The Lamb Who Defeated the Serpent

“Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. EXODUS 12:13

 

PONDER THIS

In the Passover, God was going to use a lamb to deliver His people. His people were in the land of Egypt. In the Bible, Egypt stands for bondage. It stands for the world, the flesh, and the devil. Pharaoh is a type, a picture, and an illustration of the devil. Now Pharaoh had a crown, and on his crown was a serpent. Look at some of those ancient Egyptian pictures and you’ll see a serpent coiled up there on his crown. That’s the symbol of Egypt.

On one side, you have the serpent. On the other, you have the lamb. But it’s the lamb who was going to defeat the serpent. That’s what Passover was all about. God was going to bring His people from the land of bondage, from the land of wickedness, from the land of sin, and from the land of cruelty. He was going to deliver them, and He would do it with a Passover lamb.

The image of the lamb defeating the serpent illustrates the “upside-down” nature of God’s kingdom. What other biblical examples can you think of that illustrate this?

How has God brought you from the land of bondage through Jesus, the Lamb of God?

PRACTICE THIS

Spend time in prayer today, thanking God for Jesus, the Lamb who saves God’s people from bondage.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Satisfaction That Defeats Sin

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”(John 6:35)

What we need to see here is that the essence of faith is being satisfied with all that God is for us in Christ.

Defining faith this way emphasizes two things. One is the God-centeredness of faith. It is not merely the promises of God that satisfy us. It is all that God himself is for us in Jesus. Faith embraces God in Christ as our treasure — not just God’s promised gifts.

Faith banks its hope not just on the real estate of the age to come, but on the fact that God will be there (Revelation 21:3). “I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.’” 

And even now what faith embraces most earnestly is not just the reality of sins forgiven (as precious as that is), but the presence of the living Christ in our hearts and the fullness of God himself. In Ephesians 3:17–19 Paul prays “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith . . . that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

The other thing emphasized in defining faith as being satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus is the term “satisfaction.” Faith is the quenching of the soul’s thirst at the fountain of God. In John 6:35 we see that “believing” means “coming” to Jesus to eat and drink the “bread of life” and the “living water” (John 4:10, 14), which are nothing other than Jesus himself. 

Here is the secret of the power of faith to break the enslaving force of sinful attractions. If the heart is satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus, the power of sin to lure us away from the wisdom of Christ is broken.

 John Piper 

Make Satan Know His Defeat

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

The more real Satan appears in our day — the more obviously active — the more precious the victory of Christ will become to those who trust him.

The New Testament teaches that when Christ died and rose again, Satan was decisively defeated. A time of limited freedom is granted to him, but his power against God’s people is broken and his destruction is sure.

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8)

“[Christ] himself likewise partook of the same things [flesh and blood], that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.” (Hebrews 2:14)

“[God] disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” (Colossians 2:15)

In other words, the decisive blow was struck at Calvary. And one day, when Satan’s time of limited freedom is over, Revelation 20:10 says, “The devil . . . [will be] thrown into the lake of fire . . . and will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

What does this mean for those of us who follow Jesus Christ?

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

“Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies!” (Romans 8:33)

“[Neither] angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39)

“He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)

“They [the saints] have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” (Revelation 12:11)

Therefore, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you!” He has been defeated, and we have been given victory. Our task now is to live in that victory and make Satan know his defeat.

John Piper 

The Miracle in the Manger

 “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?”

ROMANS 6:15-16

 

PONDER THIS

When Adam listened to Satan’s lies, he believed them, and he sought to dethrone God, but he did not really enthrone himself. Instead, he enthroned Satan. He became a slave of Satan. Because of that, Satan has a throne in the heart of Man.

This is why Jesus came. Man’s God-given authority had been lost by Adam, and that authority has been righteously regained by Jesus Christ. Jesus left Heaven and came to Earth to gain back Man’s lost estate. God’s plan was a man, but not just any man. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Jesus was not a fallen son of Adam. He was, therefore, not a slave of Satan. But He was made of a woman; He was a member of the human race. Satan has absolutely no claim on the Lord Jesus Christ. If Jesus had been born like us, He would have been a son of Adam and a slave Himself. Jesus was truly human but at the same time unquestionably divine. When He walked this Earth, He was very God of very God and very man of very man, but He did not defeat Satan as a God. He defeated Satan as a man. This is what Christmas is all about.

God went through all of this and humbled Himself to give us the opportunity to have life with Him once again.

What are some ways you have seen your human nature as a slave to sin? What are some ways Christ has set you free from that?

When was the last time you stopped to appreciate what God went through for redemption? What would it look like for you to treat others as valuable and worth sacrificing for?

PRACTICE THIS

Spend time thanking God for what He went through to have a relationship with you.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Satan’s Strategy and Your Defense

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith. (1 Peter 5:8–9)

The two great enemies of our souls are sin and Satan. And sin is the worst enemy, because the only way that Satan can destroy us is by getting us to sin, and keeping us from repenting. The only thing that damns us is unforgiven sin. Not Satan.

God may give him leash enough to rough us up, the way he did Job, or even to kill us, the way he did the saints in Smyrna (Revelation 2:10); but Satan cannot condemn us or rob us of eternal life. The only way he can do us ultimate harm is by influencing us to sin, and keep us from repentance. Which is exactly what he aims to do.

So, Satan’s main business is to advocate, promote, assist, titillate, and confirm our bent to sinning. And to keep us from faith and repentance.

We see this in Ephesians 2:1–2: “You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked . . . according to the prince of the power of the air” (NASB). Sinning “accords” with Satan’s power in the world. When he brings about moral evil, it is through sin. When we sin, we move in his sphere. We come into accord with him. When we sin, we give place to the devil (Ephesians 4:27).

The only thing that will condemn us at the judgment day is unforgiven sin — not sickness or afflictions or persecutions or intimidations or apparitions or nightmares. Satan knows this. Therefore, his great focus is not primarily on how to scare Christians with weird phenomena (though there’s plenty of that), but on how to corrupt Christians with worthless fads and evil thoughts.

Satan wants to catch us at a time when our faith is not firm, when it is vulnerable. It makes sense that the very thing Satan wants to destroy would also be the means of our resisting his efforts. That’s why Peter says, “Resist him, firm in your faith” (1 Peter 5:9). It is also why Paul says that the “shield of faith” can “extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16).

The way to thwart the devil is to strengthen the very thing he is trying most to destroy — your faith.

John Piper 

Satan Sails a Sinking Ship

“They fought from the heavens; the stars from their courses fought against Sisera. The torrent of Kishon swept them away, that ancient torrent, the torrent of Kishon. O my soul, march on in strength!”

JUDGES 5:20-21

 

PONDER THIS

What does the phrase, “The stars from their courses fought against Sisera” mean? It means the fight was fixed. Sisera did not have a chance because God gave the victory. Sin can’t win and faith can’t fail. The whole Universe is against the person who is against God. All of creation is for God, and all of creation lives in submission to God and His created order.

Don’t ever get the idea that you can sin successfully. Don’t ever get the idea that you can trust in God in vain. God lined the stars up behind Barak. God lined the whole Universe behind him. Satan sails a sinking ship. Satan rules a doomed domain.

As the Psalmist says, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7). Believing this transforms how we see success. Success is finding out which way God is moving and joining Him. This changes the way we pursue our dreams and think about the future, and even the way we pray. We stop trying to see things from a perspective of primarily what we want and start to see things considering what He is doing. We go to Him for direction instead of finding our own way.

What does success look like through a God-honoring view?

How have you defined success in the past? How is that different from God’s perspective? What would it look like to pursue godly success in the future?

PRACTICE THIS

Talk to God and ask Him to lead you in His success and direction.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Make Satan Know His Defeat

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

The more real Satan appears in our day — the more obviously active — the more precious the victory of Christ will become to those who trust him.

The New Testament teaches that when Christ died and rose again, Satan was decisively defeated. A time of limited freedom is granted to him, but his power against God’s people is broken and his destruction is sure.

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8)

“[Christ] himself likewise partook of the same things [flesh and blood], that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.” (Hebrews 2:14)

“[God] disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” (Colossians 2:15)

In other words, the decisive blow was struck at Calvary. And one day, when Satan’s time of limited freedom is over, Revelation 20:10 says, “The devil . . . [will be] thrown into the lake of fire . . . and will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

What does this mean for those of us who follow Jesus Christ?

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

“Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies!” (Romans 8:33)

“[Neither] angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39)

“He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)

“They [the saints] have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” (Revelation 12:11)

Therefore, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you!” He has been defeated, and we have been given victory. Our task now is to live in that victory and make Satan know his defeat.

 

John Piper 

Two Purposes for Christmas

Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:7–8)

When 1 John 3:8 says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil,” what are “the works of the devil” that he has in mind? The answer is clear from the context.

First, 1 John 3:5 is a clear parallel: “You know that he appeared in order to take away sins.” The phrase he appeared to occurs in verse 5 and verse 8. So most likely the “works of the devil” that Jesus came to destroy are sins. The first part of verse 8 makes this virtually certain: “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.”

The issue in this context is sinning, not sickness or broken cars or messed up schedules. Jesus came into the world to enable us to stop sinning.

We see this even more clearly if we put this truth alongside the truth of 1 John 2:1: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.” This is one of the great purposes of Christmas — one of the great purposes of the incarnation (1 John 3:8).

But there is another purpose which John adds in 1 John 2:1–2, “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

But now look what this means: It means that Jesus appeared in the world for two reasons. He came that we might not go on sinning — that is, he came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8); and he came so that there would be a propitiation for our sins, if we do sin. He came to be a substitutionary sacrifice that takes away the wrath of God for our sins.

The upshot of this second purpose is not to defeat the first purpose. Forgiveness is not for the purpose of permitting sin. The aim of the death of Christ for our sins is not that we relax our battle against sin. The upshot of these two purposes of Christmas, rather, is that the payment once made for all our sins is the freedom and power that enables us to fight sin not as legalists, earning our salvation, and not as fearful of losing our salvation, but as victors who throw ourselves into the battle against sin with confidence and joy, even if it costs us our lives.

John Piper 

Christmas Solidarity

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)

The assembly line of Satan turns out millions of sins every day. He packs them into huge cargo planes and flies them to heaven and spreads them out before God and laughs and laughs and laughs.

Some people work full-time on the assembly line. Others have quit their jobs there and only now and then return.

Every minute of work on the assembly line makes God the laughingstock of Satan. Sin is Satan’s business because he hates the light and beauty and purity and glory of God. Nothing pleases him more than when creatures distrust and disobey their Maker.

Therefore, Christmas is good news for man and good news for God.

“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). That’s good news for us.

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). That is also good news for God.

Christmas is good news for God because Jesus has come to lead a strike at Satan’s assembly plant. He has walked right into the plant, called for the Solidarity of the faithful, and begun a massive walkout.

Christmas is a call to go on strike at the assembly plant of sin. No negotiations with the management. No bargaining. Just single-minded, unswerving opposition to the product. We won’t be a part of making it anymore.

Christmas Solidarity aims to ground the cargo planes. It will not use force or violence, but with relentless devotion to Truth it will expose the life-destroying conditions of the devil’s industry.

Christmas Solidarity will not give up until a complete shutdown has been achieved.

When sin has been destroyed, God’s name will be wholly exonerated. No one will be laughing anymore.

If you want to give a gift to God this Christmas, walk off the assembly line of sin and don’t go back. Take up your place in the picket line of love. Join Christmas Solidarity until the majestic name of God is cleared, and he stands glorious amid the accolades of the righteous.

John Piper 

The Day Is at Hand

The night is far gone; the day is at hand. (Romans 13:12)

This is a word of hope to suffering Christians. It’s a word of hope to Christians who hate their own sin and long to be done with sinning. It’s a word of hope to Christians who long for the last enemy Death to be overcome and thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14).

How is it a word of hope for all these?

“The night” stands for this age of darkness and all its sin and misery and death. And what does Paul say about it? “The night is far gone.” The age of sin and misery and death is almost spent. The day of righteousness and peace and total joy is dawning.

You might say, “2,000 years seems like a long dawn.” From one standpoint it is. And we cry, How long, O Lord, how long will you let it go on? But the biblical way to think goes beyond this lament of “How long!” It looks at world history differently.

The key difference is that the “day” — the new age of the Messiah — has really dawned in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the end of this fallen age. That is, the end of this fallen age has, as it were, broken in to this world. Jesus defeated sin and pain and death and Satan when he died and rose again. The decisive battle of the ages is over. The kingdom has come. Eternal life has come.

And when dawn happens — as it did in the coming of Jesus — no one should doubt the coming of day. Not even if the dawn draws out 2,000 years. As Peter says in 2 Peter 3:8, “Do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” The dawn has come. The day has arrived. Nothing can stop the rising of the sun to full day.

John Piper 

Will God Destroy Evil?

PRAY OVER THIS

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”

Romans 8:18-21

 

PONDER THIS

Many people ask why God does not destroy evil in the world. But God could not destroy evil without destroying freedom. And if God destroyed freedom, God would destroy love. And if God destroyed love, God would destroy the highest good. If we’re not free to choose good, then we’re not free. So, there must be the ability to choose evil.

If that is the case, what is God going to do about evil? What is God going to do about suffering? God is not going to destroy it. God is going to defeat it. There were two gardens. There was the garden of Eden with the first Adam, and there is the garden of Gethsemane with the second Adam. The Lord Jesus, the very Son of God, took sin on Himself and carried it to a cross and died for it. In that act, God has defeated evil so that we can be restored to Him. And in this, He has shown us the greatest love.

How can remembering that evil has been defeated change the way you live as a Christian today?

How can you praise God today for what He accomplished through Christ?

PRACTICE THIS

Praise God for defeating evil so you can be made right with Him.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Make Satan Know His Defeat

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

The more real Satan appears in our day — the more obviously active — the more precious the victory of Christ will become to those who trust him.

The New Testament teaches that when Christ died and rose again, Satan was decisively defeated. A time of limited freedom is granted to him, but his power against God’s people is broken and his destruction is sure.

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8)

“[Christ] himself likewise partook of the same things [flesh and blood], that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.” (Hebrews 2:14)

“[God] disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” (Colossians 2:15)

In other words, the decisive blow was struck at Calvary. And one day, when Satan’s time of limited freedom is over, Revelation 20:10 says, “The devil . . . [will be] thrown into the lake of fire . . . and will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

What does this mean for those of us who follow Jesus Christ?

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

“Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies!” (Romans 8:33)

“[Neither] angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39)

“He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)

“They [the saints] have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” (Revelation 12:11)

Therefore, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you!” He has been defeated, and we have been given victory. Our task now is to live in that victory and make Satan know his defeat.

John Piper 

Jesus Will Trample All Our Enemies

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. (1 Corinthians 15:24)

How far does the reign of Christ extend?

The next verse, 1 Corinthians 15:25 says, “He must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” The word all tells us the extent.

So does the word every in verse 24: “Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.”

There is no disease, no addiction, no demon, no bad habit, no fault, no vice, no weakness, no temper, no moodiness, no pride, no self-pity, no strife, no jealousy, no perversion, no greed, no laziness that Christ will not overcome as the enemy of his honor.

And the encouragement in that promise is that when you set yourself to do battle with the enemies of your faith and your holiness, you will not fight alone.

Jesus Christ is now, in this age, putting all his enemies under his feet. Every rule and every authority and every power will be conquered.

So, remember that the extent of Christ’s reign reaches to the smallest and biggest enemy of his glory in your life, and in this universe. It will be defeated.

John Piper 

The Satisfaction That Defeats Sin

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35)

What we need to see here is that the essence of faith is being satisfied with all that God is for us in Christ.

Defining faith this way emphasizes two things. One is the God-centeredness of faith. It is not merely the promises of God that satisfy us. It is all that God himself is for us in Jesus. Faith embraces God in Christ as our treasure — not just God’s promised gifts.

Faith banks its hope not just on the real estate of the age to come, but on the fact that God will be there (Revelation 21:3). “I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.’”

And even now what faith embraces most earnestly is not just the reality of sins forgiven (as precious as that is), but the presence of the living Christ in our hearts and the fullness of God himself. In Ephesians 3:17–19 Paul prays “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith . . . that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

The other thing emphasized in defining faith as being satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus is the term “satisfaction.” Faith is the quenching of the soul’s thirst at the fountain of God. In John 6:35 we see that “believing” means “coming” to Jesus to eat and drink the “bread of life” and the “living water” (John 4:10, 14), which are nothing other than Jesus himself.

Here is the secret of the power of faith to break the enslaving force of sinful attractions. If the heart is satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus, the power of sin to lure us away from the wisdom of Christ is broken.

John Piper 

Make Satan Know His Defeat

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

The more real Satan appears in our day — the more obviously active — the more precious the victory of Christ will become to those who trust him.

The New Testament teaches that when Christ died and rose again, Satan was decisively defeated. A time of limited freedom is granted to him, but his power against God’s people is broken and his destruction is sure.

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8)

“[Christ] himself likewise partook of the same things [flesh and blood], that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.” (Hebrews 2:14)

“[God] disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” (Colossians 2:15)

In other words, the decisive blow was struck at Calvary. And one day, when Satan’s time of limited freedom is over, Revelation 20:10 says, “The devil . . . [will be] thrown into the lake of fire . . . and will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

What does this mean for those of us who follow Jesus Christ?

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

“Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies!” (Romans 8:33)

“[Neither] angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39)

“He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)

“They [the saints] have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” (Revelation 12:11)

Therefore, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you!” He has been defeated, and we have been given victory. Our task now is to live in that victory and make Satan know his defeat.

John Piper 

Satan’s Candy Store

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. (1 Peter 4:1)

First it puzzles. Did Christ have to cease from sin? No! “He committed no sin” (1 Peter 2:22).

Then it clicks. When we arm ourselves with the thought that Christ suffered for us, we realize that we died with him. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24). When we die with him, we cease to sin.

It’s just like Romans 6. “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. . . . So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:6–7, 11).

Peter says, “Arm yourselves with this thought!”

Paul says, “Consider yourselves dead!”

The weapon for our warfare against sin is this thought — this consideration.

When the temptations of Satan come — to lust, to steal, to lie, to covet, to envy, to retaliate, to put down, to fear — arm yourself with this thought: When my Lord suffered and died to free me from sin, I died to sin!

When Satan says to you, Why deny yourself the pleasure of lust? Why deal with this mess, which you could avoid by lying? Why not go ahead and get that harmless luxury you covet? Why not seek justice by returning the same hurt you just received?

Answer him: The Son of God suffered (really suffered!) to deliver me from sinning. I cannot believe he suffered to make me miserable. Therefore, what he died to purchase must be more wonderful than the pleasures of sin. Since I trust him, my susceptibility to your allurements has shriveled up and died.

Satan, be gone! My mouth doesn’t drool any more when I walk by your candy store.

John Piper 

Make Satan Know His Defeat

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

The more real Satan appears in our day — the more obviously active — the more precious the victory of Christ will become to those who trust him.

The New Testament teaches that when Christ died and rose again, Satan was decisively defeated. A time of limited freedom is granted to him, but his power against God’s people is broken and his destruction is sure.

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8)

“[Christ] himself likewise partook of the same things [flesh and blood], that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.” (Hebrews 2:14)

“[God] disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” (Colossians 2:15)

In other words, the decisive blow was struck at Calvary. And one day, when Satan’s time of limited freedom is over, Revelation 20:10 says, “The devil . . . [will be] thrown into the lake of fire . . . and will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

What does this mean for those of us who follow Jesus Christ?

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

“Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies!” (Romans 8:33)

“[Neither] angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39)

“He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)

“They [the saints] have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” (Revelation 12:11)

Therefore, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you!” He has been defeated, and we have been given victory. Our task now is to live in that victory and make Satan know his defeat.

John Piper 

Christmas Solidarity

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)

The assembly line of Satan turns out millions of sins every day. He packs them into huge cargo planes and flies them to heaven and spreads them out before God and laughs and laughs and laughs.

Some people work full-time on the assembly line. Others have quit their jobs there and only now and then return.

Every minute of work on the assembly line makes God the laughingstock of Satan. Sin is Satan’s business because he hates the light and beauty and purity and glory of God. Nothing pleases him more than when creatures distrust and disobey their Maker.

Therefore, Christmas is good news for man and good news for God.

“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). That’s good news for us.

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). That is also good news for God.

Christmas is good news for God because Jesus has come to lead a strike at Satan’s assembly plant. He has walked right into the plant, called for the Solidarity of the faithful, and begun a massive walkout.

Christmas is a call to go on strike at the assembly plant of sin. No negotiations with the management. No bargaining. Just single-minded, unswerving opposition to the product. We won’t be a part of making it anymore.

Christmas Solidarity aims to ground the cargo planes. It will not use force or violence, but with relentless devotion to Truth it will expose the life-destroying conditions of the devil’s industry.

Christmas Solidarity will not give up until a complete shutdown has been achieved.

When sin has been destroyed, God’s name will be wholly exonerated. No one will be laughing anymore.

If you want to give a gift to God this Christmas, walk off the assembly line of sin and don’t go back. Take up your place in the picket line of love. Join Christmas Solidarity until the majestic name of God is cleared, and he stands glorious amid the accolades of the righteous.

John Piper 

How Satan Serves God

Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. (James 5:11)

Behind all disease and disability is the ultimate will of God. Not that Satan is not involved — he is probably always involved in one way or another with destructive purposes (Acts 10:38). But his power is not decisive. He cannot act without God’s permission.

That is one of the points of Job’s sickness. The text makes it plain that when disease came upon Job, “Satan . . . struck Job with loathsome sores” (Job 2:7). His wife urged him to curse God. But Job said, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). And again the inspired author of the book (just as he did in 1:22) commends Job by saying, “In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

In other words: This is a right view of God’s sovereignty over Satan. Satan is real and may have a hand in our calamities, but not the final hand, and not the decisive hand.

James makes clear that God had a good purpose in all Job’s afflictions: “You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11).

So even though Satan was involved, the ultimate purpose was God’s, and it was “compassionate and merciful.”

This is the same lesson we learn from 2 Corinthians 12:7, where Paul says that his thorn in the flesh was a “messenger of Satan” and yet was given for the purpose of his own holiness — to keep him from becoming conceited. “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited!”

Now, humility is not Satan’s purpose in this affliction. Therefore, the purpose is God’s. Which means that here Satan is being used by God to accomplish his good purposes in Paul’s life. In fact, for God’s elect children, Satan cannot destroy us, and God turns all his attacks finally against him and for us.

John Piper 

How Jesus Defeated Satan

PRAY OVER THIS

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry… And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

(Luke 4:1-2, 8)

 

PONDER THIS

Jesus defeated Satan, but how? He did not defeat Satan as God, though He was God. He defeated Satan as a man should defeat Satan—as a man. Jesus in the wilderness temptation did not pull rank on us. He used the two weapons that were available to Adam in the garden of Eden and the two weapons that are available to us today: the Spirit of God and the Word of God.

The Bible says that God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with power; He went about doing good. He was led of the Spirit into the wilderness. The Holy Spirit of God was upon Him and when Satan came to tempt Him, Jesus unsheathed the Word of God and ran Satan through with the sword. Jesus defeated Satan by the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures, the two weapons given to man by God. Adam had those same weapons, but where the first Adam fell in a garden, the second Adam won in a wilderness.

How might you prepare to face Satan’s temptations based on today’s passage?

How does it encourage you to be reminded that you have the same weapons Jesus used to defeat Satan?

PRACTICE THIS

Spend time in the Word and prayer today as a practical means of preparing for the attacks of Satan.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers