8 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 3:8 (ESV)
Before a great building or magnificent structure can be built, a site must be prepared. That often requires tearing down an obsolete, abandoned, or condemned structure. Before the new can go up, the old must come down. The same is true for our salvation. Before God can do something good in and through us, he must first tear down the old and dilapidated within us.
Satan did not start his attack on Eve by calling God an outright liar. Instead, he subtly persuaded her to question God’s goodness and intentions.
Our enemy, Satan, is a liar and a murderer (John 8:44). His goal is our death, and his tactics are lies and deception. In the garden, he successfully tricked Eve into violating God’s only prohibition, which was to not eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17). God warned that violating his command would lead to death. Satan did not start his attack on Eve by calling God an outright liar. Instead, he subtly persuaded her to question God’s goodness and intentions. Ever since, all of humanity has had a guarded and suspicious disposition toward God. This faithless posture leads to sin, rebellion, alienation, and ultimately death. This is the work of the devil, and this is what Jesus came to destroy.
On the cross, Jesus destroyed the works of the devil.
On the cross, Jesus destroyed the works of the devil. Through the crucifixion, Jesus revealed the unfathomable love, grace, and mercy of God and forever dispelled the lie that God is stingy, distant, unloving, unkind, or untrustworthy (1 John 4:10). God is love (1 John 4:8).
Furthermore, it is on the cross that Jesus put our sin to death by taking it upon himself. When he died, our sin died with him (2 Corinthians 5:21). The death of Christ was the final death blow to our sin. Consequently, the devil, our enemy and crafty accuser, no longer has any legitimate accusations to hurl at us because Jesus paid for our sins, once and for all (Hebrews 9:26b).
Through his death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus has destroyed the works of the devil, and by faith in him, we are free.
Liturgy
Lord Jesus,
You are our gracious destroyer of darkness.
You came to this world that had abandoned you long ago.You came to serve and not be served.You sought us before we ever knew we were lost.
In compassion, you came to destroy anything and everything that harms what you love.
When we were weak and frail, afraid and guilty, wounded, and unable to stand against our enemy, you came. You fought, and you delivered us.
Through your work of atonement on the cross, the work of the devil has been undone.
You have canceled our debt, our sins you remember no more.
Because of your righteousness that is imputed to us by 26
faith alone, we are shielded from every accusation.
Teach us to stand in your blood-bought victory.
Lord, we praise you for all that you are and all that you have done.
Amen