Why Jesus Came: To Defang Satan
The Accusing
There is one who prowls around like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8). He despises God, marriage, truth, godliness, and you. His name is Satan. And to the Christian, he is your accuser.
What is Satan’s greatest weapon against you? He has no authority to condemn you nor ability to change your eternity. Satan does not send you to hell. So, what spiritual right does he have in your life?
As his name says, he is your accuser. The book of Revelation calls him the accuser of the brothers (Revelation 12:10). Meaning, Satan’s greatest weapon against you is unforgiven sin.
He will and does accuse you. He hates you, Christian.
God is just and must punish all sinners for their trespasses against Him (Deuteronomy 32:4; Isaiah 5:16). Satan’s greatest work against you is to accuse you before God of unforgiven sin and thus sinners are condemned under God’s justice.
The Destroying
Why then did Jesus come? 1 John 3:8, ESV, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” And we know from the first half of this verse that the “works of the devil” described here are sins (1 John 3:8).
The coming of Jesus into the world was to destroy any accusations of Satan against you. But how? The death of Jesus puts to death all of Satan’s accusations against you.
There is no sin in the Christian that Christ didn’t pay for, both past, present, and future. All of them are forgiven in Christ and all of His righteousness is credited to us (2 Corinthians 5:21; Colossians 2:13-14).
Christmas is a celebration of the destruction of your guilty record.
As John Piper once illustrated, Satan is a snake. And in the death of Jesus, the grip of his bite is unforgiven sin. So, at the cross Jesus defanged Satan.
The Rejoicing
Therefore, rejoice! Because of the work of Christ, we can praise God with a full heart because of our full acquittal.
There is no greater joy than to know that our great enemy, death, and our great accuser, Satan, have been robbed of their power.
Thomas Watson helpfully reminds us, “When sin is your burden, Christ will be your delight.” This Christmas, remember that your greatest burden was borne by the greatest Savior.
Satan still accuses — but who “shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies,” (Romans 8:33, ESV).
God has satisfied His own justice through the work of His own Son.
As John Owen wrote, “There is no death of sin without the death of Christ.”
