Accusations

I am reading through the NT and have hit Revelation...ah yes, light morning reading. In chapter 12 I read this about the "red dragon who is called the devil and Satan;"

...for the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them day and night before God, has been thrown down.

I sometimes forget that the very one who tempts and woos us to destructive disobedience is the same one who accuses us of it. Like the White Witch in Narnia who first explains how power will come to Edmund if he helps find the other humans and their helpers, and then accuses him of doing just that before the others and before Aslan.

Remembering this really hammers home Jesus' role as Advocate (remember, he tells the disciples that he will send ANOTHER advocate when he ascends...so he is the first). He is the one who defends us against these accusations by the cross. Chapter 12 goes on to say, "And they have conquered him by the blood of the lamb..."