(Article for publication week of 8-20- AD 2015)
"Forasmuch
then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself took
part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of
death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all
their lifetime subject to bondage" (Hebrews 2:14-15).
Believers in the
Lord Jesus Christ have no reason to fear death because our Lord Jesus Christ
has destroyed the devil, who had the power of death. By His Own death, burial
and resurrection our Dear Saviour has triumphed over the devil and made and
open spectacle of him (Colossians 2:15).
First let us
consider how Christ has destroyed the devil. We know that He has not
annihilated him, because he still goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he
may devour (I Peter 5:8). Nor will the devil ever be annihilated, for he will
be consciously tormented in the lake of fire forever along with all the fallen
angels and all unsaved people (Revelation 20:10). But Christ has destroyed the
devil by making his works null and void. I John 3:8 tells us "for this
purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the
devil." Christ has saved His people from their fallen state and the
bondage of sin of which the devil was the first perpetrator.
Secondly, let us
consider in what sense the devil has the power of death. We know that he does
not have power to kill any human being at his own leisure. The power of life
and death is solely in the hands of our sovereign God (Deuteronomy 32:39). Dear
reader, you will not die one second before your appointed time. It is in God
that you live and move and have your being. All things are held together by God
(Colossians 1:17), including your life. Job chapters one and two make it plain
that the devil has to get permission from God before he can turn a tap. As
Martin Luther said, "the devil is the devil, but he is God's devil."
God created Lucifer (Colossians 1:16)for His own glorious purposes and He uses
him just as He pleases. But the devil had the power of death by his part in the
fall of man. Our Lord said in John 8:44 that the devil was a "murderer
from the beginning." The devil first rebelled against God himself (Isaiah
14:14), and then led man into rebellion. The devil tempted Eve and Adam, and they
sinning brought death upon themselves and their posterity (Romans 5:12). The
devil still holds power over all unregenerate men so that they are under the
power of darkness (Colossians 1:13), and are dead in trespasses and sin
(Ephesians 2:1). So you see the devil has the power of death in leading people
into sin that damns and brings death spiritually, physically and eternally, But
Christ has destroyed him and his works.
Thirdly, let us
see how Christ accomplished this great work. It was by becoming a partaker of
flesh and blood. The Lord Jesus Christ was God manifest in the flesh (I Timothy
3:16). As my dear brother in Christ, Elder Jeff Pollard said, "the Son of
God became the Son of man that sons of men would become sons of God"! God
cannot die, so He became a weak and frail man as we are so that he could die on
a Roman cross for sinners like you and me. The Lord Jesus Christ destroyed the
devil and his works by his atoning death. So death has no lasting power upon
the children of God.
Dear child of God, you have no reason to fear death
because Christ has bruised the serpent's head (Genesis 3:15). Satan is a
defeated foe. Although he still vexes us and annoys us (as God permits him for
His Own purposes), he has no power of death over us. And the day is coming when
God will deal him the final blow and put him out of business forever (Romans
16:20). May the Lord grant you peace in believing this precious gospel.
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