Welcome to PowerPoint with Jack Graham. Our God has no rival and He has no equal, but He does have an enemy, and that enemy is Satan. And because Satan hates God, he attacks the children of God and the people of God. On today's PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about what the birth of Christ meant for this cosmic battle between kingdoms.
Now, here's Dr. Graham with his message, A Cosmic Christmas. Normally, when you're preaching the great message of Christmas, you're going to Isaiah 7, the virgin birth of Christ, or Isaiah 9, we just quoted his name as Wonderful Counselor, or of course Luke 2 and Matthew 1, Matthew 2, Philippians 2, other great passages concerning who Jesus is and why He came. But today's message is taken from the last book of the Bible, Revelation chapter 12. And I'm calling this sermon, A Cosmic Christmas.
Because what we're about to see is the cosmic war between heaven and earth. Between God and Satan, light and darkness, Christ and Antichrist. the seed of the woman and the seed of Satan. And it is a story about a war that has been going on since before time began on earth in eternity past.
Now there have been famous battles in history and even recent history. But today I'm going to talk to you about the battle at Bethlehem. because what happened when Christ was born, it was a heavenly invasion and an attack from heaven on earth, the kingdom of God advancing the message and the mission of God on earth. Jesus' birth was a battle. And it's all about two kingdoms, these two kingdoms that clash.
So Christmas is certainly a celebration. And we are celebrating Christ and His birth. But Christmas at the very root is a confrontation. The incarnation of Christ, His birth, is a confrontation. And we're going to see why that is true in just a moment.
this war which has been on from before the beginning of the world. This war sweeps from eternity through history and on into eternity forward. And it's a war that will not be over until Jesus comes again. And Christ who came at Bethlehem, born at Bethlehem, is coming again in great glory. And he will defeat ultimately and finally Satan and all the enemies of the gospel.
But until then, war is going to be on and never over. And this spiritual war, this supernatural war that we're going to read about in just a moment, continues to this very moment, to this very hour. we wish there was a truce that somehow all the weapons could be laid down. But there's no truce in this war, the war of the ages, which is the cosmic Christmas that I want to talk to you about. Revelation chapter 12 and verse 1.
For it says, a great sign appeared in heaven.
So this is a symbol that is speaking to us. A sign in the heavens. And a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of 12 stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven.
Behold, or look, a great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and on his head seven diadems. And his tail swept down a third of the stars of the heavens and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth so that when she bore her child that he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was caught up to God and to his throne.
And the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.
Now what in the world is this all about? These signs in the heavens. These symbols of a radiant woman. A wonder woman. and a red dragon like a dinosaur, huge, again in the skies.
And then a reigning male child. What's happening here? Think with me for just a moment about the radiant woman. It says that she is pregnant and crying out with labor pains. Who is she?
Well, some, and in particular the Catholic Church, say that the radiant woman, this wonder woman in Revelation 12, is Mary. But clearly, this is not Mary. Others suggest that the radiant woman of Revelation 12 is the church. That the church is the woman who gives birth to the male child. and you know by now perhaps that the male child is the Messiah.
But we know that the church did not give birth to Christ. Christ gave birth to the church.
So not Mary, not the church.
So who is this woman? It is clear when you study the Scriptures that this woman is Israel. the people of Israel. Verse 1 tells us that she wears a crown or a die and a garland of 12 stars which is an allusion to the 12 tribes of Israel and even to the dream of Joseph in Genesis the book of Genesis God birthed and blessed the nation Israel His chosen people He gave Abraham a great promise in Genesis chapter 12 and verse 3, and I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in all the families of the earth you shall be blessed. We love Israel as followers of Jesus because Israel birthed the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Deuteronomy 7 verse 6 speaks of God's people. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His treasured possession of out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. God has elevated Israel above all the nations and crowned the people chosen by God Himself, elevated them and enthroned them in a very special way. And this nation of Israel has been preserved and protected by God throughout the generations.
Israel is even called in the Old Testament God's wife or the wife of God.
So this wonder woman who is in the skies here is Israel. And this woman of course is the one who gave birth to the Savior of the world. This is the divine seed, the genealogy that came through the ages, through the Old Testament period. And God gave us Israel so that He could give the world the Messiah and the Savior. This is the reason that we love Israel.
We also know that the seed of the woman, the child, produced the Messiah.
Now if you know your basic biology, of course, you know a woman does not have a seed. the seed comes from the male from the man and yet we're told that the Savior came through Israel and an Israeli woman and it was the seed of this woman that produced Jesus we know as followers of the Lord that Jesus was prophesied in Isaiah 7 14 as the one who would be born of a virgin God would plant the seed, His own seed, the life of God as the Holy Spirit would overshadow Mary. And this seed, this seed of the woman was predicted and prophesied all the way back just as we're looking at the end of the book in Revelation. If you go to the very beginning and the opening salvos really of this war, this cosmic war that's been going on, You will see that in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15, after a man fell and the woman sinned against God, that God pronounced a judgment and gave the first gospel. The first message of the gospel is Genesis 3 and verse 15.
When it says that God says, I will put enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of Satan. and he said this seed, this child, this one who would be born, the Messiah who would come. Though Satan would wound him and bruise his heel, that the Messiah would crush the head of Satan and defeat the enemy. This is all a part of this invisible war that's going on around us. Israel is a big part of this if you want to know what's happening in the last days and in the days forward look at the super sign which is Israel you're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message a cosmic Christmas we're excited to share that we have a new way for you to connect with us it's our texting service designed to keep you connected with everything happening here at PowerPoint you'll be the first to know about upcoming events, special announcements, and truly enriching content.
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Now let's get back to today's message, A Cosmic Christmas. Not only do we have this radiant woman, this wonder woman, but then there is this red dragon. And we don't have to wonder who is the red dragon. Because the scripture tells us that the red dragon is none other than the old deceiver. verse 9 of Revelation 12, and the great dragon was thrown down, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil, and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, who was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
So here is this great dragon. And I'll tell you something about the devil. There's a lot of things that we can say about him. We're told that he is a deceiver, He is a liar and a murderer from the beginning. His very name means the adversary.
And verse 7 tells us that there was war in heaven. Michael, the great archangel, and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and the angels fought back. When? Before the world was birthed.
Before planet Earth was created. the heavens in the angelic host there was a battle when Lucifer the son of the morning became the prince of darkness When he rose up in rebellion against God and led a revolt in heaven And I know this is mysterious and it seems so supernatural and you know why Because it is supernatural and yet it is real. This is not a fantasy. This is not Marvel Comics here. This is the real cosmic Christmas.
It's the war of the ages. And I'll tell you this about the devil. The devil is not only anti-Christ, he is also anti-Semitic. And so through the years behind all of these attacks upon people of faith, and certainly those of us who are Christians and people who are Jewish, all of this is inspired by Satan and this war that began. And the Scripture, this is where we discover in Revelation chapter 12 and verse 9 again that Satan was thrown down to the earth.
These angels were fighting. We read earlier than verse 4, look at verse 4 again, Revelation chapter 12, that a third of the stars, that's the heavenlies, that's the angels, that's a reference to angels, not the heavenly bodies, the stars, but the angelic beings, the stars of heaven. one-third of these angels were cast out of heaven. These became demonic spirits, disembodied powerful beings led by Satan. One-third of the heavenly hosts were thrown out of heaven.
Now the good news is we got them two to one still with all the angels. But what we have going on is this cosmic battle between heaven and earth, light and darkness, God and Satan, angels and demons. And there was war in heaven. And then that war spilled out to the earth all of these centuries. And the battle is between God's seed and Satan's seed.
Those who follow the Lord God of heaven and those who follow Satan. Our God has no rival and he has no equal, but he does have an enemy. And that enemy is Satan. And because Satan hates God, he attacks the children of God and the people of God. Satan is not in hell.
Satan roams the earth like a roaring lion. Satan is alive, though not well, and living on planet earth along with all of these demon spirits.
Now one day he will be in the abyss. One day when the one who was sentenced at the cross and Christ defeated him at the cross, one day the sentence will be complete and Satan will be cast into hell and all that follow him. Truth is, this fight, this battle, the fight is fixed. The battle's already won. Jesus is Lord.
and Satan knows the outcome. In fact, in Revelation 12 and verse 12, look down at that verse, it says, Rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them. But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath. And remember again, this is at this point in Revelation is the tribulation period. But because he knows, he's coming down in great wrath because he knows that his time is short.
Satan knows what he's in for. And in the last days, when we wonder, why are things getting worse? Why can't we end the wars? Why can't we end the violence? It's because Satan is ramping up his rage.
And we are wrestling, not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, principalities, the powers of the air. You see how this is all about the heavens and what's going on in the heavens? Satan is called the prince of the power of the air and the god of this age. And Satan and his battle are heating up. And the subject is truth or lies.
And he attacks people of faith in particular. Christians are persecuted around the world and so are Jewish people. Here in America, we are facing cultural opposition, but many in the world, Christians and Jewish people, are facing physical persecution. In Europe in particular, Western Europe, anti-Semitism is raging again. But God's truth will prevail, and God's Word will prevail.
And ultimately Satan will be defeated and Satan will be destroyed. Because the one who was born, who lived and died and went to the cross and won the victories, when Jesus cried out, it is finished on the cross, it meant that Satan and his plans and his schemes were finished. Though he's still flailing around like a chicken with his head cut off and causing a lot of blood and spilling a lot of anger all over the world, his sentence is done. he is on his way to defeat. But until then, God has called us to be in the battle and to fight the good fight of faith and to put on the armor of God and to wear and bear the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
And our primary weapon is praise to God because not only do we see this radiant woman and this red dragon, but in verses 5 and 6 there is the reigning Christ. The reigning Christ. Look at it again. She, that is Israel, gave birth to the male child. One is to rule the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to the throne.
Now this is very interesting. When you look at verse 5 there's the birth of Christ, but nothing here about the crucifixion Though the Bible obviously tells us of the crucifixion But in this passage speaking of this victory takes the babe right out of the manger and to the throne of God. The male child, the Messiah child, the Savior born of the woman is now reigning, caught up to God and to His throne.
So in this Christmas season, let's settle this issue that the Savior came born of a woman to attack and defeat the powers of Satan and darkness to redeem us and save us from our sin and then to reign and rule as King of Kings and Lord of Lords this is the reigning Christ this is the one who will save us and redeem us and one day we will reign with him. Verse 11 of Revelation 12 is a very important scripture for it says, and they, meaning these in the tribulation period, but it also applies to us that we overcome, we conquer him, that is Satan, by the blood of the Lamb. And here's the cross. And the word of their testimony and they love not their lives unto death. We are in the target zone in this war.
We're in the war zone right now. But greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Satan is no match for the Messiah. He is no rival to our king. And therefore, we know the end of the story, don't we?
In the midst of all the chaos and the confusion and the criminality and all that is going on in the world today and it will ramp up. The rage will continue. We know who wins the battle. We know that our Christ, the Christ child is now reigning as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
So the Christmas bells, if you will, are calling us to worship but also calling us to war. At this Christmas, we're in this battle. We know the victory is ours because Christ has won it. But we fight on and we will not fail. We will not retreat.
We will not give up because we know our God reigns. If you want to know what the book of Revelation is all about, one sentence our God race you're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message a cosmic Christmas with just a few days left in 2025 we want to invite you to give a year-end gift to help ensure PowerPoint steps into the next year of ministry in the strongest position possible the good news is that a generous friend has provided a 250,000 dollar matching grant which means any year-end gift you give by December 31st will be doubled to take the life-changing message of the gospel to more people around the world, people searching for the peace only Jesus gives. Your tax-deductible year-end gift, doubled by the match, will take the message of peace in Christ into more homes, hearts, and lives than ever before. To give your gift, just text the word MATCH to 59789. That's match to 59789.
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Just text CONNECT to 59789. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? Many people reject the idea that the devil even exists.
Some people find the idea just too far-fetched and others think they're, well, maybe too intelligent to believe in things like the devil. But what is really at the heart of this trend is that the devil simply doesn't want people to believe that he exists. He is covered by darkness and he wants you to think that he's not really there. And here's what's interesting. Most of the people who don't believe in the devil are the ones who are suffering the most from his attacks.
It's because they have an adversary and they don't even know it. You see, the devil not only exists, he's unleashing all the artillery of hell against believers and, of course, unbelievers. And, you know, things are only going to get worse. Simon Peter described the devil like a roaring lion roaming the earth, seeking whom he may devour. And this deadly lion is pulling out all the stops.
But I want you to pay careful attention to what I'm about to say right now. Just because Satan exists doesn't mean that he's in control. The devil is not in control of the world, or he's not in control of you as a follower of Christ. Jesus is in control. He has power over the devil and all of his demon spirits, and nothing happens on earth that isn't first permitted by God.
So as a believer, you need to know what the scripture says about the devil. It really comes down to three things. The three things that he does not want you to know. Number one, he doesn't want you to know that he exists. Number two, he doesn't want you to know he is strategic and he will use the world and the flesh to try to ensnare you and hold you captive.
But you can overcome because number three, the devil is a defeated foe. When Christ died and rose again, all of sin and hell and death and the devil himself is disarmed by the power of Jesus himself. When Jesus paid the penalty for sin on the cross and cried out in those final words, it is finished. The plan of salvation was accomplished. The devil himself was finished.
And now when you surrender your life to Jesus, the victory over the devil is yours. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember that when you give a gift to PowerPoint, your gift will be doubled by a generous matching grant.
So text the word match to 59789. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how you can live confidently under the favor of God. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.
Thank you.
