The Cross & The Bood the Defeat of Satan. ~ Ganeida

Our subject is the cross of Christ. Our opening scripture is Isaiah 53:4~6.

In fact, it was our diseases he bore,
our pains from which he suffered;
yet we regarded him as punished,
stricken and afflicted by God.

⁵ But he was wounded because of our crimes,
crushed because of our sins;
the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him,
and by his bruises* we are healed.

⁶ We all, like sheep, went astray;
we turned, each one, to his own way;
yet Adonai laid on him
the guilt of all of us.

Isaiah, the root of whose name means salvation, is the prophet of salvation & this is what he says:

·      We all, like sheep have gone astray

·      Jesus was wounded for us

·      Crushed for us

·      Lacerated  [Heb. chaburah ] for us

·      Had our guilt laid upon Him

The word translated guilt is avon & means perversity, rebellion.  It means not only the guilt itself but the punishment for guilt. At the Cross an exchange took place.  Derek Prince calls it the Divine Exchange & lists 10 things that were exchanged at the cross [I have only Xreferenced one or two of these for you to check]:

·      Jesus was punished that we might be forgiven

·      Jesus was wounded that we might be healed

·      Jesus was made sin with our sinfulness, that we

·      might be made righteous with His righteousness

·      Jesus tasted death for us that we might share His life [Heb (2:9)]

·      Jesus was made a curse that we might receive the blessing  [Gal 3:14]

·      Jesus endured our poverty that we might share His abundance 2 Corinthians 8:9; 

·      Jesus bore our shame that we might share His glory

·      Jesus endured my rejection that I might have His acceptance with the Father [Heb. 2:10])

·      He was cut off that we might be joined to the Lord

·      Our Old Man was put to death in Him that the New Man might come to life in us

I don’t have time to go through these 10 points this morning.  Our subject is the cross itself, not the benefits we acquire because of Jesus sacrifice.

The first point I wish to make is that nothing that we have in Christ would be possible without the cross. The cross is the soul basis for the total defeat of satan.  Without the cross every accusation against us that satan brings would be true & the justice of God would prevail over the mercy of God. Revelation 12:10 says: Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, "It has come at last--salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth--the one who accuses them before our God day and night.

Because the blood of Jesus is the only coin for our salvation & Jesus paid that price on the cross the Mercy of God can prevail over the justice of God.  This is why there is only one road to God the Father because as Hebrews 12:24 puts it: You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.  It is from the cross Jesus cried out for the forgiveness of sinners because *They know not what they do.* That is astonishing. A careful reading of the scriptures reveals that Jesus had been so badly beaten He was almost unrecoginisable as being human~Isaiah 52:14 YLT As astonished at thee have been many, (So marred by man his appearance, And his form by sons of men.)

When we come under the blood of Jesus His blood pleads our forgiveness before the Father & satan’s accusations no longer hold any weight with God. Our sins are as if they had neve been.

Dying, in unimaginable pain, Jesus’ focus is still on what He came to earth to do ~ provide a way for man to be reconciled to God.  What’s more the cross not only robs satan of his power, it renders him completely powerless according to Mark 3:27.

Let me illustrate this further. Who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger--someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.

Satan is strong, but Christ is stronger.  Not only is Christ able to bind him, he has stripped him of all he had. 

He cancelled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. Colossians 2:15

Remember we have spoken of this before.  A captive ruler in Roman times would have his big toes & thumbs removed.  In this way he was completely & totally disarmed for all time.  He was unable to hold a weapon or stand his ground in battle. Everyone could see this when he was publicly paraded through the streets.  This maiming, in most warrior societies, would immediately render him unfit to ever rule again. This is the picture we are meant to understand.  As believer’s satan has no power over us unless we ourselves cede ground to him.

The cross provided provision for both the past & the future. For He Himself is our peace, having made both one and having broken down the barrier of the partition of hostility, having annulled in His flesh the law of commandments in ordinances, so that He might create in Himself the two into one new man, making peace and He might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross, by it having slain the hostility. … Ephesians 2:14…

The law is no longer a requirement for righteousness.  Faith has always been the ultimate requirement for righteousness as can be seen from passages such as Romans 4:6…just as David also declares the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works… The NIV & the KGV describe it thus: abolishing the Law in His flesh…

The past has been dealt with at the cross & as Corrie Ten Boom puts it there is now No Fishing Allowed. Don’t go fishing after it.  Don’t dig it up.  Don’t disinter it.  It has been dealt with at the cross & God no longer remembers it.

I would like to spend the rest of our time discussing the practical outcome of what Jesus did on the cross. This is where we get to do something.  See Jesus made provision for us but it will do us no good at all until we grasp hold of the truths & apply them to our life.  It is one thing to believe Christ has rendered satan powerless but it is quite a different thing when we are being harassed by satan & his minions. What then should we do?

Far too many Christians believe they are powerless against satan.  They put up with sickness, disease, depression, lack, fear because they believe satan’s lies instead of God’s Truth as revealed in His word.

The first thing is to understand how very much God loves you. Romans 5:6~10

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.
Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God's condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.

Understand your value according to God.  He loved us even though we were utterly helpless, or as some versions put it, without strength. He loved us even though we were ungodly ~ clueless about God, how to know Him or please Him. He died for us while we were still sinners ~ that is in rebellion against God & disobedient.  He died for us while we were His enemies.  In fact He loved us so much He gave absolutely everything He had to purchase us. 

For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 1 Peter 1:18~19

God only had one son & he gave Him for us; for you & for me. And this love is such that I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38~39

John 15:4 exhorts us to : Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

We remain in Christ through the empowering of His Holy Spirit but here is the amazing thig: "But I will send you the Advocate--the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. You want the Holy Spirit working in your life?  You want more of His power?  More of His anointing, more of the presence of God?  Testify of Jesus Christ.  Tell what the Cross & the power of the Blood has done for you.  Exalt Jesus. Preach the cross. Meditate on the Cross & the Blood.  Remember what Christ has done in you & for you & then speak it out!

And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. Revelation 12:11

This is the key to defeating satan & overcoming all his wiles.  We cannot defeat him in & of ourselves. Remember the 7 sons of Sceva?  They were running around Ephesus attempting to cast out demons but they did not know Jesus & they were not covered by His blood & the demons rightly adjured them:  “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. Acts 19:15~16

Revelation 12:11 is speaking of satan & how he is defeated. You see no provision is made anywhere in scripture for the fallen angels, or for satan.  Jesus is not a substitute for angels.  He is the propitiation for men. Only we can claim, Jesus died for me.  Jesus blood has saved me, redeemed me, cleansed me, sanctified me.

Would you say after me: I have been redeemed out of the hand of satan by the precious blood of Jesus.

You see You know that when you were pagans, you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I inform you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:2~3

No one who denies the Son can have the Father; whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well 1 John 2:23

If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 1 John 4:15

We must confess the son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah.  By our confession satan is defeated by the blood & the power of the cross. This is the way to walk in victory despite the trials & tribulations of life.

See how Mary did it according to the gospel of Luke:

“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.
⁴⁷     How my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour!
⁴⁸ For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,

   and from now on all generations will call me blessed.
⁴⁹ For the Mighty One is holy,
    and he has done great things for me….

Her soul praises, her spirit rejoices. He has done great things for me. What are the things you can testify of that God has done for you when He redeemed you out of the hand of satan  by the precious blood of Jesus?