SERMON MANUSCRIPT
From the beginning, God’s desire was to reign over his creation through a mediator. To that end, the King of the universe placed representative images of himself in his creation to fill his creation and rule his creation. [Gen 1:26–28] But, also from the beginning, Satan’s desire was to usurp God and set himself up as sovereign. He deceived God’s first kingdom mediators—Adam and Eve—prompting them to rebel against the King rather than represent the King, plunging the world into sin and death.
But, in spite of the catastrophic effects of this disobedience, the original plan was never abandoned and God promised to one day establish a pristine, curse-free, never-ending global kingdom within which he would dwell with his creatures and over which he would eternally rule through a perfect Mediator.
The snapshots we’re given of life in this monarchy governed by this Monarch are, to say the least, desirable. [Isa 2:2–4; 9:6–7; 11:6–9] No war or fear, no idolatry or poverty, no injustice or crime, and no curse. God will walk again with humanity unhindered and he will establish his reign over creation through a perfect Mediator.
I think it’s safe to say this time has not yet come. There is war and fear everywhere, idolatry and poverty everywhere, injustice and crime everywhere. There is the curse of sin everywhere. Creation still groans, the flesh still rebels, and Satan still prowls. Yes, God is King of creation but his desired mediatorial reign over creation has not yet come.
But it will. And the passage we’re studying today, Revelation 20, pictures that time, a future moment when King Jesus will stomp Satan, restore what was lost, sit on his throne, and right what is wrong.
SATAN’S IMPRISONMENT
The chapter opens with Satan’s imprisonment. Chapters 17 and 18 record the future destruction Babylon, the hub of Satan’s kingdom on earth. Chapter 19 tells of Christ’s return and defeat of Satan’s armies and of Satan’s chief officers, the beast and the false prophet. Chapter 20 reveals the future fate of Satan himself, beginning with a long prison sentence. [20:1–3]
God sends an angel from heaven who, in some way, hog-ties Satan with a supernatural lasso and throws him into the abyss, a spiritual prison for demons. He slams the door and seals the door. The language is emphatic: during this time, Satan will have no access and no influence on earth with no chance of escape. For the first time since Eden, the world will be free from the deceptions of the serpent.
We can’t even imagine what that’ll be like. We know nothing other than a world infested with satanic influence. Listen to the words of the NT. Paul, in dealing with a sinning brother in Corinth, writes: “I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh” (1 Cor 5:5). He tells Timothy that Hymenaeus and Alexander have been “handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme” (1 Tim 1:20). Paul warns believers to watch out so “that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control” (1 Cor 7:5). We are to forgive “so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes” (2:11). We’re told “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (11:14) and that Paul was given “a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan” (12:7).
When the church was just beginning to grow and an attack came against her, “Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 5:3)? He would later tell Christians to, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet 5:8).
All that to illustrate something you likely already know: Satan is alive and well in this world right now. He is, as he has always been, a deceiver, whispering in the ears of humanity, “God’s not really trustworthy”; “you’re not really sinful”; “you don’t need saving, you’re good just the way you are”; “God is holding back on you, stopping you from having fun”; “God’s word is unreliable, unintelligible, unnecessary, and unfair”; “all paths lead to God, anyway”; “There is no God and you are not accountable to anyone but yourself.”
We put thieves behind bars to stop them from thieving. Our culture locks away drug dealers so they won’t peddle poison. And, in the future, God will imprison Satan “so that he [will] not deceive the nations any longer” (20:3). We will the reality of our God and his creation unimpeded with clarity, freedom, and joy.
CHRIST’S KINGDOM
And, as we keep reading, Satan’s imprisonment initiates Christ’s Kingdom. [20:4a] The “they” is referring back to [19:14]. This is us, it’s the church saints. Jesus promised this very thing in [3:21]. Paul also promises this in 1 Corinthians: “Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world” (6:2)? Nice, huh? I mean, today those who belong to Christ are getting trampled by the world—mocked, ignored, marginalized, hated, dismissed, abused, and martyred. But when Jesus returns, Satan’s imprisoned, and Christ’s kingdom is established, we reign with him, serving as the mediators of God’s global rule that we were meant to be in the beginning.
[20:4–6] So now we have all believers—the church and those who came to faith and were martyred during the tribulation—all resurrected never to die again. The rest of the dead, that is, the unbelieving dead, are not raised yet. That comes nearer the end of the chapter. For now, it’s a party of Jesus, now enthroned, and his people from all ages, reigning with him.
Have you ever done something and, afterward thought to yourself, “I was meant to do that”? It feels as though you were born for it or wired for it. If you’ve never felt that before and you belong to Christ, you will. Because when we, as God’s image bearers, reign with him, we will be doing exactly what we were designed to do, in exactly the way we were designed to do it, exactly where we were designed to do it—here on earth.
Jesus is physically returning to this earth to physically reign from Jerusalem, spreading peace, justice, righteousness, goodness, and love around the globe. Nations—yes, there will be nations in the kingdom—will stream to his courts to learn of him, worship him, look on him, and celebrate him. Then we’ll go home and eat, play, create, sing, party, farm, build, laugh, and live with one another in the joy of the Lord.
We will see resurrected saints of old—maybe asking Eve what the garden was like or Mary what it was like to raise that King over there; perhaps talking with Elijah about the things he saw or David about the wars he fought. We will also see our family members who have fallen asleep before us. We’ll hug them, hold their hand, and maybe say to them all the things we wanted to say before but didn’t.
HUMANITY’S CORRUPTION
This is Christ’s millennial kingdom, a reign that lasts a thousand years, something made abundantly clear in the text. It sounds idyllic, doesn’t it? What could go wrong? [20:7–9]
Why did this have to happen? Why is it that, as verse 3 already alluded to, “after these things [Satan] must be released for a short time”? We were almost home free into paradise and this seems like a step backward, doesn’t it?
I think Satan has to be released because it illustrates the depth of humanity’s corruption with a chilling clarity. Let me try and explain.
The NT suggests three conduits of temptation that team-up against all people. First, we have the world, the system of this corrupted creation that is bent against its creator. Speaking to believers, Paul says, “you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world.” Elsewhere he said, “do not be conformed to this world” (Rom 12:2). James warns that, “friendship with the world is hostility toward God” (4:4). The world is corrupted.
Second, we have the flesh, the sinful part of us that has been corrupted by sin. For unbelievers, this is all they have. Paul calls them “the natural man,” unable to even understand the things of God (1 Cor 2:14), hearts bent away from truth, sin-sick, and desperately wicked. When we’re born again, we’re given a new nature, but the old one’s still in there and following Christ is about waging that war internally by the Spirit, putting to death the things of the flesh.
Third, we have the devil and we’ve talked about him already today. The world, the flesh, and the devil, all teaming up to keep people from God and pull people away from God.
When I sin, I’d rather blame something outside of myself. The world overwhelmed me. The culture is corrupt. The pressure is too great. Or, the devil made me do it. It is demonic attacks. And those can be true. But we forget and sometimes downplay just how corrupt our own hearts are.
In fact, a recent survey found that of self-professing Bible-believing Christians, 57% agreed with this statement: “Everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature.” You know what that means? 57% of Bible-believing Christians are wrong.
And in the millennial kingdom that will be crystal clear. Think about it: at that time, Satan is out of the equation and Jesus is ruling the globe with a rod of iron and righteousness. That means, of the world, the flesh, and the devil, one and three are gone.
And yet, at the end of a thousand years, when Satan is released, an army is waiting for him! How? Because, while God’s people will be in resurrected bodies, there will be a group of people who came to faith during tribulation, survive, and enter Christ’s kingdom in their natural bodies. They will have children and their children will have children. And on it goes for a thousand years (see, e.g., Isa 65:17:17–23; Zech 8:3–5). Many of those children will come to faith. Some will not. In the most ideal circumstances, Christ reigning, resurrected people everywhere, Satan locked up, there will still be hearts that harden, reject the truth, and wait for rebellion, a rebellion that will be embarrassing short-lived.
SIN’S JUDGEMENT
That’s the power of the flesh. That’s just how sinful we can be even without the devil and a corrupted world system. That’s humanity’s corruption. And with it on full display like never before, finally we read of sin’s judgement, and it’s never been more vindicated than here.
[20:10] True justice demands that rebellion against an eternally good God demands eternal consequences. And, as it is for the devil and his minions, so it is for all apart from Christ. Here’s the second resurrection, one that stands in horrifying contrast to the first. [20:11–13]
The Bible is clear and we’ve been reminded today: the flesh is strong and we’re all sinners. Every person who has ever lived has fallen short of God’s standard of perfection and, because of that, we’re owed death. We, like Adam and Eve, rebel against the King rather than represent him. But God sent Jesus to pay the price for those rebellions, die for them, and be raised from the dead. And he offers his righteousness, his perfection, his sinlessness to all who trust him for it.
Every person who has ever lived has a choice: will I, when I stand before God, present Christ’s resume or my own. Here, in verses 12 and 13, are people who chose the latter. They want to take their chances and stand before God with their own works, their deeds. And it’s all recorded. God doesn’t miss anything. The problem is, it’s not enough. Perfection is the standard, a standard we can’t meet on our own.
[20:14–15] This is sin’s judgement. This is the serpent’s head crushed under the boot of the Seed of the woman, Jesus Christ. It’s the end of the world, the flesh, and the devil; the end of wickedness and rebellion, the end of suffering and pain, the end of loneliness and doubt; it’s the death of death.
I want to suggest a few things for us to consider as we close. First, sin is more powerful than we think. Brothers and sisters, we cannot underestimate the deception of Satan, the corruption of this world, nor the rottenness of the flesh.
We cannot let our guards down. “Sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for us, but we must master it.” It will destroy lives, families, reputations, and churches. It will hamper ministries, wreck testimonies, and spoil reputations. Let’s take sin seriously because it is more powerful than we think. Repent of sin, one to another. Flee from sin. Watch for sin. Don’t justify it, ignore it, normalize it, or excuse it. Let’s be a people who root it out, call it out, and cast it out. Sin’s more powerful than we think.
But, second, God is more powerful than sin. He doesn’t even show up to take out Satan in our text; he sends an angel. Satan is nothing compared to the Almighty. The Father scoffs at his attempts. The Son will crush his head. The Spirit in us fights for us.
We need to remember that, while we fight sin in our lives and in our world and in our church, that we as the people of God are fighting from a place of victory and not toward victory. We still war, but we wage it knowingly and confidently because our God is more powerful than sin and, one day, it will be no more.
Third and finally, eternity is more beautiful than we can imagine. This may be a bit of a spoiler for our last sermon in this series but, in many ways, the millennial reign of Christ serves as the kick-off party for eternity. [20:11] Why would creation flee? Because it is about to be remade in chapter 21. A new heavens and new earth with its Creator King reigning as he always has but now as he always desired, through a perfect Mediator, Jesus Christ, God with us and we with him, forever. Eternity is more beautiful than we can imagine.
Josiah has served the Oakridge Bible Chapel family as one of its elders and one of its pastoral staff members since September 2018, before which he ministered as an associate pastor to a local congregation in the Canadian prairies. Josiah's desire is to be used by God to help equip the church for ministry, both while gathered (edification) and while scattered (evangelization). He is married to Patricia, and together they have five children—Jonah, Henry, Nathaniel, Josephine, and Benjamin.
