The birth of Jesus was the culmination of thousands of years of God’s covenant promises to his people. From the very beginning, God promised a Saviour who would arise to crush the head of the serpent once and for all. Ever since that day, God’s people had been waiting with anticipation. Many promising figures came and went, but none of them proved to be the promised Saviour—none of them, that was, until the humble birth of a baby boy in a stable in the little town of Bethlehem.
When Jesus entered the world, he began a life and ministry that would culminate in his sacrificial death for the sins of his people and would provide the foundational righteousness that all his people would require to stand before God on the last day. Not only that (as if there needed to be anything more!), he finally and decisively achieved victory over the powers of darkness that have harassed humanity since their very earliest days. At the cross, Jesus crushed the head of the serpent. His resurrection from the dead was a declaration that the powers of hell had finally been defeated.
In the book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul speaks of these powers in this way—“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 5:12). In our own Christian lives, our battle isn’t just with the sin that exists with in us, or even just with the sin that exists within the world and within its people. We also battle against a kingdom of darkness—the powers of hell with all of their rulers, authorities, powers, and forces of evil that exist outside of the physical realities of our earthly existence. What hope could we possibly have to stand before dark forces such as these? In our own strength, we could never confidently hold to any such hope, but becauseof the finished work of Christ, that hope is available to every one of us who trusts in him. In the book of Colossians, Paul writes of God that, “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Colossians 2:15)
Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection defeated very powers of hell that still exert control in our world today. They are not yet completely defeated, but the victory has already been won. They will be finally and completely defeated when the day we await finally arrives—the second coming of Jesus. Not only are we to be spared from the punishment of hell, but the very power of hell itself will be finally and completely defeated for all eternity. In his first coming, Jesus began the work and achieved the decisive victory. When he returns for the second and last time, he will finish the work that he started.
Come quickly, Lord Jesus!
All the best,
Luke
