The Son of God was Manifested that He might Destroy the Works of the Devil in Us

Praise the Lord, the Son of God was manifested for so that He might destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8)!

God became a man – He put on humanity, and in Jesus Christ the infinite God became a man; He had the likeness of the flesh of sin but without the sin in the flesh, and as the Son of Man He died to condemn sin in the flesh.

Our Lord Jesus is really a wonderful Person – He is not only the Son of God but also the Son of Man. When He was on earth, He kept referring to Himself as the Son of Man; when Satan tempted Him in the wilderness, He said He is the Son of Man, and He stood on the ground of being a man.

As a Man, Christ had the likeness of the flesh of sin, and He came concerning sin, but in Him there was no sin. Therefore, when He was on the cross, God saw Him as flesh – He saw Him as sin, and He condemned sin in the flesh. He died as the reality of the bronze serpent – He had the likeness of the flesh, but with no sin in the flesh.

Now if we look to Him and believe into Him, He comes into us to give us eternal life. What a good news: God became like us, with the likeness of the flesh of sin, and He condemned sin in the flesh; now as we believe into Him, we can be washed and cleansed from our sin, and we can be saved from our sinful nature. Hallelujah!

We were born as sons of the devil – sinners, born in iniquity, but by believing into Christ we are reborn with God’s life so that we may become children of God, those who have the divine life and nature.

Now as we confess our sins under God’s light, He cleanses us from our sins, He washes us clean, and He saves us from within from the power of sin.

Even more, though we were born in sin as sons of the devil, we become sons of God, and we become part of the bride of Christ, the spotless, clean, glorious bride that will match Christ in glory for our marriage. Hallelujah!

And all this is because Christ came as the reality of the sin offering – He put on the likeness of the flesh of sin, He died as a man in the flesh, and God condemned sin in the flesh.

Furthermore, Christ came to destroy and nullify the works of the devil, and He in us destroys, nullifies, and annihilates anything that the devil has done. Praise the Lord for such a great salvation! Hallelujah!

The Son of God was Manifested that He might Destroy the Works of the Devil in Us

He who practices sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning; but for this Christ as the Son of Man was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).

To destroy is to nullify, to bring to nothing, to undo, and to utterly deny. Why did Christ as the Son of Man come? It is so that He might destroy the works of the devil. The Son of God came through in carnation so that in His human living and death He would destroy the works of the devil.

As the Son of Man, He had the likeness of the flesh of sin, and sin was condemned in His flesh on the cross. As the Son of God, Christ was manifested to destroy the works of the devil.

Experientially, whenever we are with the Lord, or when He decides to come to us and manifests Himself to us, some works of the devil in our being are destroyed. When we believed into the Lord, He started to undo, nullify, and destroy the works of the devil.

As sinners, we need God’s salvation; as those who are snared and troubled by the devil, we need the Lord Jesus to destroy the works of the devil (1 Tim. 1:15; 1 John 3:8).

This is good news: even though Satan did so much to destroy us, ruin us, and corrupt us, Christ as the Son of Man was manifested to destroy the works of the devil in us! God ordained the principle of free will; we can choose the Lord, or choose the enemy.

When we choose the Lord, He will operate in us as the Son of God to destroy the works of the devil! Any ground we have ever given to the enemy – knowingly or unknowingly – will be reversed, nullified, and destroyed, and Satan will eventually be evicted!

When we realize that the Son of God has come to destroy the works of the devil, we will open to Him that He will destroy any works of the evil one in us, in our family life, and in the church.

We just need to exercise to stand one with the manifested Son of God and tell the enemy,

Satan, we stand one with Christ in His victory, and He as the Son of Man will reverse, nullify, and cancel any way that we have ever cooperated with You! Satan, Christ as the Son of God has come to destroy what you have done, and we choose Him, we stand one with Him, and we are in Him!

When Christ as the Son of God was on earth, He destroyed the works of the devil (see Mark 1:23-28; Matt. 12:28; 15:22-28; Luke 4:39; 13:10-17). In story after story in the Gospels we see that Christ undid, destroyed, and nullified the works of the devil in those around Him.

In Luke 13 there was a woman in the synagogue that was bent over double for 18 years; all she could see was feet. Then the Lord laid His hand on her and said, Woman, you are released! Immediately she stood erect and glorified God!

The religious ones around Him didn’t like it, since He did this on the Sabbath, and they stood with the devil and his works….but the Lord said, She’s a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has bound for 18 years, should I not release her? Hallelujah!

In various ways we all have been bound and have suffered the destroying work of the devil, but our Lord Jesus has come as the Son of God to release us from all bondage, cause us to stand erect, and to look to Christ, the enthroned One, to praise His holy name!

Often Satan’s work is not obvious; he hid behind natural phenomena. Although Satan hid behind many natural phenomena (sicknesses, storms, hunger, disease, etc), the Lord Jesus rebuked Him (Mark 4:35-41).

He came to destroy, undo, dissolve the works of the devil. The devil has sinned continually from ancient times, and he begets sinners that they might practice sin with him (1 John 3:8, 10; John 8:44).

The works of the devil are not only what he does, but also what his subordinates do; the spirits, demons, and also the people who are children of the devil – all do his works.

In our degraded and depraved society we can recognize what’s going on – the works of the devil are manifest. But praise the Lord, the Son of God has been manifested to nullify, dissolve, bring to nought, and destroy the works of the devil, and now we can apply this to our situation!

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might undo and destroy the sinful deeds of the devil, that is, condemn, through His death on the cross in the flesh (Rom. 8:3), sin initiated by him, the evil one; destroy the power of sin, the sinful nature of the devil (Heb. 2:14); and take away both sin and sins. Hallelujah!

We can boldly tell the Lord,

Lord Jesus, we believe into You as the Son of God who was manifested to destroy the works of the devil! Hallelujah, Christ in us destroys, nullifies, and brings to nought all the works that the devil has done. Lord Jesus, we choose You, we stand with You, and we willingly give You the ground in our being that You may destroy in us any works that the devil has done. Oh Lord, even the things that the devil has done and look like “natural phenomena” – judge his works in us, undo his works, and restore us fully to Your enjoyment, so that we may enter into the full salvation!

The Manifestation of Christ Destroyed the Works of the Devil, and His Death Destroyed the Devil Himself

The manifestation of the Lord Jesus destroyed the works of the devil, and His death destroyed the devil himself. All this is related to Christ as the reality of the sin offering. When we apply Christ as the sin offering, we apply the work that He has accomplished.

When we apply Him as the sin offering by praying, exercising to be one with Him, we are expressing our faith and appreciation and need, and also our longing and aspiration that He may nullify Satan’s works in us.

We may tell the Lord from the depths of our being,

Lord, may You as the sin offering nullify everything that the enemy has done in us. May You as the Son of Man destroy all the works of the devil in me. Lord, do it!

He right now is praying in the heavens in His heavenly ministry, interceding for us, that we all may enter into a deeper enjoyment and experience of Christ as the sin offering.

Since therefore the children have shared in blood and flesh, Christ Himself in like manner partook of the same, that through death He might destroy him who has the might of death – that is, the devil (1 John 3:14).

On one hand Christ came as the Son of God to destroy the works of the devil, and on the other, He died on the cross to destroy the devil himself (see 1 John 3:8; John 3:14; 12:31; Heb. 2:14).

Satan is the origin of death; because of sin, death came in, and through death Satan gains the sinner who is under God’s punishment. Satan therefore reigns through man’s death.

However, when we believe into the Lord Jesus, the devil-destroying death of Christ is applied to our being, and we are delivered both from sin and from death. Wow!

Sin is judged in the flesh, the serpentine nature is judged, the works of the devil are destroyed, and now Satan himself is being destroyed! Praise the Lord! The Lord has destroyed the devil who has the might of death, and He has delivered us from the fear of death.

The only one who is afraid of this is the destroyed devil himself. We can tell the Lord with boldness and joy,

Thank You Lord for being manifested to destroy the works of the devil, and thank You for dying to destroy the devil himself! Hallelujah for our Christ as the Son of God, the One who has come to nullify and bring to nought any works that Satan has done, and who has destroyed the devil! Lord Jesus, we stand in Your victory, and we stand one with You in spirit! Praise the Lord for the devil-destroying death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 50, ch. 43, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Leviticus (1), week 7, The Reality of the Sin Offering, the Bronze Serpent, and the Destruction of the Devil.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Nevermore we fear the devil, / Christ destroyed him on the cross, / Stripping off the authorities; / Now we live His victory. (Song on, Living Christ, Our Victory)
  # What a victory! What a triumph! / God Himself became a man, / Clothed Himself in human nature / To fulfill His mighty plan. / He through death destroyed the devil; / Risen now, the Son of Man! (Hymns #1174)
  # Praise Him! Christ is resurrected! / God hath raised Him from the dead! / All the pow’r of death is swallowed, / Man from death to life is led! / Broken through are hell and darkness / And His pow’r exhibited! (Hymns #124)