Jesus appeared to His disciples bodily after His resurrection many times on different occasions. Forty days He kept visiting them – sometimes to a group (once to a huge crowd of five hundred plus), sometimes to one or two individuals. While He had a glorious resurrection body, a lot of it was characteristic of a normal human body. It still retained the scars of the wounds that He bore on it while being crucified – especially his hands and his side (ribs). Once, He even asked His disciple Thomas to inspect His wounds to convince himself that it was this same Jesus who was crucified, was dead, and is alive again. Through His resurrection, God proved to the world irrefutably that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. – Romans 1:4.

On the fortieth day after His resurrection, Jesus took them to Mount Olives and instructed them not to leave Jerusalem until they received power from on high. The Holy Spirit would be sent to them as a Comforter, Enabler, and Power-Giver. In other words, Goodbye! God be with You!

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. – John 14:26.

They will be filled with God’s Spirit and taken hold of by Him so that they can carry out the task of reaching the corners of the earth with the gospel of God, starting from Jerusalem. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. – Act 1:8.

Then, as they were watching, Jesus was taken up and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven”. – Acts 1:10,11.

That was the reaffirmation of the promise that Jesus had given His disciples earlier. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. – John 14:2,3.

In essence, this was not a once-and-for-all Goodbye. It was also an “I will see-you-again” – Jn 16:22. And the One who bid this farewell is not an ordinary man. He is the Man Christ Jesus and the Almighty God Who is all-powerful to accomplish all that He has intended.

His-story would continue here on earth – but now with the Holy Spirit enabling the disciples to reach out to people all over the world and making them part of His-story. All who would believe the gospel preached by His disciples would be witnesses to His-story. In fact, they are the ones who were foreordained to be partakers of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ as His co-heirs. Others would be just onlookers, mockers, critics, and opposers that belong to the unbelieving generation who forfeit the Salvation of God that the Saviour of the world ushered in through His-story.

Her (the believing Israel’s) child (Jesus) was caught up unto God, and to His throne. – Rev 12:5.
What the LORD God had said unto the Serpent in the garden of Eden came true. Because thou hast done this, … upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: - Gen 3:14.
Fall! Prostrate! Eat dust!

However, there still remained in the Purpose of God a lot more that looked forward to the future after the One who had made it possible for this Purpose to be realized in His believers through His cry “It is finished”.
And there was war in heaven: … and the dragon fought and his angels and prevailed not; neither was their place found anymore in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

And I (John) heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. – Rev 12:7-10. This started happening when the Lord sent out His seventy.
Ever since the Holy Spirit was sent down from heaven to indwell believers on the day of Pentecost, Jesus has been building His Church as He had promised. The gates of hell have not been (and can’t) prevail against this Church. The dragon would soon be bound by chains and cast into the bottomless pit unable to deceive the nations for a long time.

The devil started persecuting the believing generation more vigorously when they started preaching the gospel even to the end of the world, calling people to repentance. But, amidst the persecution, the church has always found shelter under the wings of the Almighty. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. – Rev 12:11, 12pp.

And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the Man Child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. – Rev 12:13,14.

The Church has been facing serious persecution worldwide, but the Lord also has people here who would help the believers and care for them.

Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave Me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me in: Naked, and ye clothed Me: I was sick, and ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me. Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee a hungered, and fed Thee? or thirsty, and gave Thee drink? When saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? or naked, and clothed Thee? Or when saw we Thee sick, or in prison, and came unto Thee? And, the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me. – Matt 25:34 – 40.

The Old Serpent, now with his fatally wounded head that resulted from the deadly blow he received from the Son of God on the cross by His heel, set his eye on foiling the plan of God with respect to His people in the eternal purpose of bringing many sons to glory.

Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he hath but a short time. – Rev 12:12pp.

His focus was now two-pronged.

Focus 1: The believing generation of Abraham, related by his Hebrew blood. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. – Rev 12:13.

Focus 2: the believing generation of Abraham related by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. – Rev 12:17.

And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. – Rev 12:15-17.

Jesus Christ, the Victorious One who triumphed over hell (the bottomless pit / Paadhaalam in Thamizh) and death has blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against the believers, which was contrary to them, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Col 2:14, 15. He now has the keys of hell and of death. – Rev 1:18. Hell is the bottomless pit (as per the Thamizh Bible).

Hell is not the ultimate destination of Satan, his evil angels, and the citizens of his kingdom – the kingdom of darkness. The lake of fire burning with brimstone is! Hell is a temporary location where Satan was confined after his defeat at the cross. The devil’s authority was seized by Jesus Christ who confined him to the bottomless pit. That is why Jesus sent His disciples with this assurance – “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world”. – Matt 28:18-20.

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit (hell) and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: – Rev 20:1-3.

As per God’s plan, this solitary confinement of Satan lasted for a long time. A thousand years is like the thousand hills of Psalms 50. Contrary to the opinion (and belief) of many, this is not a literal thousand years.
The devil has no authority over the believing lot that are called the Church – that includes the believing Jews and the believing Gentiles. The Lord Jesus is seated on the throne at the right hand of God and is exercising His authority and power in heaven (where His holy angels execute tasks at His bidding) and on earth (where Satan’s evil army is still trying to upset God’s plans). “All power is given unto Me”. But they cannot move even a straw or pull off a hair without His knowledge and permission. During the reign of this Righteous King, the old Serpent cannot deceive the nations anymore. Thousands and thousands and ten thousands and ten thousands from every tongue, every tribe, every people, and every land will believe in the Lord and be added to His Kingdom. And the nations of them which are saved: and the kings of the earth – Rev 21:24 will enter this Kingdom.

Soon after this long period, Satan would be loosed from the great chain that bound him. “and after that, he must be loosed a little season”. – Rev 20:3. He would immediately jump into action to deceive the nations again.