OUR ENEMY IS DEFEATED!
PART 1 OF 2
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from the Afrikaans Version: Ons vyand is verslaan 1
Translator: Lynda Botha
Someone wrote to me:
"Does the devil still have power over death?"
Here is my interpretation of how I understand the Word of God regarding this matter:
Firstly, it’s necessary to understand that the devil never had an indefinite say about death related matters, or about anything else regarding God’s creation.
Our Lord already showed and demonstrated this to us at the very beginning of creation. He left visible evidence in the form of the snake that we can look at whenever we have doubts about who ultimately has the final say in His creation.
We read:
GEN 3:14 “Then the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, grovelling in the dust as long as you live.”
A very good example in the Word of God is Job 1 from verse 6, where we can see that Satan can’t do whatever he pleases. I only quote verse 12 for you:
JOB 1:12 "All right, you may test him,” the Lord said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.”
That said, we should however not think for a moment that we can put satan on the back burner.
Satan is a formidable opponent, who studied humans for thousands of years and he knows exactly how to tactically manipulate you and me. We do not stand a fighting chance against him without our Lord's Spirit. Our Lord Himself called satan:
JOH 12:31 “The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out.” (“Prince of this world” was another name for satan)
Also:
JOH 14:30 "I don’t have much more time to talk to you, because the ruler of this world (A reference to Satan) approaches. He has no power over me,”
Then also:
2 COR 4: 4 “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.”
For those who do not accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour and according to what you have just read, satan is god, ruler and leader of this world – that is for the nonbelievers. When you realize this, you don’t wonder anymore why there is so much evil in the world.
How wonderful then to also remember what the Word of God says concerning Jesus Christ, our Saviour:
HEB 2:14 “Because God’s children, are human beings – made of flesh and blood (this includes you and me) – the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could He die, and only by dying could He break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.”
The power the devil had, was the power over you and me, to let us die forever in hell.
But now through His sacrifice on the Cross, Jesus saved everyone who accepted Him as their Saviour from that terrible death!
HEB 2:15 “Only in this way could He set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.”
1 JOH 3:8 “..But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.”
PHIL 2:9-11
9 “Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honour and gave Him the name above all other names,”
10 “that at the name of Jesus every knee would bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,”
11 “and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
What should one do to inhabit the Spirit of this Jesus Christ of whom you have now read about, so that satan, despite all his power, don’t let you die a horrible death forever in hell?
– For one thing is certain without any doubt –
As long as you and I live on this earth, satan will not leave us in peace and the Lord warned us about this in advance:
JOHN 16:33 “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
Then comes my hero Paul and he confirmed from first-hand experience out of his own life experiences, what our Lord's true children, in some way or another, can expect in our own lives:
2 COR 4:6-9
6 “For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts (It's you and I who have accepted Him as our Saviour)so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.”
7 “We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars (Our deteriorating bodies) containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”
8 “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.”
9 “We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.”
And then how wonderfully Paul concludes 2 Corinthians 4 when he wrote:
2 COR 4:17 “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory (This is eternal life with Jesus Christ) that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!”
2 COR 4:18 “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”
I will close part one off, referring to the question raised in the beginning:
" Does the devil still have power over death?""
– by answering that you and my only salvation of satan and eternal death in hell is Jesus Christ.
JOHN 6:47 "I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life.”
The Amplified version of this scripture reads as follows:
JOHN 6:47 “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he who believes (in Me as Saviour – whoever adheres to, trusts in, relies on, and has faith in Me – already) has eternal life (that is, now possesses it).”
So, what should we do, so that we don’t get tempted by satan into hell?
We must accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour.
ROM 8:1: “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”
The Amplified version of this scripture is as follows:
ROM 8:1: “Therefore there is now no condemnation (no guilty verdict, no punishment) for those who are in Christ Jesus, (who believe in Him as personal Lord and Saviour).”
I will talk more about this to you in the second part of this short series.
Greetings,
Sakkie