Lullabies and battle cries.
When Jesus was born that night, the angels appeared to shepherds watching their sheep on the hills outside Bethlehem. Today, we sit in church on Christmas and talk about mangers and shepherds and angels singing lullabies. It's a nice, peaceful image. We show pictures of Mary and Joseph gazing wide-eyed at their newborn wonder. I walk past nativity scenes and all the figurines are smiling and everything looks so peaceful. But that night, when Mary gave birth to Jesus, I don't think the angels sang lullabies. I think they shouted battle cries.
Have you ever stopped to think about it? Jesus didn't come and move into our neighborhood as God in human form just to prove He could. He came to love, to bring life. He came to declare war on sin, death, disease, and all the evil in the world. The angel's proclamation was good news of great joy--a lullaby to the shepherds and to us. It was a war cry of the deadliest form to the Devil and all the sin and brokenness in the world. It was a declaration to the universe that the earth is the LORD's and everything in it and He came to take it back for Himself. That's good news for us, but the better news came 33 years later. On Good Friday, Jesus--God in human form--died. His death was death to evil, injustice, hate, disease, brokenness, and sin. His resurrection, three days later, was the final blow to Satan himself.
So now we have the privilege of living a new era. In history whenever there is a regime change, whenever a nation was taken over, whenever a war was won, there was a strange intermission when the victors and conquerors had to go through the entire nation to tell everyone of the victory. Word had to spread of who rules and who deserves allegiance.
After D-Day in World War II, most of the world knew that Hitler and the Nazi empire would fall. On V-E-Day the world was confident of the Allied victory. Yet, there was a time when blood was still shed, when word had to spread of victory and defeat. There was still defiance and fighting... but the war had already been won.
That's the age we live in. The age where the war has already been won... but there's still fighting and hate. There's still bloodshed and violence. It's not that Jesus hasn't defeated evil, injustice, sin and death, it's that the remnants of it have to be pushed out and subdued. Jesus is already victorious but, just like after a war, the fighting goes on for just a little while.
The angels didn't sing lullabies, they shouted battle cries against Satan and evil. Today we don't have to wait to see who will win the battle... Jesus already won. But we still have to shout battle cries as we push through all the world, subduing the remnants of Satan, his minions, evil, death, injustice, sin, and violence. I have to remember that we don't fight against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph. 6:12).
So I live on, singing lullabies when I look forward to reaching Heaven's gates and shouting battle cries when I look around at this dark world. Jesus came to declare that this world his HIS and all that is in it--and He wants it back. He's taking it back. He set captives free, healed the sick, freed the slaves, gave sight to the blind, made lepers clean, raised women to equality, fought for the rights of the orphan and widow, brought laughter and joy to the defeated, fed the hungry, bound up the brokenhearted, and gave reason to live. He set all who follow Him about the same business. That's His battle cry... His song, the song of the angels is a battle cry to Satan and evil but it's a lullaby to all who rest in Him.
Have you ever stopped to think about it? Jesus didn't come and move into our neighborhood as God in human form just to prove He could. He came to love, to bring life. He came to declare war on sin, death, disease, and all the evil in the world. The angel's proclamation was good news of great joy--a lullaby to the shepherds and to us. It was a war cry of the deadliest form to the Devil and all the sin and brokenness in the world. It was a declaration to the universe that the earth is the LORD's and everything in it and He came to take it back for Himself. That's good news for us, but the better news came 33 years later. On Good Friday, Jesus--God in human form--died. His death was death to evil, injustice, hate, disease, brokenness, and sin. His resurrection, three days later, was the final blow to Satan himself.
So now we have the privilege of living a new era. In history whenever there is a regime change, whenever a nation was taken over, whenever a war was won, there was a strange intermission when the victors and conquerors had to go through the entire nation to tell everyone of the victory. Word had to spread of who rules and who deserves allegiance.
After D-Day in World War II, most of the world knew that Hitler and the Nazi empire would fall. On V-E-Day the world was confident of the Allied victory. Yet, there was a time when blood was still shed, when word had to spread of victory and defeat. There was still defiance and fighting... but the war had already been won.
That's the age we live in. The age where the war has already been won... but there's still fighting and hate. There's still bloodshed and violence. It's not that Jesus hasn't defeated evil, injustice, sin and death, it's that the remnants of it have to be pushed out and subdued. Jesus is already victorious but, just like after a war, the fighting goes on for just a little while.
The angels didn't sing lullabies, they shouted battle cries against Satan and evil. Today we don't have to wait to see who will win the battle... Jesus already won. But we still have to shout battle cries as we push through all the world, subduing the remnants of Satan, his minions, evil, death, injustice, sin, and violence. I have to remember that we don't fight against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph. 6:12).
So I live on, singing lullabies when I look forward to reaching Heaven's gates and shouting battle cries when I look around at this dark world. Jesus came to declare that this world his HIS and all that is in it--and He wants it back. He's taking it back. He set captives free, healed the sick, freed the slaves, gave sight to the blind, made lepers clean, raised women to equality, fought for the rights of the orphan and widow, brought laughter and joy to the defeated, fed the hungry, bound up the brokenhearted, and gave reason to live. He set all who follow Him about the same business. That's His battle cry... His song, the song of the angels is a battle cry to Satan and evil but it's a lullaby to all who rest in Him.
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