Overcomer Techniques: Offensive Use of The Blood of The Lamb
The eschaton doesn't stand a chance.
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
Dear reader, what is the purpose of overcoming? Is it to secure self-preservation?
Most times I hear a person who says they are Christian cite the above verse, it seems to me they are mainly aiming to preserve their estate in this world from "attacks" by the devil. I want to talk about how to use the blood of the Lamb of God offensively, but in total honesty, that's not what this verse is about. (And it’s the only verse that seems to use the blood offensively.)
The verse above, Revelation 12:11 appears to say that "they" - identified as "our brothers" in the preceding verse - overcame the "great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world" (Revelation 12:9).
But how did they do it?
Instead of an unmitigatedly offensive use of the blood of Jesus, this is really about their preservation and willingness to suffer even death for their faith due to the note at the end of verse 11, "they loved not their own lives even unto the death."
Nevertheless, even though this verse appears to be the only verse in the whole Bible that describes the blood of Jesus as an offensive weapon, I want to describe how you can use the blood of Jesus offensively.
A helpful man once justified this to me in a helpful way. The blood of Jesus isn't something material that you wield: when you become Christian you don't take a physical red bath of Jesus’ blood and get cleansed of all unrighteousness, no it is the spiritual reality of Christ's atonement.
Here a slightly offensive depiction of the atonement in the Bible:
"In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him."
Colossians 2:11–15.
Note the sequence:
you were circumcised (your fleshly nature died) by faith in Christ's crucifixion through baptism,
By his resurrection, your dead flesh is raised with new life.
Amid this sequence God nails your sin record (a literal line-item description of the dirt the devil has on you) to the cross, canceling all the authority an evil ruler has over a sinner-become-saint.
So, the real instrument of overcoming here appears to be the saint dying their way into the work of Christ on the cross. But the blood of Jesus is the catch-all description of Colossians 2:11-15. The blood of Jesus is the paraphrase of this in-depth idea of atonement.
When you couple the idea of the blood of Jesus with your problems as a believer, you weaponize the atonement to overcome individual difficulties. It does require faith: you must take what you know is true of yourself:
"I died on Calvary's hill, I was buried with Christ, I was raised with Christ, I was seated with Christ in heavenly places"
By that faith, you refuse to acknowledge any authority the devil has against you.
So here's a scenario to get a picture: You feel attacked by the enemy for your walk with God. Next, by faith as a muscle, actualize the work of Christ by the blood:
"I place the blood of Jesus on this attack Lord"
"I place the blood of Jesus on my attacker Lord"
"I place the blood of Jesus on any ground they think they have to attack me, Lord."
I feel, reader, that I am giving away some of my best ideas here, so please treasure these principles if you walk with God. They do work.