Daily Lesson for Monday 10th of March 2025

At every turn, Christ’s work undoes the work of the devil. And, according to 1 John 3:8, Jesus “was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8, NRSV) and to “destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14, NRSV). Yet, the total defeat of the enemy’s rulership takes place in two stages. First, through the work of the Cross, Christ disproves Satan’s slanderous allegations. And, later, Satan and his kingdom will be destroyed.

Image © Pacific Press, Goodsalt.com

As we have seen, the enemy claims that God is not fully righteous and loving. However, in Christ, God provides the ultimate manifestation of God’s righteousness and love, and He did so through the Cross.

After the death of Jesus, “Satan saw that his disguise was torn away. His administration was laid open before the unfallen angels and before the heavenly universe. He had revealed himself as a murderer. By shedding the blood of the Son of God, he had uprooted himself from the sympathies of the heavenly beings.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 761.

The history of redemption provides abundant evidence for us to be confident that God always works to bring about in the end what is good for all concerned. The God of Scripture always does what is good and preferable, given the avenues available to Him in the great controversy (Deuteronomy 32:4, 1 Samuel 3:18, Psalms 145:17, Daniel 4:37, Habakkuk 1:13, Revelation 15:3, Genesis 18:25).

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25a-11-the-just-and-the-justifier/

Daily Lesson for Sunday 9th of March 2025

Although there is an enemy at work whom Christ Himself refers to as the (usurping) “ruler of this world,” the true king of the universe is Jesus Christ. Jesus wins the victory for us, and in Him we can have victory, even in the midst of hardship and suffering. Indeed, the work of Christ counters the enemy at every turn.

We have seen that Scripture describes the devil as:

1. The deceiver of the whole world from the beginning (Revelation 12:9, Matthew 4:3, John 8:44, 2 Corinthians 11:3, 1 John 3:8);

2. The slanderer and accuser of God and His people in heaven (Revelation 12:10; Revelation 13:6; Job 1:1-22; Job 2:1-13; Zechariah 3:1-2; Jude 1:9); and

3. The usurping ruler of this world (John 12:31, John 14:30, John 16:11, Acts 26:18, 2 Corinthians 4:4, Ephesians 2:2, 1 John 5:19).

Image © Pacific Press from GoodSalt.com

Though Scripture teaches that Satan is the arch-deceiver, slanderer, accuser, and usurping ruler of this world, it also teaches that Jesus is the victor over Satan in every way:

1. Jesus came “ ‘into the world, to testify to the truth’ ” (John 18:37, NASB);

2. Through the cross, Jesus supremely demonstrated God’s perfect righteousness and love (Romans 3:25-26; Romans 5:8), thereby disproving the devil’s slanderous allegations (Revelation 12:10-11); and

3. Jesus will finally destroy the kingdom of the devil, who “ ‘knows that his time is short’ ” (Revelation 12:12, ESV; compare with Romans 16:20), and Christ “ ‘will reign forever and ever’ ” (Revelation 11:15, NLT).

In the end, no matter what Satan does, he is already a defeated foe, and the key for us is to claim Christ’s victory for ourselves every day, moment by moment, and also to claim the promises that the Cross has offered us.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25a-11-christ-the-victor/