‘And I heard a great voice in Heaven saying, “Now is come the salvation and the power and the kingship of our God, and the authority of his Christ, for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they loved not their life even unto death”.'
We have been looking at the whole panorama of saving history, and this is seen as one whole by the watchers in Heaven who recognise what it means, and what it will mean for the future.
They have seen the visions of the future that have preceded this one, of the brethren overcoming because of the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony (Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:14), and this explains how it was achieved. Through the power of the cross and the defeat of Satan the Kingly Rule of God has been established, salvation has been achieved for men, the power of God has become available for man through the Spirit (Acts 1:8; Acts 2:33), and Christ has received all authority in Heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18; Acts 2:33-36), and this is demonstrated to the full by the casting down of the accuser of the brethren who never ceases to point out man's failure. His power is broken. He can no longer point out their failure for they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
‘And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony and they loved not their life even unto death'. In their heavenly wisdom the watchers recognise that what has been accomplished here explains the future victory of the overcomers. They see the picture as one. What Christ has done means that His people have already achieved their victory, even before they face their tribulation. As Paul tells us, when His blood was shed, our blood was shed, when He rose, we rose, when He ascended into the heavenly places we ascended with Him and sat with Him in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:5-6). Because of His death, and Satan's casting out, our triumph is thus assured. So the one who speaks from Heaven can look forward and see the triumph of God's people in the light of what he sees and of what he has seen. It has already been displayed in Chapter s 6 and 7, and on that basis also he can speak of it as accomplished.
Three things were required in order to be an overcomer, (1) the blood of the Lamb which cleanses from all sin and motivates their lives, (2) their witness to the truth of His word and to Him Who is the truth, as a result of being clothed in the whole armour of God (Ephesians 6:11), which is all based on His word, and (3) their readiness to die for Christ. This is the encouragement John gives in the face of coming persecution. (This use of the aorist, signifying something completed once for all, is similar to what some call the prophetic perfect, the using of a past tense to depict a future action because it is already certain).