August 2, 2026
Hope Of Heaven
- Matt Nickoson
Sermon Notes
Revelation 12:9 NIV
The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Job 1:11 NIV
“But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
Job 2:3 NIV
Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”
Job 2:4-5 NIV
“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
Job 2:6 NIV
The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”
Genesis 3:15 NIV
“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he (Jesus) will crush your(Satan’s) head, and you (Satan) will strike his (Jesus’) heel.” – God to the ancient Serpent/Dragon, Satan,
From the very first presence of evil in God’s creation, God promised to send a Son who would become wounded by the Dragon. However, the Son will strike the death blow.
How can God be all-powerful (omnipotent), all-knowing (omniscient) and all-loving (omnibenevolent) and evil still exist?
Answer 1 — God governs the chaos: This world is beautiful and complex, and it is also a battlefield. Chaos appears to reign, but appearances lie. Behind every raging force — every Leviathan we cannot tame — God is at work, bending even the chaos to His purpose, using everything in creation to accomplish exactly what He intends.
1 Corinthians 2:7-8 NIV
No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Revelation 12:11 NIV
They triumphed over him (Satan the great Dragon) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
Answer 2 — God wins by the blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony: The cross that looked like Satan’s triumph was actually his execution! That victory was finished before we ever stepped into the fight. So, my story carries power because it has been joined to His.
Colossians 2:13-14 NIV
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.
Colossians 2:15 NIV
And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Hebrews 2:10 NIV
In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.
Hebrews 2:11 NIV
Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.
My small, stumbling testimony gets caught up in the one story that already crushed the serpent’s head. I don’t endure in order to win the battle — I endure because the battle is already won, and my life becomes living proof of it. The blood did what my faithfulness never could!
Each of us must answer for ourselves: Do we trust with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God. That answer is critical for having eternal life.
Ephesians 3:10-11 NIV
His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ephesians 3:12 NIV
In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
Because our accuser Satan has been cast down – we don’t stand before God condemned and afraid! We stand boldly, and we stand with freedom and confidence!
Romans 16:20 NIV
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.