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How Christ’s Death Defeated Satan
Christ had accomplished the work He came to do, and with His
dying breath He exclaimed, “It is finished!”
John 19:30
. He had won
the battle. All heaven triumphed in the Savior’s victory. Satan knew
his kingdom was lost. It was for the angels and unfallen worlds as
well as for us that Jesus had accomplished the great work of redemp-
tion. Until the death of Christ, Satan had so thoroughly wrapped
himself in deception that even holy beings had not understood his
principles nor clearly seen the nature of his rebellion.
Lucifer had been the covering cherub, the highest of all created
beings. He had been foremost in revealing God’s plans to the uni-
verse. After he had sinned, his power to deceive was all the more
deceptive, and unmasking his character was more difficult because
of the exalted position he had held with the Father.
God could have destroyed Satan and his sympathizers, but He
did not do this. Force, compelling power, is found only under Sa-
tan’s government. The Lord’s authority rests on goodness, mercy,
and love, and He works by presenting these principles. God’s gov-
ernment is moral, and truth and love are to be the power used in
it.
In the councils of heaven, God decided that Satan must be given
time to develop the principles of his government. He had claimed
that these were superior to God’s. So God gave time for Satan’s
principles to work and for the heavenly universe to see them. For
four thousand years, Christ was working to lift up the human race,
and Satan to ruin it. And the heavenly universe watched it all.
From the time when Jesus appeared as a baby in Bethlehem,
Satan worked to destroy Him. He tried to prevent Him from de-
veloping a perfect childhood, a faultless manhood, a holy ministry,
and an unblemished sacrifice. But he was defeated. He could not
lead Jesus into sin. All the efforts of Satan to overcome Him only
brought out His spotless character in a purer light.
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