November 24

So He told them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. — Luke 10:18 BSB

We should give our utmost attention and prayerful reflection to seeing, by faith, the wisdom and power displayed by God in sending His Son to “destroy” or “undo” the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). When Satan ensnared humanity with sin, he tied a tangled knot around the heart of man. This knot could not be severed with a sword of divine power, but it had to be carefully unraveled by infinite wisdom and patience. The work Satan had done had to be undone. Disobedience needed to be corrected by the obedience of Christ—an obedience of infinite worth. Sin had to be atoned for by a sacrifice, but the sacrifice had to be of the same nature that had sinned, yet in union with the Person of the Son of God, giving it unspeakable power.

Death had to be destroyed by the death of the ever-living Son of God. The law had to be upheld by the one who is above the law. The Lawgiver Himself had to fulfill the law. The blessed One had to become a curse, and the Holy One, who knew no sin, had to be “made sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

God asked, “Who would set thorns and briers against me in battle?” and answered, “I would go through them” (Isaiah 27:4). Our blessed Lord went through those thorns and briers that were set against Him in battle. He went through them all, unraveling the work of Satan by His obedience, sacrifice, and victory over sin and death.