SALVATION'S REMEDY FOR FEAR AND BONDAGE

"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise 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" (Heb 2:14-15). "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (Rom 8:15).

Devotion 7 of 18

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE DEVIL

Our text is pointed in its proclamation: "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." This, from one perspective, is the reason for the incarnation of Christ. He took upon Himself the nature of men that He might effectively save them. This involved His death, which was the preeminent reason for His birth. As it is written, "And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil 2:8).

As the Lord Jesus approached the time when He would lay down His life, His soul became agitated and troubled. Never had His soul been soiled with the contamination of sin. He never knew a defiling moment, and was never in the grip of Satan. But now, the sins of the world were going to be placed upon him (Isa 53:6), and He would bear them in His body on the tree (1 Pet 2:24). The contemplation of being "made sin for us" (2 Cor 5:21) moved Him to say to his disciples, "Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour" (John 12:27). Later, the sorrow would cause "strong crying and tears" to erupt from Him (Heb 5:7). The death of Christ was not a mere technicality!

In His death, Jesus delivered a mortal bruise to the head of Satan. This was done in fulfillment of the commitment God made to Satan himself in Eden's garden. "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel" (Gen 3:15). Mark this well, there was a glorious triumph wrought IN the death of Christ. It was there, IN His death, that He "destroyed" the devil. As it is written, "that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Heb 2:14).

The destruction of the devil was not an annihilation, for he still "walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pet 5:8). But He is powerless to hold within his grasp a single soul who wills to come to Jesus! Nor, indeed, can he forever hold men within the grip of death, whether moral or in the flesh. This was confirmed in the resurrection of Christ, who returned from the region of the dead. You may be assured Satan did not want this to happen, but he was powerless to stop it. Jesus descended into the domain of the "last enemy," and stripped its possessor of his power.

Now, when men are raised up and made to sit together with Christ in heavenly places (Eph 2:6), they occupy a realm where Satan is powerless. Their faith, which is the appointed means of remaining in those "heavenly" realms, is the victory that overcomes the world, which is ruled by Satan (1 John 5:4-5,19). Satan cannot triumph over the person who believes "that Jesus is the Son of God" (1 John 5:5). If men are hesitant to receive this as the truth, let them again hear the word of the Lord. "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 John 5:5). Satan is impotent in the realm of faith. He is powerless in the heavenly places. The closer one is to the Lord, the further he is from the adversary, the devil.

Some might object that Satan was in the presence of the Lord accusing Job (Job 1:8; 2:3). Satan also was standing by Joshua the high priest when he stood before the angel of the Lord (Zech 3:1). Why, then, does he not do the same now? The answer to this is quite simple. The situation has changed because of Christ's atoning death and exaltation. Satan has been expelled from heaven. Jesus saw Him fall as lightning from heaven (Lk 10:18). John was shown the expulsion of Satan from heaven, and told the place for him and his angels was not "found any more in heaven" (Rev 12:8). No longer is he there to accuse the brethren "before our God day and night" (Rev 12:10). Simply stated, when our Intercessor entered heaven, our accuser was thrust out. We know this is the case because of heaven's response to Satan's expulsion. "Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death" (Rev 12:10-11).

Thus, Satan is powerless in the heavenly places. The ONLY way men can be captivated by him is to dwell in the earthly realms, or "mind earthly things" (Phil 3:19). That is why the warning is sounded, "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time" (Rev 12:12). You should see the sense of the admonition, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Col 3:1-3). The closer you are to this world, the greater your jeopardy!

All of this is relevant to our subject. The fear from which we have been liberated is one of Satan's devices. He uses it to enslave men, because fear causes men to trust in themselves while withdrawing from the Living God. Fear torments the soul because it is attended by helplessness and the inability to rise from the cesspool of sin. But Satan has been destroyed, and if you will avail yourself of the heavenly places to which you are raised in Christ, you will soon know that Satan has, indeed, been "destroyed."

PRAYER POINT: Father, I praise Your name through Christ for plundering Satan in the death of Your Son. Grant me grace to live in heavenly places, experiencing Your power and a release from fear.

– Tomorrow: WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED THE SPIRIT OF BONDAGE --