On the Cross Christ Destroyed the Devil, Judged the World, and Condemned Sin in the Flesh

Through His death on the cross, Christ destroyed the devil, judged the world, and condemned sin in the flesh; today we can enjoy this wonderful Christ swallowing up any death and destroying the enemy and his works in us as we turn to Him. Hallelujah!

2 Tim. 1:10 is a wonderful verse showing us that our Savior Christ Jesus nullified death and brought life and incorruption to light through the gospel.

Christ did not only die on the cross and then was raised by God on the third day; He also nullified death. Death is the most powerful thing in this universe after God, for when death comes, no one can withstand it.

Every human being, every living creature, and every plant will eventually die.

When death comes, no one can stop it.

But here is one person, Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God incarnated to be a man.

He came and lived a perfect human life, and He tasted death on behalf of everything.

Because of the fall of man, the whole creation is subject to death, vanity, and corruption.

Everything in this universe is vain without God, is subject to death, and is corrupting and being corrupted.

Nothing left by itself will flourish or become stronger; everything is being corrupted.

Even man by himself is subject to vanity, corruption, and death.

But Jesus Christ came and tasted death on behalf of all things – He tasted death on behalf of all the things created by God, so that He may now save those who believe into Him and cause them to overcome death.

After He tasted death on behalf of everything, He went into death and stayed in Hades for three days.

Then, after He took a tour of death and Hades, preaching the gospel to those there and proclaiming His victory, Christ rose from the dead and took the keys of death and Hades.

Even more, He nullified death! Wow.

He not only overcame death but made death of no effect.

This is a tremendous matter.

Many times we focus on the Lord’s death and resurrection as something related to our salvation, and we are thankful that He died for our sins and rose for our justification.

But even more than this, He nullified death!

This means that, through His devil-destroying death and His death-swallowing resurrection, Christ made death of none effect. Wow, Hallelujah!

All those who believe into the Lord Jesus receive Him as their life, and this life is a devil-overcoming life, a death-nullifying life, and a death-terminating life! Praise the Lord!

In our daily life, we need to enjoy and experience Christ with His resurrection life in us so that we may have any death in our soul and even in our body swallowed up by His life! Praise the Lord!

Through His Death Christ Destroyed the Devil, Judged the World, and Condemned Sin in the Flesh

Death is something that is ugly, horrible, and painful, for no one likes to think of death or be reminded of their mortality.

But the Lord Jesus came and died on the cross one of the most painful, horrible, and ugly deaths possible, yet His death is wonderful!

According to Heb. 2:14, Christ partook of the blood and flesh so that through death He might destroy him who has the might of death, that is, the devil.

Christ brought to nought, made of none effect, abolished, did away with, annulled, and discarded the devil through His death on the cross.

In Gen. 3:15, after Adam and Eve fell, God preached the gospel to them and promised that the seed of the woman would come to bruise the head of the serpent.

The Lord Jesus came as the Son of God in the fullness of the time to become flesh (John 1:1, 14) by being born of a virgin (Gal. 4:4) so that He might destroy the devil in man’s flesh through His death on the cross. Praise the Lord!

When He died on the cross, Christ abolished Satan – He destroyed the devil, brought him to nought.

Praise the Lord, Satan has been abolished and done away with!

There are three big and ugly things involved with the flesh: Sin, Satan, and the world.

Satan is the source, sin and the world come out from Satan, and Satan today is in our flesh.

These work together to hold us back, put us down, and cause us to be unable to love God, enjoy God, serve God, and live for God.

But the Lord Jesus came as a man in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin (Rom. 8:3) to deal with sin and terminate it. Praise the Lord!

Through His incarnation, the Lord Jesus put on the flesh which was related to Satan, sin, and death; He did not have the sin in the flesh but had the likeness of the flesh of sin yet without sin.

God took this One, Jesus Christ who did not know sin, and God made Him sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). Praise the Lord!

The apostle John said that Jesus Christ became flesh, but the apostle Paul had the boldness to further say that God made Christ sin so that we may become the righteousness of God in Him. Praise the Lord!

Just as the people of Israel sinned against God and God sent fiery serpents to bite them and many of them died, but when they looked at the bronze serpent lifted up on a pole they lived, so Christ came as the reality of the bronze serpent for us to look at Him and be saved (Num. 21:4-9; John 3:14-16).

The people of Israel offended God and He sent serpents to bite them, but when they cried out to God, He provided a way for them not to die: Moses made a bronze serpent in the likeness of the fiery serpents, and whoever looked him, lived!

The bronze serpent had the likeness of the real serpent but did not have its nature and poison.

Christ came in the same way, as the reality of the bronze serpent in the wilderness.

He came in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, but He did not have the sin in the flesh!

When God made Christ sin on our behalf, this included all sins.

During the last three hours of His death on the cross, Christ was made by God sin in His eyes, and He was judged by God, even forsaken by God (see Matt. 27:45-46).

God made Christ sin to die for us, sinners; He was the unique sinner in God’s eyes, even though He had no poison of sin in Him.

Thank the Lord that He did this for us. In dying on the cross in our stead, having the likeness of the flesh of sin but without sin, He destroyed the devil, He terminated death and sin, and the flesh was crucified there.

Because the Lord Jesus became flesh, He became related to sin, death, Satan, and the world.

By becoming flesh, Christ crucified and destroyed Satan on the cross. John 12:31 says that the world was judged in Him on the cross.

By that one crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the flesh (the fallen man), sin, Satan, and the world were all terminated.

And we today can enjoy such a One in our spirit.

We need to know what the Lord has accomplished, believe in His accomplished work, and declare it to the whole universe for all to know.

And we need to remind the enemy that he was defeated and destroyed by a Man, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to destroy him!

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for dying for us on the cross not only to redeem us but even more to destroy Satan, the flesh, sin, and death. Thank You for partaking of blood and flesh to become flesh, in the likeness of the flesh of sin, so that You may destroy and judge sin in the flesh. Praise the Lord, through His death the Lord Jesus destroyed Satan, the one who has the might of death! We stand on this fact and we declare to the whole universe that Jesus Christ, the Son of Man and the Son of God, destroyed the devil on the cross! Hallelujah, God sent His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, and He condemned sin in the flesh! Praise the Lord, through His death on the cross the world was judged, Satan was destroyed, sin was condemned, and the flesh was crucified! We praise You, Lord Jesus, for Your wonderful death, a death that terminated everything that is negative in the universe! Hallelujah for the death of Jesus Christ on the cross!

Sensing the Enemy’s Attack of Death and Experiencing Christ Nullifying Death in Us and in the Church Life

The Lord Jesus Christ did not only defeat death by resurrecting from death; He also nullified it (2 Tim. 1:10).

Death is powerful; no one can tell when death comes, nor can they delay death. When death comes, you just follow.

Death is the ultimate enemy of God.

Death is the greatest weapon Satan uses to frustrate God’s economy.

From the time of man’s fall, death began to reign. Every one, every human being, is subject to death.

Death operates not only in the physical realm but even more, it operates in the psychological realm and especially in the spiritual realm.

According to Rom. 5, death is taking control not only physically but also spiritually.

Death has been used by Satan to frustrate God from carrying out and accomplishing His economy.

Because death is prevailing, the divine life is frustrated; the divine life is the essential and crucial element for the accomplishment of God’s economy.

The Lord Jesus said in Matt. 16:18 that He will build His church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.

Wherever God’s building is, that’s where the work of Hades, the presence of death, will be.

The work of death is to attack, undermine, and destroy God’s building work.

Not only physical death is real, taking with it human beings that can otherwise be used for God’s purpose, but even spiritual death is very real, frustrating the work of God.

In 2 Timothy Paul brought forth an extremely crucial aspect of Christ’s work that pertains not only to our personal salvation, for our personal benefit but even more for the destroying of Satan and the nullifying of death.

Satan is the ruler of death, having the might of death.

But through Christ’s death, Satan has been destroyed and death has been made of none effect.

Death is now like a toothless dog. Death barks at us and tries to attack us, but its power is gone; death has been made of none effect and its power is gone.

This is why Paul could declare, Where oh death is your sting and where is your victory?

Though death is very present, active, and operating among God’s people in the church today, we need to sense when death is present and not open the door to death.

We should sense when death attacks, stand against the attack of death, not open the door to death, and even more, not become an instrument through which death can pass through.

Whenever death has an opening to come into the church, life is frustrated and the building work of God will be hindered.

Sometimes we may reject the Lord’s word or even the Lord’s ministry, and death comes in for a while, until we repent and return to the Lord and to His life-giving ministry.

In 1942 or so, because of some opinions of some brothers in Shanghal toward Brother Nee and what he was doing, his ministry was stopped for six years.

During this time, the building work of the church in Shanghai was basically stopped.

Then, toward the end of that period of time, Brother Lee went to visit the leading brothers in Shanghai and asked them, During these six years that Brother Nee was away, have you been enjoying the Lord? Have you been growing in life?

The brothers had to admit that no, this was not the case; rather, they were dried up, and the work was stagnating.

Whatever they did, no matter what opinions were there, allowed death to come in, and life was frustrated, the building work of God was hindered, and the church stagnated or even receded. Oh, Lord!

We need to see that, in order for God to accomplish His economy and for us to be vessels unto honour, men of God equipped to serve God, we need to be persons of life.

We need to escape death, stand against death, not open the door to death, and not be an instrument through which death can come in.

Rather, we need to positively exercise our spirit and release the divine life (1 Cor. 15:26, 54; Heb. 2:14, 15).

And when we’re with the saints and we’re about to say something, we need to learn to exercise our spirit and minister life to others, even learning to drop our opinions.

Our little opinions are an expression of our ideas.

Our loose speaking, our loose words, can open the door for death to come in.

We may even be truly right in what we say, and we may prove this by our speaking and demonstration; however, what comes in is death, not life.

We can testify of this mainly in our marriage life, for many times one of the spouses is truly right and wants to make sure the other knows this; the result is dark clouds over their relationship and lack of life and love.

When we smell something of death being circulated around, we need to stay away from death.

We should not contribute to death talk.

Especially in these days of the decline of the church, we need to have a nose for death, a sense of when death comes in.

A little opinion, a little criticism, can make a big difference; it may give an opening to death to come in.

May we realize that death has been nullified and may we release the divine life, stay in life, minister life, and do all things in life (Rom. 6:9-10)!

Though death has been reigning since the fall of man, though death pervades our society and many times even the church life, we need to enjoy and experience the Christ who has nullified death.

When we contact the Lord, enjoy Him, and exercise our spirit to remain in life and minister life, we experience the death-nullifying life of Christ, and death is defeated, swallowed up, and rejected from us and from the church life.

Lord Jesus, we choose to enjoy You as life, partake of the tree of life, remain on the line of life, and minister Christ to others as life. Hallelujah, Christ nullified death on the cross, and now death is made of no effect. Amen, Lord, we stand on this fact and we want to enjoy and experience You as the death-nullifying Christ in the church life today! We want to remain in the realm of life as we speak to the saints, to our spouse, and to anyone around us. Save us from opening the door for death to come into our family life or church life. May life be ministered to the saints. May life prevail among us. May we all have a keen sense of death and close the gates of Hades in the church life so that the church may be built up and the enemy would be defeated! Praise the Lord, Jesus Christ destroyed the devil, defeated Hades and the grave, and nullified death! Hallelujah, such a Christ lives in us and His life is for us to enjoy, partake of, live out, and minister to one another for death to be destroyed, removed, and rejected in our family life, daily life, and church life!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” chs. 1 and 18, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Being a Vessel unto Honor, a Fully Equipped Man of God, by being Empowered in the Grace which is in Christ Jesus to Fully Accomplish our Ministry in the Unique Ministry of God’s Economy (2024 April ITERO), week 4, Christ Nullifying Death and Bringing Life and Incorruption to Light, and Our Remembering Jesus Christ, the Seed of David, Raised from the Dead.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – What is the All-inclusive Death of Christ? More via, The Hearing of Faith radio newsletters.
  – How Can We Be Strengthened in Our Faith? More via, Bibles for America blog.
  – Christ, the Cross, and the Church, via, Shepherding Words.
  – The all-inclusiveness of Christ’s death, a portion from, The Four Major Steps of Christ, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
  – A Deeper Understanding of John 3:16 and How God Makes Sinners the Bride of Christ, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
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  – Christ as the Bronze Serpent, via, Living to Him.
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  – The cross of Christ being the termination of the old creation, a portion from, The Triune God to Be Life to the Tripartite Man, Chapter 10, by Witness Lee.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – 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! … / How mysterious! Yet how real! / Such a man now lives in me. / Into all my heart He’s spreading— / He, my human life, to be. / Hallelujah! Hallelujah! / I will praise unceasingly. (Hymns #1174 stanzas 1, 4)
  – What release the Savior gave me! / Christ indeed has set me free! / All the pow’r of sin is broken, / All death’s sting is passed from me! / Christ has made me more than conqu’ror, / By His mighty victory, / Now His resurrection power / From my spirit strengthens me! (Hymns #540 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – Lord, how we praise You for Your cross, / Your all-inclusive death! / The center of the universe, / It has untold, eternal worth! / Lord, how we love Your cross, / Lord, how we love Your cross; / Oh, hallelujah, for such a cross! (Hymns #1087 stanza 4)