Reflections
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. (Rev 12:11)
These are not three methods by which we overcome. They are all the same Truth. They all point to the fact that we overcome, not by fighting Satan, but by coming under the One in Whom is all victory, Jesus Christ.
Practically speaking, this key to all victory in the Christian life is the losing of my life for Jesus’ sake in order to find Him as my life. Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” (Mat 16:24-25) This verse from Revelation is this same Truth. Victory is HIS resurrection life. I have to lose MY life in order to live from out of HIS life.
This verse tells us that overcoming must be based upon the foundation of the Cross; the Blood of the Lamb. Indeed, we are to abandon ourselves to Christ — to, “not love our lives unto death.” This is the Truth of the personal Cross. It is not a matter of merely believing the doctrine – rather, it is a matter of picking up my cross daily. The access point of Satan is natural man — indeed the seat of all sin is self-ownership in natural man — and the Cross crucifies natural man, completely disarming Satan. We overcome in Christ by losing the life in which the root of all sin resides — and by living from out of His life — in which there is all victory.
If I ask God to do whatever it takes to bring me into the fullness of Christ, and then believe and obey when He does, I am standing upon the One in whom there is already the eternal victory. I have overcome through faith in Christ. And the progressive result of this overcoming is that, “the word of testimony” will be alive in us. “The word of testimony,” in the saint is CHRIST IN US — Christ will be manifested in and through those who have given themselves to Him through the work of the Cross.