"Connecting The Dots"

The angel Gabriel made this announcement directly to a young woman long ago:
"He will be great and he will be called the Son of the Most High and the Lord will give him the throne of David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end. The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God." Luke 1:32-35 NASB

I have an idea that Gabriel's announcement to Mary shook the unseen world with both loud singing and tumultuous shouts of pent up, unbridled joy. That world, like ours, had waited in seemingly endless anticipation for that announcement. However I also think there was a great cry of anguish from that part of the hadean (unseen) world where the Most High had banished his enemies. Satan now knew his everlasting fate was sealed.
God had kept his plan hidden since the creation, even from the angels, to prevent Satan from subverting it. That doesn't mean Satan is more powerful than God, but all Satan had to do was keep Jesus from going to the cross and God's eternal plan would not have come to fruition. Paul often refers to that plan as "the mystery" that God kept hidden. That plan, the gospel of Jesus Christ, wasn't fully revealed until after Jesus' death. This is why Jesus announced from the cross, "It is finished".
As I think about the role of the Holy Spirit in Jesus' Immaculate Conception, my simple human mind just cannot define it because I can't picture it, I can't imagine it, I can't even speculate about it. I can simply believe it! Or not! With all my heart, soul, mind and strength, I fully embrace all of it with deep gratitude. The Spirit of God brought Jesus into this world in a way that I cannot comprehend, much less explain. The Holy Spirit walked with Jesus every day right up to the very day of his death on the cross and then waited at the tomb to bring him back to life. At that time, the Spirit was still ministering to Jesus but on that first Pentecost after Jesus' resurrection, Jesus sent him back to us just as he and the Father had promised. All of this fulfilled God's ancient promise to Abraham at Genesis 12:3.
So, here we are - some twenty  centuries removed from those heaven and earth shaking events. John had a very moving vision of our day that was rooted in eternity past. You should take the time to read all of it at Revelation 12, but here are a few excerpts:

"And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and the dragon and his angels fought back....but he was hurled to earth and his angels with him....Then I heard a voice in heaven say, "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night has been hurled down....They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. Bur woe to the earth and the sea because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury because he knows his time is short....Then the dragon.....went off to make war against those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus."

And the war continues to rage on earth that began in heaven long before God created the universe as we know it. This is at least one reason why much of the New Testament uses the terminology associated with war in describing the Christian life. Satan hates every person who "holds to the testimony of Jesus" and since he can no longer prevent God from carrying out his eternal plan through Jesus's death and resurrection, Satan makes war against all of us who call Jesus our Lord.
After writing a long letter to "God's elect, strangers in the world" on the broad subject of "suffering", Peter concluded it with these words -
"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resit him, standing firm in your faith because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of suffering." 1 Peter 5:8-9 NIV
We will defeat Satan again because we have "the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony" within our hearts and even the fear of death will not deter our mission.
So here is my word of admonition and encouragement to all of us -
Every day we draw breath, let us praise our Father for his truly amazing grace; let us sing to Jesus for his love and sacrifice; and let us wait and listen for God's Holy Spirit to direct, comfort and challenge us in ways that may not always feel comfortable. Go to your nearest bookstore, buy a new Bible, maybe even one that is a different translation than the one you are most familiar with, and read it, all of it, then go out and seek to do something out of the ordinary for the glory of God in service to Jesus our Lord. HALLELUJAH!