Jesus Came: To Destroy the Works of the Devil

Happy Thanksgiving

Also the first day of Advent

Advent is the celebration of the anticipation of the the coming of Jesus, and the celebration of the birth of Jesus

And today and for the next 3 Sundays, I would like to explore this question.

“Why did Jesus come?”

Why was He born, why did He live, why did He die and rise again? Why?

If someone asked you that, what would you say?

Fortunately, the Bible is very clear on this. Very clear about why Jesus came

The Bible says in a number of places, “This is why Jesus came”

And today and for the next 3 Sunday’s Advent, I’d like to look at just a few of these reasons for Jesus coming.

To seek and save the lost

To serve the helpless

To give us abundant life

Today: To destroy the works of the Devil

I would like to thank David Platt for allowing me to use his material and ideas to develop this sermon

1 John 2:28–3:10 “28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God!”

I like the ESV, but sometimes it can be kind of understated

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God!”

Ok, I’ll have a look.

Hmmm, Ok that’s nice.

I think that this whole first sentence could be replaced with one word: WOW!!

I’m glad that my office window faces to the east because I get to see the sunrise

And there are some mornings, when the sunrise is so brilliant, so colorful, so incredible

And on those mornings, I don’t just say, “See the sunrise. Hmmm look at that. That’s nice”

I say, “WOW! That’s amazing!”

And I think that is the same way that we should read this

WOW! What an amazing thing it is that the Father’s love is so great that He has called us His children!!

That’s what we are, it says here.

Let’s establish this first and foremost. The amazing and wonderful news that the Father’s love is so great that we are called his children

We can be called His Children because Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil

Verse 8b: The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil

The nature of sin

universal

everyone who sins, anyone who sins, 6 times

The point is, everyone does sin.

I heard a famous TV preacher remark that he “hardly ever sins anymore”

I thought, “Wow, that’s something”

And we all should be striving for holiness and a life where righteousness and holiness is our identity

But the Bible is clear that sin is indeed a problem for everyone. I don’t care how good you look or act, it’s still something that we deal with

Especially outside of the life of Christ

passages from Romans

Romans 3:23 “23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Romans 5:12 “12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—”

You look around at our world, you see the terrible things that happen. The pain and confusion that people go through

Well, it’s because of sin. Everyone, from young to old, rich or poor, deal with sin and we are all affected by it

We all struggle with it to one degree or another

And this is something that we remember in the Body of Christ as we strive for unity.

The humility that comes from realizing that I don’t have it all together

And we treat each other with love and gentleness

knowing that even as the Holy Spirit is transforming our hearts we

is lawlessness vs. 4

“Everyone who makes a practice of sinning, also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness”

This is one of the most brief, concise definitions of sin that you could possibly find: sin is lawlessness

Sin is taking God’s law, having a look at it, acknowledging it, understanding it, and then going away and doing something quite different

Those of us who are parents have had this experience with our children.

you know that toddler whom you tell, “Don’t touch that. or You need to stay with me.

And he just looks at you directly in the eyes, and you know good and well he understands clearly what you have told him to do

And then, while looking you right in the face, he proceeds to touch that, or go in there

you think we don’t have a problem with sin? Oh yeah we do!

And it’s sort of amusing to think of our children acting like that.

But folks, it isn’t amusing when it comes to us and God

Sin is looking at the law of God, understanding it, and then looking back up at God, looking Him right in the face, and doing something quite different

Essentially saying to Him, “God, I don’t need you and I don’t need your law”

I’m going to make my own law

because here is the thing. John says here that sin is lawlessness. And it is. But we all follow a law. There is something or someone that is dictating the course of our lives

And we may turn our back on God’s law

But then we have to ask, well, if I’m not following God’s law, then which law am I following?

Well, most likely, I’m following my own law. I come up with my own standard. i come up with my own way of doing things

And really, that has the same effect. We are turning our back on God, looking Him full in the face, and saying, “I’m going to do pretty much what I want thank you very much!”

And this is what the devil did. The devil, when he was an angel in heaven did just that. He said, “I will make my own law. I will do what I want to do

And we can’t miss this

The point of what John is saying is that whenever we sin, we choose to follow the devil!

And this is what Jesus came to do. This is why we celebrate Christmas. He came to destroy the works of the devil.

Jesus came to destroy sin!

The nature of righteousness

It comes from the New Birth

This is something that I know that I don’t talk about enough.

a lot of times I talk about the life of the Believer in terms of discipleship. Following the footsteps of Jesus. True

But equally true is that becoming a Believer in Jesus involves a new birth

Jesus told Nicodemus, “You must be born again. Don’t be surprised when I tell you this!” It should be obvious to you

Becoming a Believer in Jesus MUST involve a New Birth

The old giving way to the new. The old dying, the new being born

And this passage has a number of references to the new birth

2:28 everyone who practices righteousness is born of HIM

3:1 we are called children of God

3:2 We are God’s children

3:9 We are born of God

3:9 God’s seed abides in Him

3:9 again, we are born of God

3:10 we are children of God

We simply can’t ignore the fact that God’s plan was for His people to experience a new birth

To actually have a new spirit put inside of them. To become a new person

This is what was prophecied in the book of Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 36:25–27 “25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

This sounds like a new birth to me!

The question is, have you indeed been born again? Does His life and His Spirit reside inside of you?

Are you a different creature today than you would be if you did not have Jesus?

The result of the New Birth

We stop sinning!

Here is the crux of this:

verse 9: No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God

Now, again, what is he talking about? What is this sinning that he is talking about here?

Is he talking about the times when I give into weakness and I overeat, or I snap at my kids or my wife, or I respond in anger to someone?

Is he saying that unless we are completely sinless, we aren’t Believers?

No! That’s not what he is saying!

He says, No one born of God makes a practice of sinning

What is a practice? It is something that you do repeatedly and intentionally

if you are practicing the guitar, you (should) set a time when you pick up the guitar and play it intentionally, working on different techniques and disciplines

Basketball teams have practice. An intentional time when they come together and work on teamwork and skills. And they do this intentionally and repeatedly

This is the kind of sinning that I believe he is talking about here

It is an intentional, willful, repeated acts of lawlessness

Or an intentional, willful, and repeated acting according to my own law or my own desires

He says no one who has been born of God, or has been born again makes a practice of sinning!

Who makes a practice of sinning after he has been born of God? NO ONE!

Who is left out in that statement? NO ONE!

And in case we are tempted to make some exception or excuse, he says this:

He cannot go on sinning.

Well, maybe just a little bit.

NO! He CANNOT go on sinning! You can’t say it any more strongly than that! It’s impossible!

Why? Because he has been born of God

Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans says basically the same thing:

Romans 6:1–2 “1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”

You know, we as Believers are tempted to be so casual about sin, aren’t we?

The church in America as a whole is so casual about sin

we make so many excuses for sin, or lawlessness, don’t we?

You know, most of us probably read this and we are tempted to think, “Well, I’m doing pretty well”

I don’t do any of the “big” things that we consider sin.

I’m faithful to my wife

I don’t go out and get drunk

I’ve never robbed a store or killed anyone

I live a good clean life

My life pretty much matches what a “normal” Christian looks like

I don’t make a practice of sinning

But what about other things that are called in in the Bible?

What about the things that we watch? Movies, internet?

Well, it’s OK because I don’t actually go out and do those things, so Jesus probably doesn’t care either

What about how we spend our time?

Well, Jesus understands if I’m too busy to really focus on spending time with Him

He wants me to have fun, doesn’t He? He’s probably OK if my leisure time takes a higher priority in my life

What about the things that we think about? Men especially

Well, He understands that men are visual creatures. He’s probably not that worried if lust is a part of my life

What about things like anger or unforgiveness?

Well, He understands that I’ve been dealt a raw deal in life. He understands if I just can’t bring myself to forgive

I think that these are all things that the Bible would call sin or lawlessness

And it says here that if you have been born again, You CANNOT go on doing these things! IT’s impossible! It’s unthinkable!!

why would you even want to?

If you have tasted of the goodness and mercy of Jesus, why would we even think about making excuses like we do?

You have been born again! You are a new creature!

I once saw a very disturbing video of a grown man who, when he is at home from work, lives like a baby.

he wears baby clothes and diapers, drinks from a bottle, and sleeps in a crib

and his girlfriend takes care of him.

ridiculous and disturbing stuff.

WHY? Why would you even think about doing that? You are a grown man! Live like it!

But this is how so many Believers live! They’ve been born again. Yet, they don’t live like it!

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil! He came to destroy sin and lawlessness!

Let’s not miss this! These are hard, challenging words, and it’s tempting for us to just pass this over because it is so hard!

Looking forward

the appearing of Jesus

This is our most wonderful hope that we have. Looking forward to the appearing of Jesus

But how we live now, our reality now, has a direct effect on how we think about the coming of Jesus

1 John 2:28 “28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.”

Abide in Him. That phrase really helps confirm who is writing this.

The Apostle John records these same words of Jesus in John 15. Jesus urged His disciples, “Abide in me! Dwell in me! Draw your life from me!”

I know that we’ve talked about that a lot. But I need this reminder as much or more than most people

John says in our passage today, “Abide in Him so that when He appears we may have confidence and not shrink back”

As I was studying this verse, I had to think of C.S. Lewis’ “The Last Battle”

this story is sort of an allegory of the last days

And toward the end of the book, Aslan, the Lion appears

And those creatures who have kept their faith in Him during a very difficult and turbulent time are overjoyed to see Him

But, on the other hand, those who had been drawn away and deceived were terrified to see Him

This is an exhortation to live each day connected to Jesus so that when He does appear, He won’t find me living apart from Him in sin or living in deception

I want to have a clear and open conscience before Him

3:2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

I love this verse.

We see the reality now and the hope for the future

We are God’s children NOW

We have been rebirthed and given His life

His seed is in us

That is the reality now!

But there is more on the horizon.

That is the promise that one day we will see Jesus as He is and we will be like Him

The present connected with the future

The reality that we live in now should be a taste of what is coming

That is,

He is going to appear

We are going to see Him with our own eyes

We are going to be like Him

It’s that now and future life that we live

We live in a reality now that is going to be brought to perfection one day

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil so even right now we could become like Him

Two options for us

Children of the devil

Children of God

1 John 3:7–8 “7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil

1 John 3:10 “10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”

There it is. It’s pretty plain. Pretty black and white

I find the whole book of 1 John sort of startling in its directness and simplicity

But I don’t think that John is trying to shame his listeners or us

Rather, he is using simple, direct language to cut past complicated religiosity

And boil it right on down for us

Is your life marked by the love that you have for your brother?

Do you intentionally and regularly practice righteousness?

is your life marked by the character of Jesus

Do you live your life as a loving and obedient disciple of Jesus?

Then it is evident that you are a child of God. You have been born of Him

But on the other hand

if love for your brother is not something that marks your life

if loving righteousness and practicing it is not something that marks your life

Then this passage would say that, sadly, you are a child of the devil

This Advent season, we celebrate the coming of Jesus.

He came to destroy the works of the devil

He came to destroy sin!

And folks, this is really good news! This is the best news ever, isn’t it!

Let’s receive it! Let’s receive Him! And let’s live in the victory and freedom that He brings!