The Ancient Path to the Near Future

To fully know the prophetic future, we must understand the ancient past. It all begins with a Fall, but not the one that generally comes to mind. Before the Fall of mankind and the subsequent rebellion of evil on the earth, there was another Fall. It was a heavenly rebellion, initiated by Heylal. He goes by other names now: Lucifer, Satan, and the Devil.
 
He is one of the major characters in the Final Saga recorded in the book of Revelation, where he is known as the Dragon. He’s described as a scarlet dragon because he is bloodthirsty and bent on destroying Israel and God’s children. He is the embodiment of evil. His modus operandi is the four D’s:  deception, division, destruction, and death (John 10:10, 2 Cor. 4:4).
 
It’s important to know that before God created the earth, He already had a plan in place to counter this rebellion. Namely, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, the Seed (Rev. 13:8; Gen. 3:15). When Satan was cast down, he intended to ascend back to Heaven and exalt his throne above God, to become the new Most High. That intention is what starts us down the path to the final saga. Every believer automatically becomes part of this cosmic war of the ages.
 
You see, God created mankind to subdue Satan and his evil forces. When we likewise fell through disobedience, choosing to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, that sin brought physical death into the earth and spiritual death to mankind. Physical death is separation from our physical body, through which we interact with this physical earth. Spiritual death is separation from the presence of God and the unseen spiritual realm.
 
It’s also important to recognize that our mandate to subdue Satan was not lost. Nor did we forfeit God’s love for us. He pursues us now just as He pursued Adam and Even when they ran away and hid in the garden—as if that were even possible!
 
Since we are still accountable for the mandate, how do we defeat the fallen Angel we were assigned to subdue, particularly when he now knows our “kryptonite?” The answer: we can’t. Only a perfect man could. Enter the Seed, the second Adam, the last Adam, God in the flesh, the Son of God and the Son of Man (1 Cor. 15:45, 47). Not surprisingly, Jesus Christ is one of the other major characters in the final saga.
 
By grace through faith we get to fulfill our mandate to subdue Satan and all evil. When Christ was resurrected, He overcame death. The Bible calls this being birthed from death. As His Body, we shall likewise be resurrected, overcoming death at the rapture. We will then be completely conformed to His image, likewise being birthed from death, receiving immortal, glorified bodies. We are raised up as joint-heirs, to be seated with Christ at the throne of God, to be the heavenly government.
 
Our time on the earth is our boot-camp training, where we learn to use the weapons of our warfare (Eph. 6:10-18). At the end of this age (the 6th Day), our assignment will change from training to reigning with Christ. We are raptured to fulfill our calling as the heavenly Esther to reign with the King, thwarting the enemy’s last-ditch effort to take the nations as his own and establish his counterfeit kingdom. This is our near future.