Apparently directly related to a dream I had this morning, I was led to the following verse in 1 John 3:8 NIV:..."The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work."
There could be several ideas about what this "devil's work" might be, but I think if we go back to the beginning, applying the hermeneutics principle of first mention, we find that the devil's work was to convince Eve that God was lying about His plans for her. Here are the verses from Genesis 3:1-5 NIV:
[1] "Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'? ”
[2] The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, [3] but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' ”
[4] “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. [5] “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
This exchange is noteworthy for two reasons, first the serpent (representing the devil) is questioning the nature of God, in his first question and then is outright lying about his nature in his second statement. However, of secondary importance, Eve doesn't know the truth, or remember it. She misquotes God's command to her, leaving an opportunity for the enemy to convince her of a lie. God told Adam the following Genesis 2:16-17 NIV: And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; [17] but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” I believe that if she had been able to stand on the truth, and the knowledge of the character of God, that she could have resisted this deception.
We can learn much from her interaction, for the end-result was that both her and Adam ended up believing or agreeing with the lies of the enemy, and their lives and relationship with God was altered from that point forward! It seems to me that the devil's primary work, based on this encounter, is to get humankind questioning the character of God and the Truth, believing lies about God, and then agreeing with this accusation, for it is nothing less than an outright accusation that God doesn't have their best interests in mind!
Jesus in coming to earth, and representing the Father perfectly, (Heb 1:3) was proving to us, once again how good the Father really is, breaking through the lies and deception, the work of the devil! We need to war against these same lies in our lives, for the enemy hasn't stopped questioning the goodness of God, accusing Him of holding back from us the best, coloring His perfection, His love, His mercy and compassion, His justice as angry, punishing, limiting us from that which is best. This is all an elaborate scam, and the purpose is to get us to agree with the devil's perspective, causing us to break relational intimacy with the Father.
The Good News is that the power of the this deception has been broken by Jesus, and He has paid for this sin. He has opened the way to the Father, and thus, the separation that Eve and Adam suffered need not be our experience! We can repent, renounce our agreement with the enemy, and step back into the waiting arms of the Father.
Today, I am encouraged to look at my life, at my thoughts, at my heart and see where I have agreed with the enemy and renounce my agreement. Jesus gives me the authority to tear up that contract, where I signed on with the enemies view. I can step into the fullness of all that God has for me, breaking off the lies and deceit, and step into true relationship with the Father as His son! I am so thankful that Jesus has come to destroy the works of the devil, preparing the way for me to break off the shackles and step free!
Thank You Lord!
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