C. THE POWER OF THE CROSS
The cross has
power to redeem man and restore him to his divinely appointed place of authority. This is a wonderful
truth that threads its way all through the Holy Scriptures. We already have
seen that God's plan for a sacrificial lamb (as an offering for sin) was in His
purpose before the world began.
1. The Cross Pictured In The Passover
The Passover
played an important part in bringing about the release of the children of
Israel from the bondage of Egypt. They had suffered as slaves for some 400 years.
God was going to use Moses to set them free from the authority and dominion of
the Egyptians.
The devil, sensing this, stirred up Pharaoh to
kill all the male children of the Israelite's (Exo 1:15,16) — just as he would
do some fourteen centuries later before the birth of Christ. It is of note that the Egyptian Pharaoh wore
a gold crown. On the front of it was the image of a deadly cobra serpent,
poised, ready to strike death. This shows us Pharaoh and the people in his
kingdom were under the crown of Satan (governed by the devil).
This is an
accurate picture of how the whole world lived until Jesus came. We were slaves
of sin, in bondage and under satanic government.
a. Satan: The Destroyer.
Through Moses, God told
each Israelite family to kill a lamb and place its blood upon the I frame of
the door which led into their house. Then Moses said: "When the Lord goes through the land to
strike down the Egyptians, he will see
the blood upon the top and sides of the doorframe. The Lord then will
pass over that door. He will not allow the destroyer I to come into your houses
and kill your first-born'' (Exo 12:23
smf). Satan is the
"destroyer."
From the fall of
man to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the power of death was in the hands of
the devil. In Revelation 9:11 he is called Abaddon (Hebrew) and Apollyon
(Greek). Both terms mean "destroyer." In the words of Jesus,
"The thief [the devil] comes only to steal and kill and destroy'' (John
10:10). The Pharaoh had refused God's words
of warning, and therefore Egypt faced a terrible judgment. Through it they
would be made willing to let the Israelites go. That "passover" night. God was
going to use the devil's power of death for His own purposes. It was to be a
dark night indeed — a night of death and destruction.
b. Blood: The Protection. The presence of the Lord protected those
"under the blood" from the destroyer. When the Lord saw the blood on the doorframe
of a house, the Lord Himself "passed over" the .door. His presence overshadowed
the family within and kept them from all harm.
One wonders how each family member must have felt that night as the
evening shadows cast a deathly gloom across the land. Perhaps the Psalmist best
expressed it in his words some centuries later: "He who dwells in the shelter of the
Most High, will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 'He
is my refuge and place of safety — my God, in whom I will trust.' Surely he
will save you... from deadly danger.
"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his -wings you will
find refuge... You will not fear the terror of night, nor the dangers of the
day... "Though a thousand fall at
your side and ten thousand at your right hand, it will not come near you. Only
with your eyes will you see the punishment of the wicked
(Ps 91:1-8
smf). Yes, for the Israelites,
protection from the destroyer on that dark night of death was blood — the blood
of a perfect, little lamb! Its blood was splashed on the door-frame in the form
of a cross. It was a symbol of death, but it also was the gateway to life. What a vivid picture of our salvation. Jesus
is God's sacrificial lamb for us, and
His cross becomes our doorway to eternal life.
Truly, the blood
and the cross provide all the protection
we will ever need against all the forces
of evil. The devil's power over our lives has been broken at Calvary. Christ
has won the victory, and we need no longer fear.
2. Jesus Has All Power And Authority
After His
resurrection, Jesus plainly put this truth in these words: "All power in
heaven and on earth has been given unto me. Therefore go and make disciples in
all nations.. "And be sure of this:
I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matt 28:18-20 smf). The word "power" means power to
rule, to take authority and have dominion.
Now if Jesus has
all power and authority, that means the devil has none. Through His death on the cross, Jesus
dethroned the devil and took away his
power of death. Jesus strongly stated this truth again to the Apostle
John in his heavenly vision. "Don't
be afraid, lam the first and the last. I
died, but see, I am alive for evermore. I have the keys [authority] of death and the grave'' (Rev 1:17,18 smf).
D. WE
CAN LIVE IN VICTORY!
1. Jesus Gave His Disciples Authority
Over The Devil!
Not only does
Jesus have all power and authority, but He has given that power to His
disciples — of all ages! "The
seventy disciples returned with great joy. 'Lord,' they said, 'even the demons
submit to us when we use your name.'
"And Jesus said to them, 'Yes, I saw Satan falling from heaven like
a lightning flash. And I have given you authority over all of the power of the
enemy. You have power to crush underfoot scorpions and serpents [demonic
powers]. Nothing shall harm you'" (Luke 10:17-19 smf). "These signs shall follow those who
believe: They shall use the authority of my name to cast out demons... "
(Mark 16:17 smf). "Submit
yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you " (Jas 4:7).
2. Don't Retreat!
Yes, we are sons
and daughters in the family of God. We have the privilege and authority of
Christ's Name. Why then are so many Christians living defeated lives? Where is
our victory in Christ? The words sound good, but where are the works? The answer can be found in one of Peter's
Epistles. He was writing to those who soon would be facing a time of great
distress and severe testing. His words, therefore, are very personal, powerful
and practical; "Be watchful and
careful. Your enemy the devil prowls and roams around like a roaring lion
looking for someone to devour — to tear apart and eat. Be firm in the faith and
resist him..." (I Pet 5:8,9 smf).
a. A Phony Lion. Carefully note that the above scripture
does not say the devil is a roaring lion. It says he roams around like a roaring
lion. In other words, he is acting like something he is not. Actually, he is
only a fake or phony lion. Or, as the Chinese would say, "a paper
tiger." Who is the real lion?
Jesus is! The Scriptures refer to Him as
"the Lion of the tribe of Judah" (Rev 5:5). Because we abide in Him,
and He in us, we also share in His
"lion-nature": We who believe on Jesus become
"lion-like."
"The wicked
flee when no one is chasing them. The righteous, however, are as bold as a lion
" (Prov 28:1 smf) "Now when the
Council saw the boldness of Peter and John, they were amazed. They could easily
see that they were common men without learning. Then they realized that they
had been with Jesus'' (Acts 4:13 smf).
b. Don't Give Him Power. What are we trying to say? Simply this:
The devil can have only as much power over our lives as we allow him to take.
He no longer has the authority to control our attitudes and actions for his own
purposes. He will, however, take as
much control as we will let him have. He cannot overpower us anymore than he
could have overpowered Adam and Eve. He will seek to deceive us, however, in
the same way he tempted them.
No, the devil is
not a real lion. His roar, however, can be very loud and very long. A roar
cannot bite, but it can scare you. If we
retreat every time the devil roars, we will never learn how to stand firm in
the faith and resist him. If we never resist the devil, we will never see the
tail-end of the devil heading over the nearest hill.
c. Run Toward The Roar. A preacher from Africa told this story
about lions. When the lions go hunting, they are very clever. All the younger,
strong lions gather down-wind from the herd of animals they are going to
attack. In this way, the animals do not pick up the scent of the lion. The old worn-out lions, whose teeth are
almost gone, and who cannot run fast enough to catch prey, are put upwind I
where their scent and roar will frighten the
animals. Those who are frightened by the roar, run toward the young
lions. The animals who "run
towards the roar" are safe and cannot be hurt by the old lions. The
animals who flee from the roar run into the trap and are injured or killed by the strong younger lions. The point is obvious. Don't run from your
adversary the devil and his roarings, Run toward the roar. Resist him and he
will flee from you.
d. Seeds Of Deception.
How does the devil roar
his way into our daily lives? He does so by way of our thoughts and feelings.
He sows seeds of doubt and fear into the ground of our hearts and minds. If he
can tempt us to cultivate or nurture these seeds — they will grow into very
large weeds. When they do, our Christian life can be greatly weakened, or even
destroyed. There are all kinds of seeds
which the devil sows: seeds of doubt, fear, disobedience, greed, lust,
jealousy, pride, anger, resentment, self-pity and many more. He will try to sow the same seed over and
over again until some take root and grow. Once the roots grow deep, it's hard
to pull the weed out. The devil will
even deceive us into thinking it is a natural part of our life. We then give in
and put up with it, even though it may be painful to us — and to others. When
we do, the enemy has taken control over that part of our lives, even though he
has no authority to do so.
3. Resist The Devil!
a. Stand Firm In Faith. How then can the watchful Christian
stand firm in the faith and resist the devil? The same way Jesus did in His
humanity while here on earth:
1)
By the authority of God's Word;
2)
By the power of God's Spirit.
We now know that
the devil no longer has dominion or the right to rule over our lives. The
scepter is now in Jesus' hand, not that of the enemy. As we, by the Spirit,
speak out our confession of faith, "JESUS IS LORD!" — Satan must bend
his knee and bow his head. It is demon powers who will tremble in torment when
we face them in the mighty Name of Jesus.
b. Speak The Word In Faith. As we submit and come under the
authority of God's Word and God's Spirit, that authority comes upon us. We then
speak that word as follows:
1)
To God in prayer;
2)
In the confession of our mouth;
3)
To the devil in reproof.
The Spirit
Himself then moves to energize the word, and the enemy flees — along with his
lying thoughts and feelings. We submit
to God by filling our minds with His Word and our hearts with prayer. For every
wrong, evil, negative thought the enemy would sow into our minds, there is a
right, good, positive thought from God's Word.
The Scripture says we can "overcome evil with good" (Rom
12:21). Every time the devil seeks to
give us a push in the wrong direction, we need to push him back— twice as hard—
with the truth and power of God's Word.
c. The Laugh Of Faith. It is true, we should not take our enemy lightly or under-rate his ability. He is both smart
and strong. Apart from God's Spirit and
His Word we will lose every battle.
Satan can outsmart us every time. The
Scripture says that we are always to be aware of his clever tricks and schemes
(2Cor 2:11).
However, while
we are to respect the devil, we are not to fear him. In fact, we can boldly oppose him in the strong Name of
Jesus and be assured of victory. Our
enemy has a loud roar, but his is a big bluff. He will act like he is not hurt,
and even mock the Name of the Lord, hoping we will give up. If we respond with
the royal laugh of faith and press our attack, he will flee in fear.
There is a sense
in which every Spirit-filled saint ought to have a gift of contempt for the
devil. He is very proud, and greatly dislikes being looked down upon. When we
really know who we are in Christ Jesus, we are in a position of high authority,
and the enemy is truly beneath our feet.
I believe Martin
Luther came to a place in faith where he looked upon the devil in that way. The
story is told of how he awoke in the middle of a very dark night. There wasn't
even a candle in his room. As he turned over in his little cot, he saw the
devil standing in the corner.
Now, what would
you do if you awoke tonight and found that Satan had come to visit you? I asked
that question of a fellow one time and he replied, "I would call the
preacher!" That really wasn't the
best answer he could have given. Martin Luther's response was much different.
He simply said to the devil, "Oh, it's you!" and rolled over and went
back to sleep.
d. Putting Principles Into Practice. A good friend of mine tells of a personal
experience which shows us how these royal principles work in practice. Here is
the story in his own words: "After
the Lord divinely healed me when I was a young Christian, I have always been
very healthy.
"However,
one day about ten years ago I suddenly felt a terrible pain in the upper part
of my body. "The pain grew worse,
and I actually heard the voice of the devil saying, 'Cancer, cancer, cancer.'
For about six hours that was all I could hear: 'Cancer, cancer, you have
cancer!' I was terrified. "I
finally went to the Lord in prayer and said, 'Lord, do I have cancer?' The Lord
didn't answer me. Again I cried out, 'Lord, do I have cancer?' Then I heard the
Lord laugh. He was really laughing. He showed me how I had been fooled and
deceived by the devil. Satan had sown a lie in my heart. "The next time I heard the word
'cancer,' I really got angry. I rose up and I said, 'Devil, I smite you with that cancer!' I have never had that pain again in my
life. This is the word of the Lord,
friends. This is for real!"
e. You Are Free. Yes, faith rises up and resists, but
unbelief gives up and accepts the lies of the devil. I am reminded of a little parrot at a Bible
school in Argentina. His name was Arturo. He was brought to the school when he was
just a young bird. He was tied to his perch by a little leather strap from his
leg. As Arturo grew into a full-sized
bird, he would stretch his wings and try to fly into the heavens. However, he
could go no farther than the length of the strap before being jerked back to
his perch again. Arturo kept this up for several months.
One day, he
finally gave up and folded his wings for the last time. He never tried to fly
again. At that time, Arturo's leather
strap was cut. He was really free to fly away into the heavens like any other
bird, but he did not know this. He was deceived, and did not believe or accept
his freedom. Because of this, the story has a rather sad ending.
If only we could
have gotten the truth of his freedom down into his little bird brain, he might
be alive today. As it was, an angry caretaker came after him with a club for a
foul deed he had done. Still thinking he could not fly away from his perch,
Arturo did not try to escape, and was struck dead!
How much more
tragic is the truth of this story as it relates to some of us as Christians. At
Calvary, Jesus Christ — the Lion of Judah — defeated the devil and stripped him
of his power. We were set free from his dominion and given a place of authority
in the royal family of God.
Many, however,
are so used to living in fear, doubt and defeat they can't accept the freedom
which is rightfully theirs. They allow the one Jesus destroyed, to destroy
them. Rise up and fly away, oppressed
one. The heavens watch in wonder and amazement that you submit to that which
you should resist. Your strap of bondage has been severed. Fly free!
E. CONCLUDING CHALLENGE
Perhaps, dear reader, your heart has been
touched by the truth of these words. For the first time you are beginning to
believe that life can be different. And it is true, your lot in life is not
forever fixed. Things can change, and you can play a part in that change. You don't have to give in and give way to
the lies of the devil. In Christ Jesus you have the power and authority to
stand firm and resist his attacks on your heart and mind.
You are a son or
daughter in the beloved family of God. The Lord does love you, and desires that
you take the scepter in your hand and confess the liberty which is rightfully
yours. No longer do you need to shrink back in fear or hang your head in shame.
Jesus came to set you free, and he whom the Son sets free is free indeed! "...the devils also believe, and
tremble" (Jas 2:19).
It is demon
powers who tremble when you stand fast and confess the Lordship of Jesus. It is the devil who bends his knee and bows
his head, for Christ has won the victory. The power of the enemy has been
broken forever. THE DEVIL HAS BEEN DESTROYED!
Source: The Shepherd’s Staff
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