Laying Down Our Lives

In order to experience the full effects of the blood of Jesus, we need to know how to appropriate His blood. Today’s Scripture and our confession for this week refer to a great end time conflict that involves both heaven and earth — the angels of God, Satan and his angels, and God’s believing people on earth. The statement is made by God’s angels:

“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death” (Revelation 12:11)

“They” are people like you and me, believers in Jesus Christ. “Him” refers to Satan. There is a direct conflict between us and Satan; there is no one in between. This verse tells us how the believers overcame him, further describing them as committed — totally committed. A committed Christian is the only kind that frightens Satan. When it says “they did not love not their lives to the death,” it means that staying alive was not their first priority. Priority number one was to be faithful to the Lord and to do His will.

When talking about “soldiers in the Lord’s army,” many of us have a vague and sentimental idea about what that means. When I was a soldier in the British army, I did not receive a certificate from the commanding officer guaranteeing that I would not lose my life. Any soldier knows he may be killed; serving may cost his life. It is the same in the Lord’s army. There is no guarantee that we will not have to lay down our lives. The people Satan fears are those who are not afraid to lay down their lives. After all, life on earth is brief.