The Conquering Saviour - Warrior, King, Redeemer
Revelation 19:11-16
“Now I saw Heaven opened, and behold a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed in robe dipped in blood, and His name is called the Word of God. And the armies of Heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a shard sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”
I was imagining the day, in Heaven, where God calls all the host of Heaven to a meeting because news had broken out that an invasion was about to take place. So all the angels, the elders and population of Heaven were gathered before the Throne and God confirms the rumour to be true. At that point, a roar rips through the realms of Heaven and all the angels draw their swords in eager expectation of open warfare. All they need is a word from Him and it’ll be done. But something happened that baffled all of them. God said, “Sheath your swords children. You are not going this time.” The roar turned to a murmur of confusion. The Father spoke again, “I have sent Gabriel ahead of Me to the town of Nazareth, where he is to announce my arrival to Mary, who is betrothed to Joseph, descendant of David.” Again, murmurs of confusion rose up again amongst the angels.
An angel humbly asked, “But Father, if You are to invade and conquer in Glory, why does Gabriel need to announce Your arrival to one woman? And why do we not go with You?”
“Peace!”, the Father declared with a smile on His face and then continued, “The answer to your questions are in My words through Isaiah: For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant...He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”
Silence.
“The invasion is for the redemption of my children. Only I can fight. Only I can defeat. Only I can redeem. In order for this to happen, I must become as they are, yet without sin. I shall be born as a man, live as a man and die as criminal, with every sin of mankind laid upon Me. However, I shall rise again, not as a man, but as King, as Redeemer. Today, Jesus, my Son, will quietly invade a world in need of redemption and at the right time declare open war.....and win.” At that point, a louder roar ripped through Heaven and the four corners of creation and Jesus stepped out of Heaven with nothing but a BIG smile on His face.
Here we have a mighty, powerful God who could quiet easily have opened the boundaries of Heaven for all it’s forces to invade the kingdom of darkness, but He knew there was only one way for it to be utterly destroyed: the shedding of His Blood. Jesus, quietly invaded earthly realms, not as a Mighty King arrayed in glory and splendour, but as a baby. He grew up as a normal boy would and experienced life as any normal person would, with all the same pains and trials. For 30 years, He lived a quiet life, but then He was baptised in the Jordan river by John the Baptist. At that point, open warfare was declared against the kingdom of darkness, sin and death. In Luke 3:22, we read how God the Father declares from Heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well pleased.” I could just imagine every demon suddenly turning their head and their gaze towards Jesus, realising who He is and saying, “Oh it’s on!” Not that they would be any match for Him anyways.
For 3 years after this, Jesus caused quite a stir. The declaration of war against sin turned the hearts of religious leaders all over Israel against Him. They despised His words and plotted against Him. For 3 years they could not find any cause in Him to have Him shut up. As Jesus pressed on, He raised up an army, but not an army that would physically fight, an army that would follow Him in the way He fought: restoring sight to the blind, offering healing to the sick and disabled, freedom to the spiritually oppressed and redemption for all mankind. Eventually, Judas a man in that army of disciples, betrayed Him and finally the men the who despised Him, had Him where they wanted Him and had Him beaten and crucified. Little did they know this was all part of the Plan to redeem mankind and 3 days later, Jesus rose from the dead.
I love how the picture of Jesus is consistent throughout Scripture. He was never meant to be portrayed as a tame man with a heart of a dove. But He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, a wild man with a heart of a lion. He fought to the point of death for the salvation of mankind and their redemption from sin. He waged war against satan and his demons and won. There was nothing satan could do and there still isn’t. Jesus had fulfilled the law of the old covenant. All those who believe this, will no longer live under the deathly effects of sin, but under the life that broke out when the stone was rolled away from the tomb, when Jesus rose from the dead. He rose, not as man, but as a Warrior, King and Redeemer.
This is the Conquering Saviour, Jesus Christ.
If you’re reading this today and recognise the need for a Saviour, the need for forgiveness, I ask that you pray this prayer and be welcomed into redemption. Into the arms of Jesus.
Lord Jesus, I thank You that you died for me, so that I could be raised to Life again with You. Today, I put my faith in You as Saviour, Redeemer, Father and Friend. Thank You that Your blood was enough to wash me clean of sin forever so that I may have relationship with you as my Father and trust You as Daddy. I put my life in Your loving and gracious hands today Father, and ask that You would lead me into everything You have for me, as Your son/daughter. Amen.
If you prayed that prayer and would like to tell someone, please I encourage you to email me on dwaine.hohne@telkomsa.net so that I can give you something more to read, or you can tell a friend who you know to be a Christian. It is an absolute joy to me and to the host of Heaven today, if you did pray that prayer. But more so, Jesus is glad you’re back where you belong...with Him.
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