Introduction
You will never
walk in victory until you know your enemy is defeated! As Christians, we do not move from defeat
into victory. We do not move from doubt into faith. The Scriptures tell us,
however, that there is a way of faith which leads to greater faith "from
faith to faith " (Rom 1:17).
Likewise, our
starting point for victory is not one of defeat, but victory — Christ's
victory. "But thanks be unto God, who gives us the victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ" (I Cor 15:57).
We must begin in victory if we are going to have victory. Doubt, defeat
and despair are not the kinds of stuff from which we can build a strong
victorious life.
We can never be
a winner as long as we see ourselves as helpless, hopeless victims of the
devil. Satan no longer has the power or authority to defeat the sons and
daughters of God's royal family. However, he does have the ability to deceive
the children of God if they do not understand who they are in Christ
Jesus.
When I was a
young Christian, I developed a real fear of anything which was satanic or
demonic. I don't know how or when such a fear began. As a boy, I was always
interested in preachers and what they were doing. Perhaps some of their stories
of demonic power may have sown a seed of fear in my mind without my realizing
it.
Later on, I
learned that many other Christians have the same problem. I was saved and filled with the Holy Spirit
when I was in my teen years. As I grew
in the Lord, I developed a real desire to have authority over demonic power. I
told the Lord that if I ever came across a demon, I wanted to be able to cast
him out. I worried so much about
whether I or the demons had greater power, that I would even dream about such
an encounter or meeting.
In my dream, I
would see myself trying to cast out a devil, but unable to do so. It was a very
serious point of fear (problem) for me at the time. However, the heavenly Father saw my desire
to be a strong and faithful son in the family of God. He met my need and solved
my problem in an unexpected way. I
would have thought He might have used mighty angels or great lightning bolts to
meet my need for power. But He didn't! I have power and authority over demon
forces today, but it didn't come in that manner. God had a better way — a way
which I now want to share with you.
God chose to
meet my need for power over demonic forces by way of a revelation. In a
revelation God shows or "reveals" to us a truth from Scripture which
we had not seen or known before. Such
truth is always centered in Jesus, and it has the power to set us free from our
fears. "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free... If
the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed" (John
8:32,36).
I have found
that a revelation which sets me free can be given to others. The truth will
work in their lives as well as it did in mine. Therefore, allow the Holy Spirit
to open your heart to God's Word — and God's Word to your heart.
A. FREED FROM FEAR OF DEATH AND THE DEVIL
The children in
a-family share in the same physical nature. Therefore, Jesus— as our Redeemer
Brother — took upon himself our human nature. "He did this that he might
die. By dying, he gained access to the realm of death to destroy the one who
had the power of death. That one is the devil. Jesus did this to release us
from fear of death. We were slaves to that fear; now we are free" (Heb
2:14,15 smf). (Note: smf = simplified.)
1. The Devil Is Destroyed
Jesus died that
the devil might be destroyed. This is a strong, sure statement which is
absolutely and totally true. It rests upon the full authority of Scripture. The
devil IS destroyed!
a. "To Destroy." Now that does not mean the devil no
longer exists. He is still around, as we well know. The Greek word for "destroy" is katargeo.
It means to:
1) make powerless;
2) bring to naught;
3) reduce to zero, make
inactive;
4) make of no effect;
5) paralyze.
Through His
death, Jesus not only paid the penalty for our sins. He made the devil
powerless, reduced him to zero and paralyzed him. Therefore, we no longer need to fear the
devil or the judgment which follows death (Heb 9:27, 10:27).
2. Death Lost Its Sting
Through His
death, Jesus also showed us we need not fear the physical effects of death. It
cannot destroy the soul or spirit of man. We will even have a glorified body
like that of the Lord Himself when Christ returns in resurrection power. "O death, where is your victory? O death,
where is your sting?... But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Cor 15:55,57).
3. Christ Reigns
Yes, the death
and resurrection of Jesus has released us from the fear of the devil and of
death. The devil himself was stripped of his earthly authority. His right to
rule over Creation was taken away by the crucified Christ. The scepter or royal
symbol of authority was stripped from his hand. After defeating the devil, the
Lord Jesus took His rightful place upon the throne.
B.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
This is an
amazing story, however, which can only be understood by going back to the very
beginning of Creation. Join me as we review what was in the heart and mind of
God at the very dawn of history.
1. Man
Was Created For Dominion
"Then God
said, 'Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. Let them rule
and have dominion... over all the earth... " (Gen 1:26 smf). "What is man that you are mindful of
him? And the Son of Man that you care for him? You made him for a little time
lower than the angels... You made him to rule and have dominion over all the
works of your hands... " (Ps 8:4a-6 smf).
"You... have put everything under his feet" (Heb2:8).
The above
scriptures show us that God had a plan for Adam and Eve. To that first family
was given the right to rule or have dominion over all of Creation. They had
authority over every living thing on the face of the earth.
For a time, they
ruled wisely and well. Everything was peaceful and in divine order. The lion
and the lamb laid down together in perfect harmony. There were no thorns or
thistles. Fragrant flowers and delightful fruit trees grew everywhere. It was a
wonderful and lovely world in which to live. Sadly, the divine beauty of those
sinless days was not to last.
2. Man
Lost Dominion Through Disobedience And Deception
The Bible
teaches that Satan had originally been created as a beautiful and anointed
cherub or angel. He was probably the choirmaster of Heaven. He had great
ambitions to rule the world. But God gave this privilege to Adam and Eve.
Through pride and rebellion he fell from his heavenly position of beauty,
authority and power.
Jesus said,
"I saw Satan fall as lightning from heaven" (Luke 10:18; see also
Ezekiel 28:11-17 and Isaiah 14:12-15). He
next appeared in the Garden of Eden in the form of a beautiful serpent. There
was an evil purpose, however, in his coming. In a wise and clever way, he
sought to take away from Adam and Eve the right to rule — the dominion which
had been given to them as co-regents over the Creation.
Now, he could
not overpower or force himself upon the first members of God's earthly family.
Adam and Eve had authority or rulership over every living creature, and that
included serpents. The only power Satan had was the power of influence. All he
could do was seek to influence their behavior through lies and deception.
Therefore, he
came to Eve when she was alone. In a very sly and subtle way, he planted seeds
of doubt in her heart about God's love, honesty and authority. He finally got
her to believe that he was right and God's word was wrong.
As a result, she
chose to eat of the tree of knowledge instead of the tree of life. Adam was not deceived, but chose to follow
Eve into her fallen state (l Tim2:14).
a. The Sad Results. Three very sad and tragic things happened
as a result of their doubt and disobedience:
1) Lost The Covering And Authority Of
God. They came out from
under the covering and authority of God, and the image of God was marred.
2) Lost The Right To Rule. They lost their right, therefore, to
rule over God's Creation.
.
3) Came Under A New Authority. They then came under the authority of
Satan himself.
Satan was very
quick to pick up the scepter that slipped from their hand and the crown which
fell from their head. These symbols of authority were now rightfully his. The
devil had taken over the dominion of the earth as he had desired. He had won
not by force, but by deception. The right to rule over God's Creation had
shifted from man to the serpent — the devil himself.
3. God
Planned To Restore Dominion
Satan not only
deceived others, but was under a deception himself. He thought he was right
when he was wrong. He really believed he had won a victory over both God and
man. There was, however, an aspect of God's nature he knew nothing about. It is
called grace. It is based on an unselfish love that seeks to redeem that which
was lost, no matter what it might cost. One redeems or buys back only things
which are of value.
In the case of
man's life, the price would be the death of another man — one called the Son of
Man! I am sure Satan had not counted on God going so far as to give His only
begotten Son, Jesus, for fallen man. Yet that .gift had been given even before man
had been created.
The Bible says
that Jesus was "...the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world"
(Rev 13:8). This means that God, in His foreknowledge, saw that man would sin
and need a Savior.
So Jesus was
chosen for this purpose before man was created. "God paid a price to save
you from the empty way of life... However, you were not redeemed with something
that will pass away like silver or gold. You were bought hack with the precious
blood of Christ — a pure and per feet lamb.
"Christ was chosen for this purpose before the world was made. But
he was revealed and shown to the world in these last times for you " (1
Pet 1:18-20 smf).
When man fell.
God did not change His mind about His plan for a beloved and royal family. It
was still His purpose to fill the whole earth with sons and daughters whose
lives would reflect the beauty of their God. Through their love and obedience,
the glory of God's Kingdom would yet cover the whole earth as the waters cover
the sea. Yes, the scepter would again return to the hand of man.
a. Seed Of The Woman. As soon as man sinned and fell from his
place of royal authority. God's plan of redemption was set in motion. It is of
some interest that this plan was first revealed to Satan himself. From the
record it would appear that Adam and Eve were also there. The word of the Lord,
however, was spoken directly to the serpent:
"And the Lord God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this,
you are cursed above all the animals... From now on you and the woman will be
enemies. This will also be true of all of your seed [offspring] and her Seed [Jesus].
You will strike his heel, but he will crush your head'"
(Gen3:14,15smf».
The "Seed
of the woman" refers to the family line from which Jesus would come in His
humanity. The serpent is told he would strike at His (Jesus') heel, but the
wound would not be fatal in a final way.
This is a reference to the death and resurrection of Jesus. Death could
not keep Jesus in the grave! The Seed
(Jesus) would use the occasion of His death to crush the serpent's head.
This refers to a
fatal wound from which there would be no recovery. The defeat and death of the
serpent would be final. The phrase
"crush your head" has an added meaning of great importance to our
theme of authority. The term "head" includes the thought of headship
or governmental authority (covering).
Paul so uses the
term in setting forth the lines of spiritual authority and responsibility: "Now,
I want you to know that the head [governmental covering] of the woman is man.
The head of man is Christ and the head of Christ is God " (1 Cor 11:3
smf).
Our story in the
Garden of Eden now becomes most dramatic. God Himself is telling the devil that
someday the Seed of the woman (Jesus) would wrench the scepter from the devil's
hand. Through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, man would be redeemed, Satan
would be defeated, and dominion would be restored to the family of God.
b. Royal Redeemer. God's Son— as the Son of Man — would
regain for redeemed man the authority to govern that which he had lost through
sin. The Kingdom of Heaven will one day rule the earth through God's family of
sons and daughters. Jesus, our Redeemer Brother, is the "first-born"
of that glorious family. Through Him we have a victory which will last forever.
This theme of restored righteous government through God's royal Seed can be
traced all through Scripture. Listen to Paul's Letter to the Galatian
churches:
"When the
right time had come, God sent his Son to he born of a woman and live under the
law. He did this to redeem those who were also under the law. In this way we
were bought and brought back into God's family as his very own children. ''For
this reason he sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. From our hearts to
his, the Spirit now cries out, 'Father, dear Father.' No longer are we slaves,
but God's beloved children. As his children, everything that belongs to him now
belongs to us too" (Gal 4:4-7 smf).
Clearly, Paul is
linking the birth of the Lord Jesus to the promised Seed in Genesis 3:15. Jesus
Christ came to this earth, born of a woman.
He came for the purpose of redeeming mankind, and restoring him (man) to
a place of authority in the family of God. Jesus fulfilled the prophecy given
the serpent in the Garden of Eden. When the right time came, through the cross
of Christ, Satan was defeated and dethroned.
The authority which he had cleverly taken from the first family has been
returned to the redeemed sons and daughters of God.
4.
Satan Tried To Avert The Plan
This truth helps
us understand what was happening in the temptations of Jesus at the outset of
His earthly ministry. The devil first seeks to challenge the source of Jesus'
divine authority by questioning His divine Sonship. "If you are the Son of
God..." (Matt 4:3 smf).
a. Satan Tempts Jesus. It is the last temptation, however, that
brings the issue of authority and dominion into sharp focus. 'Then the devil
took Jesus to the top of a very high mountain. There he showed him all the
kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, 'All these things I
will give to you if you will fall down and worship me.'
"But Jesus
said to him, 'Away with you, Satan! For it is written. You shall worship the
Lord your God and him only shall you serve.' Then the devil left him, and
angels came and ministered to him" (Matt 4:8-11 smf). It is interesting to note that we come under
the authority of the one we worship.
Actually, what
we worship becomes our authority. What the devil was really saying was this:
"If you will come under my authority, I will give you rulership over all
the kingdoms of earth." Jesus saw through the deception and refused.
1) Temptation Was Real. There is another important point here
which gives further understanding of the main theme of this study. Was Satan's offer for real? Did he truly have
that kind of authority to give? If he did not, then his offer to Jesus was not
a valid offer. Thus there would have been no real temptation involved. If I
were to say to you, "I will give you $10,000,000 if you will fall down and
worship me" — most of you would laugh. Why? Because you know I don't have
that much money. It wouldn't be a real temptation. Not so with Jesus. His temptations were
real. The devil was offering Jesus a way to avoid the cross — but at the cost of
disobeying His Father in Heaven. It took real strength to resist. Jesus'
struggles with these temptations were so stressful, angels had to come and help
Him recover.
2) Satan Had Authority. Yes, at that point in time Satan
actually had dominion and authority over the kingdoms of this earth. It was the
authority which he took from Adam when he disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden.
When Adam and Eve submitted themselves to the lies of the devil, they came
under his authority and gave up their own. It was this authority and dominion
which Jesus came to regain for the true worshippers of the one true God. Jesus
knew that — and Satan did too. God had told Satan this back in the Garden of
Eden. Since that time, the devil had sought to destroy the line from which that
royal Seed would come.
b. Satan Tried To Destroy
Jesus. He tried to
destroy Jesus at His birth. Satan stirred up King Herod to kill all the infants
under two years of age. Only a demon-possessed man would do such a thing as
that. What was Satan after? He was seeking to destroy Jesus — the Seed of the
woman. Satan knew that when Jesus became a man there would be a battle for the
power and authority which had been in his possession since the fall of
man.
When the use of
force failed, the devil tried to cause Jesus to sin, the same way he had
tempted Adam and Eve. He sought to get Him to move apart from the will and word
of His Father. He hoped Jesus would act in His own self-interest. Yes, Satan
was aware that Jesus Christ was the "Seed of the woman" Who had come
to take away his dominion — his right to rule. Satan's offer of world authority
was an effort to avoid that loss by bringing Jesus under his very control
first.
c. Satan Didn't Understand
The Cross. While Satan knew his kingdom and power
was threatened by Jesus, it is possible he didn't know the method and means Jesus
would use to defeat him. The Apostle Paul tells us that the plan of man's
salvation through the cross was not understood by the rulers or princes of this
world. "None of the rulers or princes of this world understood it. If they
had they would not have killed the Lord of glory on a cross " (I Cor 2:8).
Since the Bible calls the devil "...the god of this world" (2Cor
4:4), most Bible scholars believe 1 Corinthians 2:8 is referring to the devil
and his ruling princes.
Earthly rulers
are agents who serve under demonic princes. The demonic princes and powers
behind these earthly rulers were not aware of the power and purpose of the
cross. Jesus was fully aware that He
must first suffer before entering into His glory (Luke 24:26). He was "the
Lamb slain before the foundation of the world" (Rev 13:8). Calvary and the
cross must come before the kingdom and the crown. The devil's offer of world
dominion would have been a temptation for Jesus to rule the world without the pain
and suffering of the cross.
Source: The Shepherd's Staff
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