dragon is poised to devour the male child. Ironically, Jesus comes into the world to die, but on His terms, not Satan’s. There is a specific time and place for the Son of Man to give His life as a ransom for us. And when Jesus declares, “It is finished,” just before His death on the cross, He makes it clear that His purpose in coming to earth has been fulfilled. The apostle Paul summarizes this beautifully in 2 Cor. 5:21: “He [the Father] made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
For believers, the victory and the cross are inextricably bound. The apparent end of a radical rabbi on a hillside outside Jerusalem is thought by His enemies to be a magnificent triumph. Yet the bloody and gruesome death of Jesus of Nazareth is in fact the fulfillment of the Father’s eternal plan of redemption. Jesus may exult, “It is finished,” and be completely vindicated. Just as the high priest declares, “It is finished,” on the Day of Atonement when sacrifices will no longer be accepted, and just as the Roman general booms, “It is finished,” from his perch above the battlefield when he sees the enemy has been routed, Jesus shouts for all the world to hear that salvation has come to a lost and dying world because of His death.
In Search of the Real Jesus – Download a Free Chart
Jesus of Nazareth is among the most famous, admired and influential persons in history. Amazon.com offers more than 175,000 titles about Him. Google lists more than 165 million references to Him. For the most part, every major world religion holds Jesus in high esteem, but they can’t agree on who He is or what He accomplished.
For example:
- Islam teaches that Jesus was a great prophet who lived a sinless life, but denies that He is the Son of God or Savior of the world.
- Hinduism, for some, says Jesus was an Avatar or incarnation of God, a great spiritual teacher, a guru, but not particularly unique among Hinduism’s 330 million gods.
- Buddhism generally regards Jesus as a teacher who may have possessed Buddha hood or enlightenment, but was not mankind’s Savior.
- Judaism considers Him a humble and insignificant prophet, a reformer who performed good deeds, but not the Messiah and not divine.
- Christianity declares that Jesus is the Son of God, Messiah, and Savior, whose death and resurrection paid mankind’s sin debt and provided forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
The debate over Jesus is not new, however. Jesus Himself addressed the issue with His disciples in Matthew 16:13-17, confirming Peter’s answer, given by God the Father, that He is the Messiah (or Christ), the Son of the living God. Further, Jesus provided evidence for His claims through the fulfillment of prophecy, His teaching, miracles, sinless life, sacrificial death, and physical resurrection. The New Testament writers recorded Jesus’ words and bore eyewitness testimony of His life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension – and many of them died for their faith.
But what about you? Will you honestly examine the best available evidence and decide for yourself? Everyone can find the real Jesus by examining the best available evidence – the Scriptures – and asking three important questions: 1) Who does Jesus say He is? 2) Who do the eyewitnesses say He is? And 3) Who do you say He is?
Download this free study guide and examine the Scriptures for yourself.
Sound reasons to trust the Scriptures (part 4)
The Word of God
This is the fourth in a nine-part series of articles offering sound reasons to believe the Bible is the Word of God.
In Systematic Theology (Vol. I), Dr. Norman Geisler presents many lines of evidence supporting claims for the Bible as the Word of God. In unique fashion, he labels each line of evidence with a word beginning with the letter “S,” making his arguments relatively easy to follow and remember. This article borrows his headings and then incorporates some of Geisler’s research with numerous other sources, which are cited.
Reason 4: The testimony of the supernatural
The Bible features nearly 300 prophecies of the Messiah, the latest of which dates to more than 200 years before the birth of Jesus. Every prophecy has been fulfilled, with the exception of those pertaining to His glorious return. Many are clear and specific, including:
† His virgin birth (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:21).
† His being “cut off” or killed 483 years after the declaration to reconstruct the temple in 444 B.C. (Dan. 9:24-26).
† His birthplace in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Matt. 2:1; Luke 2:4-7).
† His miracle-working authority (Isa. 35:5-6; Matt. 9:35).
† His rejection by the Jews (Ps. 118:22; Isa. 53:3; Acts 4:11; 1 Peter 2:7)
† His suffering and death (Ps. 22; Isa. 53; Matt. 27:27ff).
† His resurrection (Ps. 2:7; 16:10; Mark 16:6; Acts 2:31; 1 Cor. 15:3-8).
† His ascension into heaven (Ps. 68:18; Acts 1:9).
† His place today at the Father’s right hand (Ps. 110:1; Heb. 1:3).
Contrast these specific predictions and their fulfillment in Jesus of Nazareth with the predictions of psychics today who, according to The People’s Almanac, 1976, are wrong 92 percent of the time. Even the highly reputed visions of Nostradamus are suspect. He often was wrong, especially when being specific, and his predictions were usually so vague as to be practically useless.
The bible gives us many supernatural confirmations of its divine origin. For example, Moses, Elijah and other prophets were given the authority to perform miracles to confirm God’s sovereign power and divine message. Jesus, we are told by Luke, was “a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know” (Acts 2:22).
Next — Reason 5: The testimony of structure
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