In the name of Christ Jesus, dear fellow redeemed people of God,

Who is the devil? If you ask people this question, you might hear some pretty strange answers. Some picture a cartoon character in a red suit with a pitchfork and horns. Movies have used famous actors and a super-model to portray the devil. Some think that the devil isn't real. This plays into the devil's plans. Like a terrorist, he likes to keep a low profile. It's easier to make sneak attacks that way. But, make no mistake about it, the devil is real. He is the leader of the evil angels. There is only one devil, but there are many, many demons. They are all evil spirits, condemned to spend eternity in hell. The devil has several different names in this section. He is called the dragon, the ancient serpent, and Satan, which means the accuser. But above all he should be called "loser" because...

1. Christ crushed him at the cross.

Let's go all the way back to the beginning. Before God created the universe, there was nothing but God. There was no earth. There were no people. There were no angels. And there was no devil. There was only God. But then God created the universe in only six days, as it is described in the beginning of the Bible. Some time during those six days, God created the angels. And God only created good angels. The devil and the demons were originally all good angels. On day seven, everything was perfect. Creation was perfect. The angels were all holy, and so were the two people God had created. There was no sin on day seven. And God enjoyed his perfect creation. Everything was perfect.

Some time after that, the devil and the evil angels rebelled and fell away from God. That happened some time before the devil appeared in the Garden of Eden in the form of a serpent, and tempted Eve and then Adam to sin. That brought sin into our world, with all of its consequences. We have all inherited sin from Adam and Eve. Sin was passed down from Adam and Eve to the whole human race. And so, the devil led the whole world astray!

But, right there, in the Garden of Eden, right after Adam and Eve fell, God appeared and promised a Savior who would crush the head of the devil, and win the victory for us. And that promise was fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, and so he was brought into this world without inheriting sin. And Jesus did not sin all through his life either. Though the devil tempted him, particularly in the wilderness, but all through life, Jesus remained sinless. Jesus was tempted in every way, just like we are, but remained without sin. And then, Jesus went to the cross, and suffered and died for our sins. The devil thought that he had won, but on Easter Sunday morning, Christ descended into hell and announced his victory. The devil did not win at the cross, Jesus did! For there, on that cross, Jesus was the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but for the sins of the whole world! Christ crushed the devil at the cross! He crushed the head of the serpent. Jesus won!

This is told in a memorable way in the words of the Easter hymn by Dr. C.F.W. Walther, (TLH #198 / CW 143)
"The foe was triumphant when on Calvary The Lord of creation was nailed to the tree. In Satan's domain did the hosts shout and jeer, For Jesus was slain, whom the evil ones fear. But short was their triumph; the Savior arose, And death, hell, and Satan he vanquished, his foes. The conquering Lord lifts his banner on high; He lives, yea, He lives, and will nevermore die."

Jesus lives! Jesus won forgiveness for all of us. And that means that THE DEVIL IS DEFEATED!

2. Believers are not condemned.

The inspired apostle John wrote: "Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them!" (Revelation 12:10?12a, NIV). Rejoice and be glad, because believers are not condemned.

The name "Satan" means "accuser." He accuses believers of sin. Just pause for a moment to think about that! First, he tempts us to sin. Then, he jumps up and becomes our prosecuting attorney. He points the finger at us and says, "You sinned!" First, he says, "Come on, do it. It's just a little thing." He leads us and tempts us to fall into sin. Then, he can't wait to say, "You sinned! You deserve to be condemned!" He would like nothing more than to see us sent to hell. He doesn't care about us. He's not our buddy. He's not on our side. He is not just trying to show us a good time. He's trying to lead us to hell.

But, he can't do that. As long as you believe in Jesus as your Savior, he can't take your soul to hell. Jesus won our victory! Believers always win their cases in God's court - always! Picture the scene. The devil has just tempted us to sin. And God is judge in the courtroom. The devil is the prosecuting attorney. He brings his best case. He tells all the details about our sins. He knows what makes us feel guilty. He points at us and says, "You were not a perfect parent. You failed!" "You were not a perfect, loving husband!" "You were not a perfect, loving wife!" "You were not a perfectly obedient child!" You sinned! We must all admit it, "Yes, I failed. I have sinned." But that's when our defense attorney, Jesus, takes over. "Your honor, all of this person's sins were paid for on the cross. You have already declared the defendant forgiven." And the judge says, "This believer is forgiven! Case dismissed." He hits the gavel, and that's it. The devil is defeated again! Scripture says, "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). Let that really sink in! "No condemnation" for any of your sins! Believers in Jesus are not condemned! We overcome the devil every time "because of the blood of the Lamb" of God who died on the cross to take away our sins. As long as we are trusting in our Savior's payment of our sins on the cross, we will never lose our final judgment. Believers are not condemned! THE DEVIL IS DEFEATED!

3. He's angry and out to get us.

The devil is not only a big loser, he's a sore loser! He has already lost the war, and he knows it. But, he hasn't given up on trying to oppose God and harm God's people. It says here: {12b} "But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short." This passage tells us that the devil is very angry, and he's out to get us.

Suppose that you are rooting for a football team that is playing a very dirty team, a team of cheaters. Your team is winning 84-0. There is only a minute left in the game. Your team has the ball. The other team cannot win, so they set out to hurt the players on your team. They try to hurt, and harm, and maim on purpose. This is kind of like the devil's team of evil angels. They can't win over God. Jesus crushed them at the cross, and declared it in his resurrection. They can't defeat us either, as long as we remain with Jesus. Believers in Jesus go straight to heaven. But they are out to harm us.

The devil would really like to take us to hell with him, so that we suffer too. Misery loves company. But the only way that he can make us share his suffering is if he can lure us away from God's Word so that we fall from faith. He'll do whatever he can to keep you from attending church regularly. He'll give you all kinds of reasons not to study your Bible or go to Bible Class. He's out to get your soul, and he knows that your soul is fed by the Gospel. So his plan is all wrapped up in distracting you from the one thing that is truly needful. He'll try to get your mind on other things. He'll try to shake your faith. He'll try to get you to question God's love, and doubt God's wisdom. He tries to lure us into shameful sins. He'd love to get us to believe false doctrine. So, what should we do? The Bible says, "Resist him, standing firm in the faith" (1 Pet 5:9). Tell him to get lost. Don't get the wrong idea here, you could actually tell the devil to go to hell, because that's where he belongs!

He has great power. Do not mess with him! He is too strong for us, but he's a puny weakling compared to Jesus. He's kind of like a dog on a chain. If you stay away from him, following the path of God's Word, you are going to be fine. But if get to close to him or his ways, look out. His bite is worse than his bark!

The devil is not just playing around. He's out to get us - for all eternity! Defy him by coming to church often. Annoy him by attending Bible Class. Frustrate him by reading your Bible at home. Attack his fortresses by doing mission work! He hates all of that! So, do it more! Don't let him drive wedges between us. Don't let him lead you away! Stay close to the Savior, reach out with the gospel, and drive the devil nuts! The devil is defeated! But, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Amen.