In Revelation 12:5 there is the birth of the man-child. The man-child signifies the overcomers who have the authority to rule over the nations. This man-child will be raptured to the throne of God in the heavens. When the man-child is raptured to the throne, there will be a great battle in the heavens against Satan, and Satan will be cast down to the earth (vv. 7-9). Today the enemy, Satan, is still in the heavens, but once the overcomers arrive there, he will have no place but will be cast down. Once he has been cast down, a loud voice will declare, “Now has come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ” (v. 10). Here Christ is spoken of as “His Christ,” the Christ of God. Again this implies the trinity of the Godhead, for Christ is God Himself (Rom. 9:5).
The Lord’s desire today is to establish His kingdom in us. To be a Christian is not merely a matter of being holy and victorious; it is a matter of submitting to the authority of the kingdom. To be a Christian is not only a matter of grace, enjoyment, life, and power; it is also a matter of allowing Christ to have the right to govern us, constitute us His kingdom, set up His throne, and carry out His will in us. When there is a group of people in the church who are willing to allow Christ’s authority to flow among them, this will bring Christ’s kingdom to the earth. When there is a group of overcomers in the church, these overcomers will bring the authority of heaven, the kingdom of God, to the earth. At that time the church will be victorious, and the enemy will be powerless.
The overcoming believers fight against Satan to usher in God’s kingdom. The Lord taught us to pray for the coming of the kingdom (Matt. 6:10). May the Lord grant us mercy and show us that His prayer is for the unlimited spread of the kingdom of God on the earth and in the whole universe. Of course, in order to carry out such a plan of God, there is the need for God’s people to pray sufficiently. The true prayers of God’s people are for His kingdom. We may pray for numerous things, but unless the ultimate purpose is for God’s kingdom, those prayers are of no value before God. We admit that in the Lord’s prayer there is the matter of dealing with sins and the matter of the daily living, but its beginning and ending are entirely for the kingdom of God. In the beginning it says, “Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth” (v. 10). At the end it says, “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever” (v. 13). Therefore, this prayer shows us that He wants our prayer to be wholly for God’s kingdom.
The situation in Revelation 12 depicts the true prayers of the saints. There we see the woman bringing forth a man-child (v. 5). The woman signifies the totality of the redeemed ones. The man-child signifies the stronger part of the redeemed people, that is, the overcomers. We need to realize that the woman and the man-child whom she brought forth have prayed (v. 2). Their voices have reached God; hence, following the rapture of the man-child there is war in heaven. Consequently, God’s enemy is cast out from heaven to the earth. Then there is a loud voice in heaven saying, “Now has come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ” (v. 10). Hence, once God’s people utter the real prayers, the result is always the ushering in of God’s kingdom. On the other hand, without the prayers of God’s people, there is no way for God’s kingdom to come. The coming of the kingdom is absolutely related to our prayers.
The examples in the Old Testament also confirm this. When the children of Israel were in captivity, Jerusalem was destroyed, the temple was burned, and the nation of Israel was in complete collapse. At that time, God raised up several men of prayer in Babylon. Daniel and three of his friends were competent in prayer. Their prayers brought in the kingdom. God’s kingdom had come to the earth through David, but after Solomon’s time it was defeated again. In Babylon Daniel was praying precisely for this matter so that God’s kingdom might be brought back once more to the earth (Dan. 6:10). It was completely due to Daniel’s prayer that God was able to build the temple, restore Jerusalem, and have the dominion. Therefore, we must be clear that whether or not God’s kingdom can come and whether or not He can rule on earth all depend on whether or not God’s people will pray. The ultimate purpose of prayer is for bringing in God’s kingdom.