Defeated Enemy
“Is this the man who made the earth tremble…?”
Can you imagine going to war against an enemy you have already defeated?
Would you box against a world champion, if you knew that you could win?
This is exactly the case for all the believers in Christ. Our Lord has already defeated the devil, our powerful enemy. The Lord has freed us from hell and has given us sweet victory over the power of death and sin.
The devil roars “like a lion,” but he is not even a lion, he is just a wounded serpent with a deadly wound. The only thing that he can do against the children of God is deceive them and intimidate them.
Evil does not have the power to force us to sin.
Another weapon that the devil uses with effectiveness is guilt. When we sin, he makes us feel guilty and hypocritical; his greatest yearning is to separate us from Christ. He probably knows that he can’t separate us from Jesus, but he will try to bring unrest and fear to our lives.
Someone said to me one day:
“When the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future.”
What is in store in the future for the devil?
The Bible speaks of chains and of an eternal lake of fire.
Nations will be astonished by the insignificance of him which caused so much trouble. We must not fear the devil, because he has already been defeated. Therefore do not dwell in your shameful and sinful past; instead look towards the glorious future with Christ…and without the devil.
