And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb . . .  (Revelation 12: 11a)

The last place you would expect to see war might be in heaven. Yet, this is exactly what Revelation chapter 12 describes:

And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And 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: 7-11)

Be sure to observe that Michael and his angels prevailed against the Dragon and how they did so. The weapon they had was the blood of the lamb. That is to say, it was the blood of Jesus. This blood was good in days gone by. It will be powerful in the days to come and it works today as a weapon of spiritual warfare. The blood of Jesus has such power because:

(1). It paid the debt for our sin. By his blood our sin account was settled with God.

(2). It cleanses us from the stain of sin such that our sin is not only paid for but even the remembrance of it is gone.

(3). It causes God to look at us without the perception of sin. This is what it means to be justified. When God looks at us through the blood of Jesus, we look “just- as-if” we had never sinned.

(4). It covers us with the protecting power of God. His blood becomes a coating that fights off the attacks of the enemy.

(5). It relinquishes us from the penalty of sin which is death. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God (through the death of Jesus) is eternal life.

We can, do and have overcome adversity because the blood of Jesus has done the work. “I know it was the blood. I know it was the blood. I know it was the blood for me. One day when I was lost, He died upon the cross. I know it was the blood for me.”