“Then another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.” ~Revelation 12:3
The Chinese Year of the Dragon will not recur until 2024, but Christian faith finds itself constantly in the year of threatening serpents. Revelation 12 envisions a woman who
encapsulates the stories of Israel, Mother Mary, and the Church. Another sign introduces a red dragon who makes war first against the woman and her child, then against the heavenly forces which cast him down to earth, and finally, against the church of Christ to this day. When the dragon is cast down to earth, a heavenly song breaks out,
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Messiah,
for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down,
who accuses them day and night before our God.
But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.
Rejoice then, you heavens
and those who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
for the devil has come down to you
with great wrath,
because he knows that his time is
short!” (Rev.12:10-12)
Working backward, we find four truths proclaimed:
1. The dragon’s fury on earth is not because he is winning, but because he is desperate and “knows that his time is short.”
2. The victory belongs to the Lamb who was slain and yet lives, Jesus Christ.
3. By this ‘Lamb-power’, our accuser has been thrown out of the heavenly courtroom. Satan has lost his legal bar license to throw your sins in your face, for the Lamb of God has taken away the sins of the world.
4. Salvation, God’s Kingdom power and the authority of Jesus the Christ/Messiah have now come.
This is the Year of the Lamb!
It might look like a dragon out there, but our Lord gives us an ear for heavenly song. The victory of the Lamb resounds in our spirit as he unclenches our hands from dragon scales we think will protect us and makes us cling to the lambswool which will forever clothe us in God’s grace and peace.
Shalom,
Pastor Tom