1 John 3:8 He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested… I. THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL. What these may be in the unseen world we know not; we find enough of them here in our world to astonish us. 1. Moral evil, sin, is one of these works. It is this which the apostle has more especially in his mind here, and which we may regard as the foundation of all the rest. 2. What we call natural evil, suffering, is another of his works. It grows out of sin. 3. And then comes discord, another work of Satan. Man and his God were walking together at first in a blessed amity. Satan came in and severed between them. And think of the contentions which have ever been going on between man and man in nations, societies, churches, and even families — Satan has fostered them all; nay, given rise to them all. 4. And then there is the deception which prevails in our world. We must trace this also to Satan. He is called in Scripture "the father of lies," of all lies, but more especially of all spiritual lies. Well knowing that he cannot keep religion altogether out of the world, he deludes men with false religions. 5. Another work of Satan is the obscurity he has thrown here over Jehovah's glory. He seems to have baffled God in all His purposes as to our world; to have brought to nothing all the designs of His goodness towards it when He created it. 6. And one thing more must be added — death. This crowns the work of Satan. II. THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SON OF GOD TO DESTROY THEM. Even the omnipotent Son of God cannot be a Saviour unless He is at the same time a destroyer. The works of Satan must be demolished, or God's great work of mercy cannot be accomplished. III. THE DESTRUCTION OF THESE WORKS. 1. The Lord Jesus effects their destruction in a wonderful character. Had we been told that the Son of the Highest was about to manifest Himself in our world as a Destroyer, we should have expected Him to appear among us in His glorious majesty, withering Satan, as He will do hereafter, by "the brightness of His coming." But the Lord is wiser than we. This would have been a display of the Divine power only. The Lord would not thus honour Satan. He lays aside His majesty when He comes forth to this work of destruction. Satan and his works shall be overthrown by one of those very creatures whom Satan has long triumphed over. 2. If the character was wonderful in which our Lord achieved this work, the means whereby He achieved it were still more so. "Through death," we are told, "He destroyed him that had the power or death, that is, the devil." (C. Bradley, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. |
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