For Lord’s Day, April 21, 2013

Dear Saints,

In my personal devotions this morning, something stood out to me I’ve found beneficial to meditate on today that I hope you too will find meaningful.

In John 6:38, Jesus says, “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.”

This verse jumped out at me when the Jews murmured in verse 42 about Jesus saying that He came down from heaven.  Recently in our study of Revelation 9, we considered what Jesus said in Luke 10:18 to the disciples: ” … I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”

It’s such a stunning contrast to think about.  Satan was cast down; Jesus came down: that’s a huge difference.  The Father threw out Satan.  The Father sent Jesus.  Satan is the Deceiver.  Jesus is the Truth. Satan is the Destroyer.  Jesus is the Deliverer.  Satan is a created, fallen being.  Jesus is the Creator and exalted Lord.

Note that I am not highlighting this contrast to put Satan and Jesus on the same level.  Quite the contrary.  As the pre-incarnate Second Person of the Trinity, did Jesus not Himself throw Satan out of heaven?  And now as the incarnate God-Man, has He not since been throwing Satan out of his stronghold here on Earth?  In his sermon on Revelation 9:1-12, Joel Beeke said that in Luke 10:18, it is possible to understand Jesus as saying to his disciples, who were rejoicing that the devils were subject to them through His name, that He was literally watching the spiritual battle of Ephesians 6:12 happening through their ministry — that He was observing the Kingdom of Heaven that was at hand in Him advancing through them while Satan and his forces and his fiefdom fell at their feet.  Verse 19 would seem to at least allow that sense of the text as part of its meaning.  Either way, Jesus says in verse 20 not to rejoice in victory over demons so much as the fact that their names are written in heaven through their victory in Jesus.

This thought of heaven brings us back to John 6.  Jesus Christ, God’s own Son, is so very much above Satan, as powerful and destructive as he is.  Jesus Christ, the King of Glory of Psalm 2, 24, 45, 72, 110, etc., not only threw out Satan from heaven, but in the fulness of time, He came to overthrown the Devil’s dominion on Earth and give us heaven.  We know from our study in Revelation that Jesus is presently finishing the job through our ministry, and He will finish it in total on the Last Day!  Satan keeps trying to be God, and the Son of God keeps pummeling him for it.  In the end, Jesus will cast Satan further and finally into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:10).  But what we rejoice in most is its result for us: being lifted up out of the Devil’s clutches and laid down in the bosom of Abraham where we will enjoy eternal life.

“Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world … I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst … I am that bread of life … This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:32-35, 48, 50-51).

Praise the Lord that by God’s grace, we have eaten of Christ that we may live and no longer be strung along by the Damned One who is nothing compared to the Holy One (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:27)!

Semper Reformanda,

Pastor Grant