13 And you being dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him, having graciously forgiven us all our transgressions.

14 Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us, He also has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

15 Having disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them in Him.

— Colossians 2:13-15

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,

— Hebrews 2:14

17 Now the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”

18 And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.

19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.

— Luke 10:17-19

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and love from Christ to you.

Though Satan was not totally immobilized in Jesus’s earthly ministry and still harasses and tempts believers today, Jesus’s death certainly defeated Satan. Though Jesus’s death on the cross appeared to give Satan a victory, yet Jesus’s death actually sealed Satan’s supreme defeat. Because Jesus paid the penalty for believers’ sin through His death, Satan has not any basis on which to accuse believers. Satan’s terrible death strategy to destroy God’s people is forever foiled when Jesus rose victoriously from the grave.

In God’s sovereign plan, Satan remains active, though under God’s control, until God stops him. Every advance of the gospel and the Church strikes another blow to the kingdom of Satan. In God’s grace, people still receive new life through the Savior. Satan has been sentenced to be bound and thrown into the bottomless pit for 1000 years before thrown into the lake of fire. Before that moment, Jesus’s death, accomplished redeeming and saving work and His resurrection has guaranteed our promised rich entrance into God’s eternal kingdom.