ICOC Singles Today is pleased to announce another fictional story submitted by, Kimba Henderson (talented, single sister from the LA – Turning Point Church)

“On a hill overlooking Bethlehem, Michael the archangel, watches over the birth of Jesus, when he is visited by his old friend and now arch-enemy, Lucifer. The two angels clash in a battle of faith and wills over the future and fate of Jesus Christ. Who will be victorious?

A Christmas Story by Kimba Henderson

It was a crisp, cold night. The sky, a cobalt blue, was the perfect canvas for the stars to display their God-fashioned magnificence. A figure sat upon a boulder in a field overlooking a lonely inn and stable. The sheep were aware of the figure amongst them. A warrior, with a face chiseled as from a rock, eyes the deepest pools of black and long wavy hair of rust, brown and red. The color tended to change the more time he spent on earth. The sheep could sense that the presence amongst them was fearsome but not dangerous, yet they kept their distance. They could not afford to be wrong in such a matter.
Michael, the archangel felt at peace among the sheep and for the time being felt responsible for them, having sent their shepherd to be a part of the welcoming committee for the birth of a one-of-a-kind child. Michael looked down as a lamb broke from the others and moved toward him. Of all of God’s creatures, sheep were one of his favorites, especially the young ones. They sensed their vulnerabilities and knew they needed to be protected and Michael was uniquely made by God to protect the most precious of His creations – Man.
Michael sighed, grateful for the opportunity to rest, something he had not been able to do much of, since being assigned the most dangerous of tasks. Protect my son. Michael remembered his Lord’s exact words. At the time, little did Michael know this task would begin even before the child’s conception. More danger lurked in the near future as Jerusalem’s King Herod the Great would command that all boys under the age of two, be put to death for fear that Jesus, this Messianic child would rise up to take his throne. Little did Herod know that Jesus had come into the world to give men life, not take it from them.
Michael lowered his eyes to the ground before him and grieved silently in his heart for all of the boys he would not be able to save and the mothers he would not be able to comfort. Once again, the words of the prophet Jeremiah would come true.

“A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted
because they are no more.”

Such words should never come true. Michael secretly hoped that God would allow him to avenge the death of every son of Rachel but knew such vengeance was never up to him.

As the lamb moved closer, Michael reached out to touch him. A foul wind, not of God’s nature blew across the field. The sheep stirred uneasily and the lamb scurried away, sensing the danger. Suddenly behind Michael there was a presence, a familiar scent, a familiar feeling. Dread. It could be none other than the one who was once his closest friend, a brother in worship but now his most vicious enemy.
“What are you doing here, Lucifer,” Michael asked without turning around.
“Unlike you, I live here,” Lucifer replied. Michael cringed knowing that was the truth, spoken through that upturned smirk his nemesis usually spoke with.
Lucifer remained behind Michael slowly becoming vexed by this archangel who did not fear him enough to keep his eyes on him. Michael’s attention turned to the stable, keeping his mission before him. “Keep your eyes on the prize,” Michael said under his breath, knowing that Lucifer was not there to bestow a gift on Jesus, speak a blessing, or worship the Messiah. Michael closed his eyes, prayed silently to God for the strength to do battle no matter the cost and do as his Lord had commanded, protect my son.

Michael opened his eyes and next to him was Lucifer looking down at the stable. From the corner of his eye, the brilliance and beauty that God had bestowed upon this now-fallen angel once again struck Michael. Lucifer’s long mane of hair, an almost impossible blend of gold and platinum was just the beginning. He had soft, exquisitely constructed facial features and eyes of bluish-gray, which was the best way to describe them as God had created the shade just for him. Michael saw through it all. Envy, greed, and pride are all he saw now. But, to the naked or untrained eye, Lucifer embodied the glory men wanted for themselves. Michael understood how he deceived so many men. How could he not, having deceived a great number of God’s angel army?

“So what’s with the barn?” Lucifer asked casually as he looked at the stable. The smirk was still plastered on his face and annoyed Michael to no end.
“A man does not have to be born in luxurious surroundings to be great. And, those born in the best of surroundings are not safe from a fall from grace, are they?” Michael asked without attempting to be subtle.
Lucifer laughed. The long years had made his old friend crotchety and ornery…or did his edginess have something to do with the child born in the stable? It didn’t matter. Whatever it was, Lucifer knew he could work with it.
“Men of low birth are easy to destroy. You know this,” Lucifer taunted.
“The child in that stable will grow up to be the Good Shepherd that saves people from their sins and from you,” Michael responded passionately.
The smirk widened on Lucifer’s face and Michael clinched his fist waiting for Lucifer’s retort. “Who will save the Good Shepherd from me?”
“I will,” Michael thundered. The earth trembled, causing the sheep to cluster for safety.
“You spend day and night in the presence of God where sin is not allowed,” Lucifer reasoned, “but this Good Shepherd will be here with me in my realm where sin is not only allowed it is greatly encouraged.”
“He is the Son of God!” Michael spat back.
“He is a man,” Lucifer replied with a disdain in his voice Michael heard only when “men” were the subject at hand. Something about Jesus took Lucifer to a new level of hate. Michael could only imagine how far he would go. Lucifer’s plan to trick the Magi into returning to King Herod after visiting Jesus to tell him of the Messiah’s location would be thwarted. A disturbing dream would send the Magi home by another route. Did Lucifer know this plan was already foiled and was hatching Plans B, C and D? Were these plans already in motion? Michael knew he would have to trust God to alert him to such schemes.

Michael rose, suddenly feeling the need to be on his feet. Lucifer knew that he was getting to Michael and reveled in his heart as he spoke. “Your precious Messiah will rise to a height one would not expect from a man born in a stable, but he will fall and his people, his sheep will fall with him and never recover.”
“You’re mad,” Michael quickly diagnosed the angel of light.
“Am I? Do the scriptures not say the Messiah will be stricken by God?”
“Scripture from your lips sounds most foul,” Michael spoke the obvious.
“As it should, but is scripture true and infallible? Yes.” Lucifer answered his own question in case Michael didn’t want to play along. “Your Good Shepherd will be stricken by God, and the only way He can earn such a curse is to sin.”
“Ludicrous!” Michael began to pace. “What will you do? Parade the beauty of women before him? He will not lust. Will you enrage him to the depths of his soul? Still, he will not strike another.”

Lucifer chuckled. No obvious sin would fell Jesus, although he’d give it a try. “Your little stable boy will love men far too much. That will be his downfall.”
“You’re a liar,” Michael spat.
“And?” Lucifer loved when conflict resigned to the level of name calling. Victory was in sight. “Your Messiah is a descendant of Adam, David, and Solomon, men who have sinned greatly before God.”
“ALL MEN SIN,” Michael thundered.
“Of course they do,” Lucifer smirked. That was the point he’d been making all along and Michael was just now getting it. It was a trap, one he walked right into. Michael wondered what is it about this son of God that makes me so passionate but witless enough to fall for the schemes of Lucifer? For the first time in several millennia, Michael knew he was in the gravest of danger.

“Enough for now,” Michael said quietly as he prepared to return home to Heaven and regroup.
“You’re not leaving are you?” the self-proclaimed Light of the World asked with that smirk again.
He thinks he’s won something, Michael thought. He couldn’t let him think that! No, another trap. Do not let me follow him in his pride, Michael prayed in his heart. As Michael moved to take flight, Lucifer was right there with him.
“Why are you running? Aren’t we just having a conversation? I am only asking the questions you will not ask God.” Michael stopped in his tracks. Lucifer knew he’d better keep talking or Michael would be off again. “How will this Messiah of yours save men when they will see him as stricken by the God they worship? Men will despise and reject him.”
“Deceiver!” Michael spat.
“We already covered that with ‘You’re a liar!’ just a minute ago, Michael. But, you know everything I am saying is in the scriptures.” Lucifer cocked his head and his tone displayed a level of condescension never before heard on the face of the earth. “Don’t you know the scriptures, Mikey?”
“I know the scriptures,” Michael turned and challenged Lucifer. “Men will despise and reject him, but they must return to him.”
“Must they? Is this certain?” the condescension was thick still. “Sometimes I wonder if that God of yours knows what He is doing.” The arrogance that had gotten Lucifer kicked out of Heaven in the first place was in full bloom. He cared not. There was something freeing about being exposed. Nothing to hide.

Michael watched Lucifer casually pick up a stone and throw it at the herd of sheep that had started to feel safe again. He missed them all. A symphony of Baaa! was the sheep’s snappy comeback. Throwing stones at defenseless sheep. What was that all about anyway! Just Lucifer being himself, being free, no doubt. Although Lucifer had several “good points,” Michael resolved to trust God. “It is not for me, a created being to know the manifold wisdom of God. I will understand everything in His time, as will you.
“Blah. blah, blah! The shepherd will be stricken and the sheep will scatter. Where is the wisdom in that?”
“I do not know!” The ground trembled at the might in Michael’s voice. Fear, doubt, and frustration swirled around his head. Confusion was just around the corner.
“You fight God’s battles day in and day out, yet he keeps secrets from you.” Lucifer moved closer to Michael and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He softened his voice, no smirk no smile and went in for the kill. “Do you miss me, Michael?”
There was a curiosity in this. Surely it was mixed with evil but what was true made it to Michael’s heart. “I miss who you used to be, my brother.”
Lucifer slithered to Michael’s side and looked at him, a warmth in his eyes, a longing. “I would not keep anything from you. You would know all of my secrets. We could be brothers again.”
Michael closed his eyes and remembered the past, the friend that Lucifer had once been. He had been his ally, his brother in leadership and glory. He remembered the kinship, the peace and joy that could only come with being unified for a common purpose. Brothers again, they could be, but brothers in darkness was what they would be. Michael opened his eyes. “I will never join you.” His words were resolute.
“I am not at war with God anymore, Michael, just his beloved creation.” He could barely get the words “beloved creation” out of his mouth without spitting them.
“That is what makes you at war with me,” Michael said. The tension was thick. Michael seemed to be gaining strength. This could not happen.
Lucifer laughed. Condescension was his tone of the hour. “You’re always so serious. I don’t believe I have ever seen you laugh.”
“You weren’t there the first time I saw a camel,” Michael quipped. Lucifer and Michael looked at each other and laughed heartily, pure laughter, the kind friends would share. Michael stopped himself. He must always see Lucifer as he was. There could be no laughing. A policy of extreme prejudice must be in affect at all times. Michael looked at the stable one last time, knowing that for now Jesus was safe. Of course he wanted to stay longer to make sure all who were coming to greet Jesus would arrive safely. But, Michael was homesick and felt weak – something he always felt after going a few rounds with his oh-so-worthy opponent. “I will leave you to your domain, for now,” Michael concluded.
As Michael gave Lucifer one last look, there was a desperation in his eyes. He couldn’t leave fast enough. “He will be led like a sheep to the slaughter,” Lucifer stuck the proverbial knife in Michael’s heart. Michael stumbled just as he was about to take flight. “He will be assigned a grave with the wicked,” he added gleefully, twisting the knife in deeper.
Michael knew the prophecies of Isaiah but had always hoped God would explain away what seemed obvious. Confusion swept over Michael. As soon as his feet left the earth, he lost his balance and tumbled to the ground. Frightened sheep ran the other direction uncertain if the Rock-Thrower was also going to attempt flight and have similar results.
Lucifer moved quickly to Michael’s side and hovered over him. As Michael looked up, he realized Lucifer was floating above him, eyes flaming red. That was it for the sheep! They ran from the field terrified as if they were Arabian steeds. Only the lamb stayed put, sensing Michael should not be left alone. But, in their fear, the herd trampled the lamb leaving his body lifeless and bloody.
“Jesus is the Messiah. He will not fall,” was all Michael could manage.
“Then how will he enter this grave of the wicked? No righteous man can enter the realm of burning sulfur and darkness. He will die a sinner and be with me for eternity. He will not be able to save anyone, and you will not be able to save him.” Lucifer made it sound so certain and final.
“He is the promised Messiah?” Michael clung to this with all he had left in him.
“Is he?” Lucifer questioned.
“He… He…”
“…will fall.” Lucifer finished the sentence. He didn’t sound arrogant, just stating a fact. Michael knew a righteous man could not enter Hell but somehow God’s precious son would. Suddenly, doubt, an angel’s second worst enemy, pride being the first, clouded Michael’s mind.
It took only a moment for Lucifer to recognize it in Michael’s face. He was an expert at recognizing it. “Is that doubt, Michael? What must your God think of you now?”
Michael was broken. He couldn’t even find the strength to rise to his feet. Everywhere he looked, Lucifer was there, as if circling around him. It was only when Michael looked Heavenward that his tormentor vanished from his view. “How can this be,” Michael asked the only Being who could answer the question.
“Why do you pray to One who keeps secrets from you?” Lucifer teased. Michael could not see him, but his voice echoed all around him. “God does not listen to the faithless.”
“Do not abandon me!” Michael begged.
“Your iniquities have separated you from your God, Michael.”
Michael struggled to keep his eyes Heavenward, homeward, but he was weakening with guilt. What did God think of him? He was in charge of protecting God’s most beloved creation, but he was filled with doubt. As Michael closed his eyes, the last thing he saw was not Lucifer’s smug, smirking face, but the poor lamb’s bloody, lifeless body. In his own way, Michael felt the same. Once his eyes were shut, there was a quietness, a peace, the kind he had only experienced in the Heavenly realms. Lucifer continued to spout prophecies and deceits Michael’s way certain that he was crumbling slowly inside. It was not like Michael to be quiet. Just a nudge more here and there, and it would be over for him.
Suddenly, in the quietness with his God, the truth came to Michael, at least as much of the truth God deemed necessary for him to know. Michael opened his eyes to find Lucifer with a comforting hand on his shoulder, as if he had been victorious here.
The words spilled from Michael’s mouth, “I will put hatred between you and the woman and between her offspring and yours.”
Lucifer removed his hand from Michael’s shoulder. He had mistaken Michael’s quietness for resignation and defeat. This mistake was a costly one. Now it was Lucifer who had to regroup. Surrender was not an option. He knew how important this battle was. “That is an old prophecy, Michael. I don’t see what it has to do with anything.”
Michael was slowly capturing the full meaning of the words he’d just spoken. “Jesus is the offspring of the woman. It is not for me to know how at this time, but somehow, Jesus will crush you.” There was a silence in the field. The wind stood still and for a moment, Lucifer was miraculously speechless.
“He will die,” Lucifer spat, ending the momentary miracle.
“Perhaps, Jesus will defeat you. ” Michael risked being petty but could not help himself. Do you not know the, Luc?” Suddenly, Michael felt a wetness on his hand. He looked down, and there was the lamb licking him, somehow suddenly alive, without a mark – resurrected.
Lucifer looked at the lamb and hated it. Where was a rock when you needed one?
Michael saw the look in Lucifer’s eyes and sent the lamb away to join his herd. Lucifer and Michael looked after the lamb, both having their own ideas as to how Jesus would ultimately defeat Lucifer.
Michael smiled for the first time as he rose to his feet. “Now you know the truth,” Michael said, filled with confidence once again.
“I’ve always known the truth, Mikey.” Lucifer’s words were venom.
“And yet you continue to deceive?”
“Man wants to be deceived. I just give him what he wants.”
Michael knew this battle was over. There was no need to linger. As he once again moved to leave earth, Lucifer could not stop himself.
“Return to Heaven and remain in the presence of God, where you’re safe. But, remember, Man is here with me.”
“Yes, but God is now on earth. This is a joyous day and will be celebrated forever,” Michael countered.
“Do you know how easy it is to turn the hearts of men from what is eternal?” Lucifer asked, expecting to get under Michael’s skin.
“One does not have to be a man to make that mistake.” Michael had Lucifer’s number and they both knew it. Perhaps Lucifer had lost this battle tonight, but there was no reason why he couldn’t leave Michael with lingering thoughts of insecurity.
“I will allow this day to be joyous forever in my realm, but in time, it will be celebrated for all of the wrong reasons. Men will forget your Jesus. Perhaps not all men will forget but enough will. Enough.” Lucifer replied confidently, knowing this would not be difficult to accomplish.
Michael knew Lucifer’s war on man was an all-or-nothing sort of affair. Because of his pride, he would not be satisfied unless every man wound up in the depths of Hell. But, even the almighty God knew not all men would spend eternity with Him but was assured the overall victory. “Many men will forget Jesus, but enough will remember him. Enough.” With that said, Michael took flight. Lucifer screamed after him some insults and threats about throwing more rocks at the sheep, but Michael paid him no mind. The sheep were safe for now.
Michael took one last look at the stable as he flew over it. A group of shepherds had just arrived and were thrilled to meet the newborn son of God. These men would not forget Jesus, ever. As Michael neared home, he smiled to himself, honored by the fact the he was chosen to be man’s protector and Jesus’ ally.
Then suddenly, as soon as his smile appeared, it fell. The prophecies, the plan of God all struck him at once. Michael was certain that one day he would not be allowed to protect Jesus. Tears flowed down Michael’s cheeks because he knew that would be a day of darkness and dread. But, remembering the resurrected lamb and the sovereignty of God, Michael was certain that soon to follow would be the most joyous of days.