8He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.9Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.10In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
This is a picture of the new nature that has been extended to us through Jesus. Verse 9 provides the powerful reminder that the seed of God, sealed by the Holy Spirit, is present within the heart of the believer. So, it is no longer our true nature in Christ to sin. Because we have the power of God residing in our hearts and flowing through our lives, we can walk in a manner consistent with God's declaration of righteousness for us through Jesus Christ. In our flesh, we do not have the capacity to live in a holy manner, but since God has called us to be holy and placed His nature in us, we can experience the triumph that Jesus performed over Satan on the cross.
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After the sin of Adam and Eve, God pronounced judgment on humanity and cursed Satan. But, even in the midst of His pronouncement, there was the hope of redemption. Here is what God said in Genesis 3 to the devil:
14So the Lord God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.15And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."
Verse 15b: "He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel." The victory over Satan was determined by God, and we know that plan has been executed to perfection. Jesus contrasted the work of the enemy - to steal, kill, and destroy - with the work that He desired to do: to bring abundant life!
When we are dealing with the things of God, we can be confident of His promises, even before they manifest themselves in their lives. We are declared to be holy by the Lord, and we can claim that even though we do not walk in sinless perfection. We are citizens of a heavenly kingdom, but our ultimate glory will be seen when we arrive in heaven before the throne of God. Throughout the pages of the Scriptures, God built confidence in the hearts of His people, declaring what He would do even before the Messiah came.
So, we can have confidence in our God. When we think of the concept of spiritual victory, I think that sports analogies can make the point. Even the apostle Paul used them.
In the Iron Bowl on Saturday night, Auburn led Alabama in the second half. Seeking to narrow the Tigers' lead, Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin dialed up a pass play to star wide receiver Amari Cooper. According to NFL.com, Kiffin, in fact, was so sure of the success of the play that he raised his hands to celebrate a touchdown even before the pass had even left quarterback Blake Sims' hand. The pass was on target and it landed in Cooper's hands - touchdown, Alabama.
Cooper admitted after the game that Kiffin's confidence in him against man coverage knows few, if any, bounds.
"I think he's seen me do it a lot of times in practice against man to man," Cooper said. "So, yeah."
That's a great example of confidence. In fact, both teams exhibited confidence in their receivers Saturday night, but Kiffin's expression can be a great analogy in the spiritual sense of how we can claim our victory in Christ. Interestingly enough, the original video seems to have disappeared.
God has given us the playbook and He has given us His Spirit to empower and direct us. So, we can celebrate victory over the power of sin, even before it is manifested in our lives. And, we can be constantly reminded of the reality of His victory - His Word will not disappear.
God declared His victory over Satan long before Jesus went to earth. The crucifixion and the resurrection became the components in God's playbook to enact ultimate defeat for the enemy of our souls. And, while we still live in this earth, we can be confident of the Second Advent of Christ, as He returns to earth to claim His own and establish His kingdom.
Even though we face the wiles of the god of this world, the devil Himself, we can be confident that God has given us the tools to walk in victory over temptation and to see the power of sin defeated in our lives. We are called holy and righteous, and even though we do not necessarily see those characteristics manifested in our behavior, as we absorb the knowledge of our right relationship with God and the nature of Christ within us, we can experience more of His power and presence each day. Adam and Eve sinned, but humanity, though separated from God for a season, was reconciled to God because of Jesus, who came to earth to defeat the power of the enemy and to declare victory for us!
Verse 15b: "He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel." The victory over Satan was determined by God, and we know that plan has been executed to perfection. Jesus contrasted the work of the enemy - to steal, kill, and destroy - with the work that He desired to do: to bring abundant life!
When we are dealing with the things of God, we can be confident of His promises, even before they manifest themselves in their lives. We are declared to be holy by the Lord, and we can claim that even though we do not walk in sinless perfection. We are citizens of a heavenly kingdom, but our ultimate glory will be seen when we arrive in heaven before the throne of God. Throughout the pages of the Scriptures, God built confidence in the hearts of His people, declaring what He would do even before the Messiah came.
So, we can have confidence in our God. When we think of the concept of spiritual victory, I think that sports analogies can make the point. Even the apostle Paul used them.
In the Iron Bowl on Saturday night, Auburn led Alabama in the second half. Seeking to narrow the Tigers' lead, Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin dialed up a pass play to star wide receiver Amari Cooper. According to NFL.com, Kiffin, in fact, was so sure of the success of the play that he raised his hands to celebrate a touchdown even before the pass had even left quarterback Blake Sims' hand. The pass was on target and it landed in Cooper's hands - touchdown, Alabama.
Cooper admitted after the game that Kiffin's confidence in him against man coverage knows few, if any, bounds.
"I think he's seen me do it a lot of times in practice against man to man," Cooper said. "So, yeah."
That's a great example of confidence. In fact, both teams exhibited confidence in their receivers Saturday night, but Kiffin's expression can be a great analogy in the spiritual sense of how we can claim our victory in Christ. Interestingly enough, the original video seems to have disappeared.
God has given us the playbook and He has given us His Spirit to empower and direct us. So, we can celebrate victory over the power of sin, even before it is manifested in our lives. And, we can be constantly reminded of the reality of His victory - His Word will not disappear.
God declared His victory over Satan long before Jesus went to earth. The crucifixion and the resurrection became the components in God's playbook to enact ultimate defeat for the enemy of our souls. And, while we still live in this earth, we can be confident of the Second Advent of Christ, as He returns to earth to claim His own and establish His kingdom.
Even though we face the wiles of the god of this world, the devil Himself, we can be confident that God has given us the tools to walk in victory over temptation and to see the power of sin defeated in our lives. We are called holy and righteous, and even though we do not necessarily see those characteristics manifested in our behavior, as we absorb the knowledge of our right relationship with God and the nature of Christ within us, we can experience more of His power and presence each day. Adam and Eve sinned, but humanity, though separated from God for a season, was reconciled to God because of Jesus, who came to earth to defeat the power of the enemy and to declare victory for us!
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