SATAN DRIVEN OUT
Satan, who was successful in instigating the transgression of our First Parents, could gain control over humanity. God said to Satan, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers” (Gen 3:15). The conflict continues in the world today. According to Jesus, Satan is the prince of the world, and he has no power over Jesus (Jn 14:30). At the third temptation of Jesus, the devil “took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, ‘All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me’” (Mt 4:8-9). Jesus did not object to the devil’s claim of ownership of the world. Instead, Jesus said, “Get away, Satan! It is written: ‘The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve’” (Mt 4:10).
Paul presents Satan as the god of this world (Eph 2:2). He wrote, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they may not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor 4:4). “Put on the armour of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens” (Eph 6:11- 12).
Jesus came to counteract the effects of the sin of our First Parents. Paul wrote, “Just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all. For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous” (Rom 5:18-19). With the ministry of Jesus, “the ruler of this world has been condemned” (Jn 16:11). Thus, he fulfilled the words of God to Satan: “They will strike at your head, while you strike at their heel” (Gen 3:15).
We need obedience to God’s Son to drive out the influence of the devil in our lives. When the seventy-two disciples returned after their village ministry, they rejoiced and said, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.” Jesus replied, “I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky” (Lk 10:17- 18). It will continue until the second coming of Christ. Paul wrote, “Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Cor 15:24-26). According to John’s vision, “Then Death and Hades were thrown into the pool of fire (this pool of fire being the second death). Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the pool of fire” (Rev 20:14-15).
Jesus said, “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw everyone to myself” (Jn 12:32). When Moses lifted a bronze serpent in the desert, the snake-bitten people could approach it and rescue their lives. Jesus referred to it as the foreshadow of his crucifixion and the revival of the spiritual lives of sinners who believed in him. Jesus had clarified this to Nicodemus – “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life” (Jn 3:14-15). Crucifixion was also a means to reveal the divinity of Jesus. “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM” (Jn 8:28). Hence, the cross became a symbol of salvation. Taking up the cross for Jesus thus became a means for our resurrection with Jesus and to inherit lost paradise forever.
Though the symbolism of the installation of the bronze serpent foreshadowed the lifting of Jesus on the cross, it also implied his resurrection from the dead (Mt 28:7), and ascension to heaven (Acts 1:9). After that, the Father seated him “at his right hand in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things beneath his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church” (Eph 1:20- 22). The faithful will exalt Jesus in their lives by their Christian witnessing in the world. Paul wrote, “Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me life is Christ, and death is gain” (Phil 1:20-21).