THE VICTORY OF CHRIST (10 OF 18)
Scripture: Revelation 12:1-17
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The Victory of Christ (10 of 18)
Series: Revelation
Patrick Edwards
Revelation 12:1-17
Introduction
The family was recently watching The Sound of Music when the funniest thing happened. We arrived to the scene where Maria realizes she's in love with Captain von Trapp and runs away back to the convent, cue the music and intermission. The kids were terribly confused, asking 'Is it over? Is that how it ends?' I mean bless their hearts I think they just couldn't understand why we would show them a movie with such a dissatisfying and disappointing conclusion. What kind of evil parents were we? Of course, we explained to them that this was not the end and that an intermission was a common thing in older movies, something still done in stage shows and the such. Greatly relieved, they determined that they could trust their parents once more.
It's kind of disappointing that longer movies don't use intermissions anymore; I mean for one it's nice to get a break! But two, the presence of the intermission can create excitement, anticipation, really setting the stage for the second act to follow. I think it's the providence of God that the way our sermon schedule ran that I was gone two weeks in between Revelation 11 and 12, because that's exactly how we should read these chapters; as the end of Act 1 and the beginning of Act 2. Just as the second act in a musical begins with an overture of the songs and themes of the show overall, so, too, Revelation 12-14 function as an overture, both a recapitulation of everything that has come thus far and a preview of what is to come. In these next three chapters we'll witness the messianic war that wages from Christ's incarnation all the way to His second coming. This will be like the 30,000-foot view of the history of the already-but-not-yet Kingdom of God, which will prepare us for a more in-depth look beginning in chapter 15.
Chapter 12 this morning, thus, focuses on the spiritual nature of this conflict between the ch ...
Series: Revelation
Patrick Edwards
Revelation 12:1-17
Introduction
The family was recently watching The Sound of Music when the funniest thing happened. We arrived to the scene where Maria realizes she's in love with Captain von Trapp and runs away back to the convent, cue the music and intermission. The kids were terribly confused, asking 'Is it over? Is that how it ends?' I mean bless their hearts I think they just couldn't understand why we would show them a movie with such a dissatisfying and disappointing conclusion. What kind of evil parents were we? Of course, we explained to them that this was not the end and that an intermission was a common thing in older movies, something still done in stage shows and the such. Greatly relieved, they determined that they could trust their parents once more.
It's kind of disappointing that longer movies don't use intermissions anymore; I mean for one it's nice to get a break! But two, the presence of the intermission can create excitement, anticipation, really setting the stage for the second act to follow. I think it's the providence of God that the way our sermon schedule ran that I was gone two weeks in between Revelation 11 and 12, because that's exactly how we should read these chapters; as the end of Act 1 and the beginning of Act 2. Just as the second act in a musical begins with an overture of the songs and themes of the show overall, so, too, Revelation 12-14 function as an overture, both a recapitulation of everything that has come thus far and a preview of what is to come. In these next three chapters we'll witness the messianic war that wages from Christ's incarnation all the way to His second coming. This will be like the 30,000-foot view of the history of the already-but-not-yet Kingdom of God, which will prepare us for a more in-depth look beginning in chapter 15.
Chapter 12 this morning, thus, focuses on the spiritual nature of this conflict between the ch ...
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