What the Manger meant to… the devil

2^nd Sunday in Advent,

December 7, 2008

 

We are continuing in our series, “What the manger meant to…”  this week by asking the question, “What did the manger mean to the devil?”  To answer this, we are going to look at the story of Jesus’ birth, at the nativity, in a place most people wouldn’t expect to find it – the book of Revelation!

Revelation is the last book in the Bible, so I invite you to take your Bibles out and turn with me to Revelation chapter 12.  Revelation was written by the last living member of the inner 12 disciples, John, while he was sentenced to exile on the island of Patmos, just off the coast of Greece.  While on the island, Jesus came to John once again, and first gave him messages to send to some of the major churches at that time – which would make an excellent series sometime – and then gave John a view of things to come.  Revelation is one of those books that can really throw you if you are not well schooled in the Old Testament.  Yes, you heard me right – the Old Testament.  What John wrote is so full of references to the Old Testament that if you’re not familiar with Jewish thought, culture and history, you can really misinterpret the entire book.  It is also a book that probably shouldn’t be read right before going to bed, either!

We’re going to look at Revelation 12, verses 1-9, and then jump down to verse 17.  A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His 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 he might devour her Child the moment it 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 desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. And there was war 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… Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring – those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

Bet many have never quite heard the Christmas story that way, huh?! 

First, let’s flesh a few things out.  The woman that is referred to here represents the faithful Israelites and Mary (the mother of Jesus) at the same time!  How do we know this?  Again, it really helps to know the Old Testament: the 12 stars in the crown of her head symbolize the 12 tribes of Israel.  She’s also Mary, the mother of Jesus because vs. 2 says that “She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.”

The child is obviously Jesus, and next to verse 5 you can write the scripture reference Psalm 2:7-9: I will proclaim the decree of the Lord: He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”  Jesus is the fulfillment of this Psalm, and ruling with an iron scepter is a way of saying He rules with absolute power and authority.

Verse 5 also says, “And her child was snatched up to God and to His throne.”  John is compacting the entire life and ministry of Jesus Christ into 3 events… He was born, and then He was resurrected and ascended into heaven.  In this version of the Christmas story He goes from being born at Bethlehem, to ruling on the throne of the universe.  It skips the whole middle part of his life. Why?  Because the whole point of the Christmas story isn’t just that He was born.  It’s what He came to do after He was born.  Jesus was born into the world for the specific purpose of being the King of the world!

Finally, the dragon is the devil, and notice what it says about him: he was standing in front of the woman waiting for her to give birth so he could kill the child. 

What about the reference to the war?  I thought the devil had been kicked out of heaven way back in the beginning?  He had, and this battle is not a reference to that one.  Again, it’s necessary to know the Old Testament.  We read in the Old Testament that the devil had access to God.  In Job we read about the devil coming up to God and leveling accusations about Job[1], and in the Old Testament book of Zachariah, we read about the devil coming before God and making accusations about the high priest of that time[2].  Now, with the birth, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus (as compacted in verse 5), the devil no longer has access to God’s ear.  He and his fallen angels, his demons, are ‘kicked out’ of the presence of God, never to be given an audience again.  The price of our sins has been paid for – how can they be brought up again and again when God forgives and forgets?

Let’s just pause here for a quick moment.  When you are troubled by past sins, who is it that is accusing you of them?  It’s not God, because He tells us He forgets our sins when we confess and repent.  The devil is the one who remembers them, and brings them up to us again and again, reminding us how sinful we’ve been, how unworthy and unlovable we are.  The next time the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future: we win, and he spends an eternity swimming in a lake of fire.

So, what did the manger mean to the devil?  First, it meant that God kept His promise He made back at the beginning in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:15: And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.  D-day had arrived for the devil; it wasn’t some far off event anymore.  If the devil had been in battle with God and His people before the manger, it just got kicked into high gear the moment the baby Jesus took His first breath laying on a bed of straw.  God the Father in the form of Jesus had just stepped into the devil’s playground and declared, “It’s over.  Your time is short.  I told you I was coming to put an end to you.  Now begins the end of your hold on people.”

Secondly, the manger meant that the devil would no longer have unfettered access to God the Father to accuse believers in Jesus anymore.  Think about that for a moment.  As forgiven children of God the Father, through faith in Christ Jesus as given, strengthened and sustained by the Holy Spirit, the devil cannot go to God and say to Him, “Hey, did you see what that person did?  Did you hear what that person said?”  Now God knows when we sin – He sees and knows everything – but when we are forgiven because of our belief in the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus, the accusations of the devil don’t have the force they once did.  He can accuse us all he wants – and with our sins we may be guilty of what we’re being accused of, but as forgiven sinners, the accusations don’t ‘stick.’  Those repented of sins are gone, and can’t be held against us anymore. 

Once again, allow me to repeat myself because it’s just that important.  God doesn’t remember our sins anymore.  You can write Hebrews 8:12 in the margins of your Bibles here: For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.  I know that sometimes in the darkest moments we can fall into despair and beat ourselves up because of our sins and unworthiness, and if we have sins that are troubling us we have not repented of, then this struggle is a good thing – it’s called the Law, and it’s God’s way of reminding us of our need for repentance and forgiveness and falling on Him as our strength.  HOWEVER, after we have done that, if those same sins still haunt us, that’s not God’s doing.  That’s the devil.

This doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences for our sins.  Sin always has consequences.  God may forgive and forget, but that doesn’t mean we get a ‘get-out-of-suffering-in-the-human-realm-for-your-sins’ card.

Third, the manger meant that the devil had failed to prevent the beginning of God’s plan of salvation.  At the risk of saying something that may sound shocking or even scandalous, we have to understand something: the devil knows the Bible well.  In fact, he knows it better than any of us.  The birth of Jesus didn’t come out of the blue for the devil.  It wasn’t as if, when Mary gave birth, the devil had a surprised look on his face and said, “Wow!  Didn’t see that one coming!”  He knew the prophecies; he knew what the plan was.  The manger meant he failed to stop God’s plan.

That, in turn, meant he needed a back-up plan.  Remember what happened after Jesus was born?  Herod tried to get the Wise Men to tell him were Jesus was.  The purpose?  Herod said it was so he could worship Jesus, too, but the real reason was satanically influenced – he wanted to kill Jesus.  When that back-up plan of the devil’s failed, the devil launched another attack – kill all the baby boys under two years of age.  The manger meant that the devil was spiraling out of any control he thought he had, and unleashed his fury in literal over-kills as back-up plans to stop God’s plan of salvation for you and me from happening.

The manger also meant something to the devil that should hit home for all of us, and it’s right in verse 17 of our reading from Revelation: Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring – those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

The manger meant – and still means –the devil is angry and is taking that anger out with attacks on believers.  The biggest and easiest way this is seen is in foreign countries where it’s illegal to be a Christian, and Christians are arrested, beaten and even killed for calling on the name of Jesus.  But that is not the only way we are having war made against us.  It’s done in much more subtle, but just as effective ways right here in America:

·        Christians are laughed at, made fun of, and treated as ignorant children.  And it’s working: how many of us, when we go out to eat at a restaurant, pray out loud with our families before eating, or are we too embarrassed? 

·        Daily prayer was taken out of our school systems.  The ‘dangerous’ prayer that couldn’t be spoken anymore?  “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence on You, and pray for Your blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country.”  Today Christians have had to go to court to secure the right to gather around the flagpole once a year to pray.

·        Manger scenes at Christmas are being attacked, and in many places across the country they are being forcibly removed from businesses and governmental property.  The other day I was driving on 53 past Cardinal Cushing’s and saw their big nativity, and I wondered how long it would be before someone took issue with it, since Cardinal Cushing serves all people regardless of religious background.

·        And could someone please tell me at exactly what point it became “Merry X-mas” or “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”?  Let’s not let the devil win that one.  If someone says, “Happy Holidays” to you, you say “Merry Christmas” right back at ‘em!

The point is, the manger means the devil is at war with Christians – that’s you and me and all who call on the name of Jesus as their only Lord and Savior from the devil.  This should not surprise us, though.  The devil could not take out our King at the manger, so he’s taking aim at the King’s people. 

Finally, to the devil the manger means his time is short.  The manger marked the beginning of the end of his life, and that’s why he’s so enraged and goes after you and me and all Christians.  The manger is the first nail in the devil’s coffin because it points to the cross – the second nail – which in turn points to the empty tomb – the third and final nail. 

His time is short.  He is defeated, and there is no way around that.  He cannot, will not, win the day, and that baby in the manger marks the death-knell of the dragon, and he knows it.  The manger means he loses, and we win.

Amen.