On Mission with God: Destroying the works of the Devil
• 1 John 3:8 The context here is sin, John it telling his readers that you can’t continue in a life of sin.
• But the work of the devil is the source of sin.
o Jesus came to destroy all the works of the devil. Not the least of which is sin.
• Jesus Himself was on mission with God the Father to destroy those works of the devil.
• How did Jesus do that?
o Jesus, did this by suffering and dying as a sinless man on a cross.
o Then raising from the dead.
o Then Jesus allows us to vicariously claim the penalty He paid for sin to be our penalty.
• That word “destroyed” used here in this verse means: to loose, unite, set free, break, or destroy
• Now what do we do?
o If we are on mission with God, then we must carry on this mission to destroy the works of the devil.
o But we will do it differently than Jesus did it.
• Jesus has already destroyed the works of the devil on the cross.
o But the devil continues to work. He is the “prince of this world” with a form of rule and reign.
With the Holy Spirit.
• We also don’t have the strength in our human nature to do it, we must have the Spirit.
o We must be guided and empowered every step of the way. Acts 16:7
o There are some fights with the devil that simply aren’t ours to fight.
With Authority
• Luke 10:18-19 Of course, the snakes and scorpions referred to here are demons, not literal reptiles.
• Our ability to overcome them is rooted in and from the authority Jesus has given us.
o Notice also Jesus says, to overcome all the power of the enemy; which means the enemy has none.
With wisdom
• Eph 3:10 Paul says that God wants to use the church to display his wisdom
• The rulers and authorities here refer to demonic spirits as they do in Eph 6:11-12
• The wisdom here refers to the wisdom of God, and not earthly or human wisdom.
o The church is to represent the wisdom of God as a rebuke to the demonic world.
Not showing fear
• Phil 1:27-29 To overcome and destroy the works of the devil we can’t operate from a place of fear.
• Not giving in to fear begins and is rooted in understanding my identity and authority in Christ.
Worship/praise
• Psalm 8:2 Even babies can defeat the enemy with worship and praise
On Mission With God: Destroying the Devil’s Work
