1 Jn 3:8b   The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.

 

  

The reality of the devil and his work is something of which every Christian should be aware. We should be aware of the truth of what happened in the Garden of Eden as recorded in Genesis 3. There Satan deceived the woman who led astray the man and the result was that they gave way to temptation and sinned. The result of that was that they were separated from God first by guilt, and then by the decree of God, to keep them from worse sin.

 

Satan's work is to separate from God's love by deceit and by leading us into temptation, and by accusing us and making us think worse of ourselves so we give up any desire to be good. He constantly seeks to demean us and put us down and drive us away from God. He seeks to lead us further and further into sin and thus heap more and more guilt upon our heads and more and more shame upon us.

 

When Christ came to earth, it was specifically to counter this work. In his body he preached good news of God's love to us, and demonstrated it by healing thousands, delivering hundreds from demons and generally bringing God's goodness to all who would receive it. Ultimately he gave his live on the Cross, as we considered yesterday, so that all of our guilt and shame could be taken from us and we could be given new lives as adopted children of God in whom lives the Holy Spirit to empower and guide. Thus everything that Satan does, has been reversed. Hallelujah!