The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8 — New American Standard Bible)
In a nut shell, this was the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ when He came to earth. He came to pay the price for our sins so we could be forgiven, and to be an example of how to live for God, but for any of that to be done the work of the devil had to be destroyed… one version of the Bible translates is as “undo the work of the devil”. What Adam lost in the Garden — purity, obedience to God, friendship with Him — Jesus, the second Adam, restored to mankind.
The way the large majority of Christians live today you would think Jesus’ primary mission on earth was praise and worship, or being doctrinally correct, or fighting for civil rights, or to write super-popular but watered down books. So few Christians feel driven to confront the devil or to undo his work — neither in their lives nor in the many people around them. Many even blame their suffering and disappointments on God, as if there were no devil.
If this is why Jesus appeared, it should also be our mission in life. We should identify how the devil and his demons have been targeting us and our family and then set about undoing that work as quickly as we can. When you look at your purpose in life this way it becomes so simple. What has the devil been determined to do to me over the last 5 or 10 years? The opposite of that is God’s mission for me on earth. That is one of the truly great things we can do with our lives.
Jesus really did destroy the devil's work — but only for those who believe in and follow Him. The only power Satan has is the power we give him. He has no real legal authority or power — only what he can deceive people into giving him.
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