"He Came…to Destroy The Works Of The Devil”

In Jesus Holy Name February 9, 2025

Luke 4:33-34

“He Came…To Destroy the Works of the Devil”

The title of our sermon begs for a question: What are the “works of the devil” that Jesus came to destroy? We know that Satan brings into our “space“ the same temptations He challenged Jesus with in the wilderness. He tempts us to break God’s commandments. When we do break one of the commandments, we suffer the consequences of broken relationships with God and one another.

1) When temptations come, Jesus demonstrated for us “tactics” that we should use to reject the temptations that come. We are to quote the scriptures, as He did.

2) John writes that Jesus is our “Advocate” before the Father. (I John 1:21) What does that mean? When we falter in our walk and Satan accuses us of broken commandments before God, Jesus, who is seated in glory at the right hand of our Creator, is there as our “advocate”, our public defender, verifying that His death on the cross paid for our sins.

The Apostle Paul also writes, and agrees that this work of the devil to accuse us has been destroyed by the cross. For God has chosen to “reconcile” us by the blood of Jesus shed on the cross and now sees each believer holy in His sight, blameless and free from accusation if we trust in the substitutionary death of Jesus. (Col 1:20)

3) The third reason Jesus came to destroy the “work of the devil” is found in Hebrews 2:14-15 (read)

Maybe some of you have visited the famous "Winchester Mystery House". Sarah Winchester believed that the ghosts of people killed by the Winchester rifles were haunting her and seeking revenge; a spiritualist reportedly told her that she needed to constantly build a house to appease these spirits and prevent her own death, leading to a decades-long construction project with bizarre features, doors and steps that lead now where, in order to confuse the ghosts. She died September 5, 1922.

Max Lucado writes: “Ducking the shadow of death dominates our days. Sleep

more. Exercise regularly. Eat less fat, more protein. But you know, no one ducks death forever. God’s perspective is different. Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 7:1, “The day you die is better than the day you are born.” And Psalm 116:15 tells us, “When “you” arrive at the gates of death, God welcomes those who love him.” Jesus said: “In my Father’s house are many rooms I am going there to prepare a place for you. I will come back and take you to be with me.” John 14:2-3

Jesus experienced a physical and factual death then rose from death with a glorified physical body not limited by time and space. Because He did, we will also rise on the last day. If the tomb of Jesus is empty, and it was, then His promise is true. This is why Paul writes: “Our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await our Savior from there who will (upon His return) transform out bodies to fashioned like His glorious body.” Philippians 3:20,21

I have stated this many times in previous sermons. Every other world religion created by a human being, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Shinto, Bahai; their creators are all still in their grave. There is indeed a grave that’s empty on the other side of the world, outside Jerusalem, carved into a mountainside, that tomb has been empty for 2,000 years. It was the resting place for the body of Jesus for 3 days before God raised Him from the dead with a resurrected body.

We must admit that we live in a world that is under the almost-total control of the evil one. Satan brought the reality of death into our world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s plan into their perfect garden. Their body’s and soul’s were created to live forever but Satan’s temptation and their agreement to break God’s commandment brought death to every human being.

This week the President signed the Lincoln Riley Act, because she was murdered, as have been numerous others. Sometimes death is the result of evil.

Sometimes death comes through the enemies of the Church, be they religious fanatics (like ISIS) or political dictators. Sometimes death comes through natural disasters, hurricanes, fires, or pandemics caused by various diseases. Wherever we look we see the footprints of Death and Hades. And that is exactly why God has given us in the Book of Revelation the promise that the day will come when persecution, war, famines, natural catastrophes and plagues (Rev 6), will end. There will be no more crying, mourning or death. Jesus wants us to know that, although it might look as if the powers of evil are stronger than God, in reality they have already been brought to naught.