Dragons Among Us: Christmas from Heaven's Vantage Point

Now, Revelation comes with a bit of a warning label. It's kind of like the stickers that they used to put on cassette tapes and CDs, right? Be advised, there is explicit content in here. Now, of course, it's not because the author, John, was dropping lots of swear words or anything like that. But believe me, the language we're about to read is definitely graphic. It's noisy. It's symbolic. But that doesn't mean that it's all figurative. [00:35:16] (40 seconds)  #RevelationIsRaw

Check this out, church. This is all of the story of Jesus' life in like 12.8 seconds. And in particular, it reflects on the arrival of Jesus as Christmas is recorded in the gospel according to Matthew. See, Matthew's retelling of Jesus' birth is a little bit different from Luke's. Well, Luke wants you to see how Jesus' coming changes the whole world. Matthew wants to zero in on how the Christ child culminates the hopes of Israel in particular. [00:46:53] (45 seconds)  #ChristFulfillsIsrael

And yet the Bible shows us here that a little and innocent child can completely unmake them. The ultimate force of wickedness falls apart when faced with the most vulnerable person you can imagine. You know, the whole thing sounds like a joke, right? It sounds like a made-for-Arkham-asylum case of lunacy. An absolute overreaction. But in this case, it absolutely isn't. Because for once, the father of lies, the great deceiver, saw the truth as clear as day. [00:56:44] (69 seconds)  #PowerOfTheVulnerable

So the strategy of the dragon in this case made perfect sense. The plan was sound because Bethlehem was a battlefield. The Christmas story, of course, is the pivot point in history. We know what happened with the child laid in a manger. He escaped to the wilderness. He returned, and then 30 years later, he defeated the dragon. Part of that dragon's demise mirrors one more Old Testament story. Because what happened with Herod had a prequel. [00:58:20] (52 seconds)  #MangerToVictory

And then 40 years later, God sent him back to the pyramids to do battle with the one wearing the sign of the serpent, the crown of the cobra. And at the end of the fight, just like Revelation 12, verse 16 says, earth overwhelmed water at the Red Sea and the one who made the river the tool of execution himself fell in the flood. Herod was hurled. Pharaoh was cast down. These manifestations of the dragon went down in defeat. [01:00:27] (51 seconds)  #GodOverturnsTyrants

But Scripture says, and here's where I really need your attention, battle ain't over yet. Revelation 12, 17 notes that the great mighty dragon went off to make war against the rest of the woman's offspring. Which means Satan's just going to find another host to occupy. Another human to do his bidding. the story keeps repeating. And he has now, in our present, turned his attack toward the brothers and sisters of the Messiah. That's us. [01:01:19] (44 seconds)  #BattleStillRages

``Our call, our place in the story is right there. we triumph over dragons by the blood of the lamb and by the word of our testimony. It is the blood of Jesus, the blood of the Messiah, the blood of Bethlehem's baby. And because we love him so much, we don't love our lives. Our testimony is this, our lives belong wholly to his. We ain't afraid of no dragons because his power is going to end just like Pharaoh's power ended on Passover because of the blood of the lamb. his time is short. [01:05:53] (42 seconds)  #BloodAndTestimony

And it all goes back to the very first prophecy we have in the Bible all the way back in the Garden of Eden in Genesis chapter 3. A prophecy that God made about our first mother's children. So that serpent's going to chase us. Eve, that serpent's going to be after your descendants, always nipping at our heels, striking at us. But one day, Eve, don't miss this, one of your sons is going to turn and he's going to raise an iron scepter and he's going to crush the dragon's head. Do you believe that Elmbrook? His days are short because the one lion in a manger is a dragon slayer. [01:06:35] (47 seconds)  #DragonSlayerInTheManger