Overcome

“And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” (Revelation 12:11).

They conquered. . . unto death. Victory through death? It seems backwards. A triumph is often the context in which I hear the first part of the verse quote. But do we remember Jesus’ words about losing our life to find it? There is life more than life.

We often quote the first part for victory now, but that victory may come in the very weakness. Overcoming is faithfulness. Overcoming is like Job declaring on the ash heap, “I will not love anything more than God, I will not worship just for something, for what I get out of it.” With that, he shattered the Accuser’s slander at God, “Does Job worship God for nothing?” (Job 1:9, paraphrase). This picks up the notes of Philippians 4:13, “I can do anything through Christ who strengthens me.” Anything was knowing weakness, poverty, persevering in persecution and suffering, in prison. It trills the same as the glorious trumpet call of Romans 8:37 that we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Yet that was conquering as they were led like sheep to the slaughter (Rom. 8:36).

So, too, that note rings in the phrase “by the blood of the Lamb.” It is via cross to glory, through death to life. Like our Lord’s, our heads are marked by a crown of thorns until we reach the crown of life.

The blood of the Lamb highlights Christ’s centrality--he is the victor. He has won and will win. We fight from a place of certainty. Martyrs die out of life-already. We take up our cross daily from a place of being seated in the heavenlies (Luke 9:23; Eph. 2:6). We suffer for Christ’s sake out of comfort now (Acts 9:31; 2 Cor. 1:3-7; Phil. 2:1; 2 Thes. 2:16-17), out of blessedness now (Eph. 1:3), out of glory already ours (if only by slight tastes and glimpses) (2 Cor. 4:17-18; 1 Pet. 4:14).

That we conquer also by the word our testimony to points to Jesus as the Victor in whom we participate. What does a testimony do? It testifies to what we have seen, heard, experienced, touched. We know Christ--know in the sense of objectivity and subjectivity, of knowledge and experience, of assent and intimacy. This testimony--that Jesus is Victor, Lord, Lamb, Lion, Strength, Life, Truth, Way, Resurrection--is endowed with the very power of the Living Word, imbued by the Spirit. What power does a mere aspiration have, a breath that triggers our vocal chords? Power to overcome when it points to the Word.

Our little words--speaking truths into the torrent of anxiety, meditating on verses in the presence of fear, speaking truth in conflict, giving words of comfort in the face of loss, speaking the name of Jesus in the attacks of the enemy--they are not magic. But they in faith keep us abiding in the Vine, participating in the Victor.

This does not undermine optimism. This does not glorify suffering. Suffering finds its small place in a greater story. It is the ashes that are the taken up and woven into a song of beauty (Isa. 61:3). It is the mourning that is itself transformed into gladness. God takes the sackcloth and from them clothes with gladness (Ps. 30:11).  Ashes, mourning, and sackcloth are not just passed over and replaced, but so great, so great is God’s holy-infusing-redemption-restoration-shalomsalvation that these, these are turned into our victory through him who loved us. To this we testify, even unto death to life, life glorious.