Hey there, to any of us that are Christians or Jews or students of Judeo-Christian Theology.
I was reading Revelations 12 today, the bit that gives an account of Michael fighting the Dragon (Satan) and casting a third of the angels down to Earth. This is clearly a description of the first Angelic war, the direct result of Lucifer's pride, etc. BUT:
9The great Dragon-ancient Serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, the one who led the whole earth astray-thrown out, and all his Angels thrown out with him, thrown down to earth. 10Then I heard a strong voice out of Heaven saying,
Salvation and power are established!
Kingdom of our God, authority of his Messiah!
The Accuser of our brothers and sisters thrown out,
who accused them day and night before God.
11They defeated him through the blood of the Lamb
and the bold word of their witness.
They weren't in love with themselves;
they were willing to die for Christ.
It's clear in the quoted passage above that Michael's victory, enabled by the Messiah's sacrifice establishes the Kingdom of Heaven, which seems to take place at the end of the world.
We usually think of there being two distinct battles, the one that cast Satan and the demons out of Heaven at or near the beginning of time, and the one that is yet to take place, the one that secures their imprisonment in the Pit and establishes the new order of Heaven and Earth under the Messiah.
It's pretty clear from God's omniscience and omnipresence that He is outside of Space-time. I would propose that in fact, the entire spiritual realm is outside of Space-time, and that there is/was/will be only one battle between the Heavenly Host and the Demonic Hordes. That battle has taken place already, and our universe exists in a bubble of space-time within the spiritual realm, which is the "real world". That is how we are able to claim that the final battle has been won, despite the "fact" that it hasn't yet been fought.
Discuss!
I was reading Revelations 12 today, the bit that gives an account of Michael fighting the Dragon (Satan) and casting a third of the angels down to Earth. This is clearly a description of the first Angelic war, the direct result of Lucifer's pride, etc. BUT:
9The great Dragon-ancient Serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, the one who led the whole earth astray-thrown out, and all his Angels thrown out with him, thrown down to earth. 10Then I heard a strong voice out of Heaven saying,
Salvation and power are established!
Kingdom of our God, authority of his Messiah!
The Accuser of our brothers and sisters thrown out,
who accused them day and night before God.
11They defeated him through the blood of the Lamb
and the bold word of their witness.
They weren't in love with themselves;
they were willing to die for Christ.
It's clear in the quoted passage above that Michael's victory, enabled by the Messiah's sacrifice establishes the Kingdom of Heaven, which seems to take place at the end of the world.
We usually think of there being two distinct battles, the one that cast Satan and the demons out of Heaven at or near the beginning of time, and the one that is yet to take place, the one that secures their imprisonment in the Pit and establishes the new order of Heaven and Earth under the Messiah.
It's pretty clear from God's omniscience and omnipresence that He is outside of Space-time. I would propose that in fact, the entire spiritual realm is outside of Space-time, and that there is/was/will be only one battle between the Heavenly Host and the Demonic Hordes. That battle has taken place already, and our universe exists in a bubble of space-time within the spiritual realm, which is the "real world". That is how we are able to claim that the final battle has been won, despite the "fact" that it hasn't yet been fought.
Discuss!