This sermon delves into the profound work accomplished by Christ on the cross, highlighting the completion of salvation, the payment for sins, and the defeat of Satan's power. It emphasizes how Jesus bore the punishment for our sins, leading to the restoration of our relationship with God. The sermon also explores the victory over Satan through Christ's sacrifice, empowering believers to resist the devil and live in freedom from fear and bondage.

Today we want to look at a work that Christ accomplished on the cross when he died, which is not known to most Christians. When Christ died on the cross, a number of things were accomplished. When he died, he used these words towards the end of his six hours on the cross. In John 19, verse 30, he said, it is finished. What was finished? A number of things were finished. First of all, the work of salvation was finished. The payment for the price for the sins of man, for the payment for the guilt of man, the debt that man owed to God, to the law of God was paid. The debt, the certificate of debt was cancelled and torn out. That's the first most important thing. It says in Colossians 2, verse 14, that Jesus Christ cancelled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us. Every sin that we commit in thought, word, deed, attitude, motive, is a debt we owe to God, to the law of God. And we are guilty, but Christ died, paid the debt. He took the punishment. That's another way of looking at his death on the cross in relation to sin. The punishment that we need to face for our sin from a holy God who cannot let us go just because he loves us, you know, a judge cannot let his son go in the court just because he loves him. Some people say, why doesn't God let us go just because, I mean, why doesn't he let us go when we repent? Well, that would destroy the foundations of justice in the universe. If a judge let his son go saying, I love you, it's okay, son, even though you've committed a crime, I let you go, he would destroy the foundations of justice in that country. God can't do that. But a judge can punish his son with a fine and then pay the punishment himself as a father. That's what God did. He passed a verdict, man is guilty of death, of being separated. Death means separation from God forever. And then he came in the form of man and took that punishment himself. Jesus Christ died. And when he hung on the cross for three hours, he was separated from the father. He was, fellowship with the father was broken so that Christ cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He never called God his father, God at any time. He always called him father. But now he was facing him as the judge of the universe as he took your sin and mine upon him, paid the punishment and was forsaken for three hours. And because Christ is an eternal being, in three hours, he could face the concentrated punishment of all humanity in hell for eternity in that short period. It was a concentrated time of punishment where that's why the heavens became dark. The sun would not give its light. And the earth shook because the creator of the universe was taking the punishment for man's sin. That's the first thing that Christ accomplished on the cross. It is finished. The punishment for sin is taken. Then he could say father again, he had the relationship with him as a father and he could say father into thy hands. I commend my spirit, commit my spirit. And he went straight up to paradise. But there was another thing that was accomplished on the cross as well at the same time. And that's what we read in the next verse in Colossians 2 and verse 15, that he disarmed the rulers and principalities who had got possession of man. You see, the devil had made man his slave in the garden of Eden. What happened was Adam and Eve bowed down to the devil. That's what happened in the garden of Eden. What the devil told Eve was, will you bow down to me instead of bowing down to God? God has told you not to eat of the tree. I'm telling you to eat of the tree. Who are you going to bow down to? Who are you going to make your king? Eve said, I'll make you my king. I'll bow down to you and do what you say. And Adam did the same thing. And from that time, the human race accepted the devil as their king, as their ruler. And see the mess he created in the human race in all these thousands of years. And when Jesus comes, he's coming to claim back that position of authority and kingship that God created man to have in relation to God himself. And so he had to destroy the authority that this other false ruler, the devil had over man. And so when Jesus died on the cross, he also defeated Satan's power on the cross. The devil took away his armor, it says in this verse. All the weapons that Satan had to harm man were taken away. It's finished. Hebrews chapter 2, verse 14 says, Jesus took part of death so that he might make the devil powerless. The devil is alive. The devil was not destroyed. He's still not destroyed. But his armor was taken away. He was made powerless. He had the power of death, but no longer. Hebrews 2, verse 14 says that that power of death, which the devil had up until that moment, Jesus died and broke that power so that the devil has no more power over any man who chooses to accept Christ. If you don't accept Christ as king over your life, then of course, the devil remains as king in your life, and will have power over you and your family and your business and everything else. I'm not saying he'll ruin your business. He may prosper your business so that you don't have time for God. His aim is not to make you poor. His aim is to keep you away from God one way or the other. And if he can keep you away from God by prospering your business, he'll prosper your business. If he can keep you away from God by giving you plenty of good health, he'll allow you to have good health, never put any sickness on you. Because sicknesses tend to drive people close to God. Poverty tends to drive people close to God. So don't think the devil is going to come and make you poor or sick because he's afraid. You may turn to God. He wants to rule your life. And he wants to make sure that you'll spend eternity with him in hell, in the lake of fire. And so his aim is not to prevent you from having a comfortable life. His aim is to prevent you from coming close to the Lord, to God. And if you don't choose Christ as king over your life, the devil will remain as king. So what did Christ accomplish on the cross? First of all, he took the punishment for our sin. And secondly, he destroyed the devil's power over us. He said, it is finished. The devil has no more power over anyone who chooses Christ as his Lord. It's very important for us to know this. In the Old Testament, you never read of anybody confronting Satan. Right from the first righteous man, Abel, all the way to John the Baptist. Nobody confronted Satan. All the enemies they confronted were human enemies, the Philistines, the Amorites, the Midianites, etc. But the moment Jesus came, you find that he is in constant confrontation with Satan. There were demon-possessed people in the synagogues who got disturbed, who sat there comfortably for so many years when the Pharisees were preaching. As soon as Jesus came and preached in the synagogue, those demon-possessed people suddenly got disturbed because someone had come to disturb their kingdom. And they knew that. The Pharisees were not there to disturb their kingdom. So they didn't disturb the services when the Pharisees were around. But as soon as Jesus came, they would start creating a problem in the service, in the synagogue. And every now and then, he'd come across a demon-possessed person. And he was in direct confrontation with Satan. And he cast out demons. And Jesus says in Matthew and chapter 12, he says, If I cast out demons, Matthew 12, verse 28, by the Spirit of God, again, we need to recognize, Jesus exercised his ministry as a man. He overcame temptation as a man. He exercised his ministry as a man. He cast out demons, not with his inherent power as God, but as a man, he says here in Matthew 12, 28, by the Holy Spirit. With the power of the Holy Spirit he had as a man, he was anointed with the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit, he cast out demons. And that proved, he said, that the kingdom of God has come to the earth. Until then, the kingdom of God had not come to the earth. It was an earthly kingdom that the Israelites had in the land of Canaan. They could not defeat the devil. They could only defeat the Canaanites and the Philistines. But when Jesus came, he brought the kingdom of God down to those who wanted it. And that brought a direct conflict with the kingdom of the devil. And demons were cast out by the power of the Holy Spirit. And now Jesus has ascended up into heaven, but he has got another body here on earth. He had a physical body in the days when he was walking in Galilee. Now he has a spiritual body, which is the church, the body of people who trust in him and who have made him Lord of their lives. And through this spiritual body, Christ wants to do exactly the same thing that he did through his physical body. You know, that is the ministry of the church. We read in Acts of the Apostles in chapter 1 and verse 1, when Luke is writing the Acts of the Apostles. And he refers back to the gospel that he wrote, the gospel of Luke. And he describes it as the first account, O Theophilus, to whom he is writing this, of all that Jesus began to do and to teach. That's his description of the gospel of Luke. All that Jesus began to do and to teach. So, what does he mean then? What is this new thing he is writing? Obviously, all that Jesus continued to do and to teach. So, in his physical body, he began to do and to teach. And now with the spiritual body that is formed on the day of Pentecost, he continued to do and teach. So, we can say this book called the Acts of the Apostles is actually the Acts of Jesus Christ through his spiritual body. Whereas the gospel of Luke is the Acts of Jesus Christ in his physical body. The gospel of Luke is what Jesus began to do and teach. The Acts of the Apostles is what Jesus continued to do and teach. So, what does the Lord want to do through his church in relation to demons? Where demons oppress people and where they come across the people of the church, those demons are to be cast out. Where ever the kingdom of God is coming and demons come to confront that, those demons cannot stand because Satan has been defeated on the cross. Now, Satan doesn't want you to know that he's been defeated on the cross. He wants you to think that he still has power over you. He keeps you ignorant so that he can keep you in bondage. And that's why it's important for us to know the scriptures that teach us that Satan was defeated on the cross and today, like it says in James chapter 4 and verse 7, if you submit to God and then resist the devil, he will flee from you. Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. In other words, if my whole life is submitted to the Lord Jesus Christ, under his headship, and I stand against a demon or the devil in the name of Jesus Christ, he will flee if I believe that Christ defeated him on the cross. My conscience is clear. You see, if I have allowed sin in my life, if I allow conscious sin in any area of my life, if there is some sin that is unsettled in my life, we can say the devil has got a foothold in my life then. Then I can't resist him because he's got a foothold in me. He's put his foot through the door. You have no authority over the devil if your sins are not confessed and set right, because then the devil's got a foothold right in your heart, and you can't resist him no matter how much you resist him and say in the name of Jesus, he will still stay there. But if your conscience is clear, you've settled everything with God and man, the blood of Christ has cleansed you from all sin, and you've asked forgiveness from all those whom you have hurt on earth, you've returned things that you've taken wrongfully from people, your conscience is absolutely clear. Then, and also you're submitting to God, you've totally yielded everything to him, then when you resist the devil in Jesus' name, he has to flee. So it's very important for us to know that Satan was defeated on the cross, and if you believe that and your conscience is clear, I want to say to you, the youngest believer here who listens to me, you have authority over Satan in the name of Jesus Christ. Now I'll tell you something else. The devil does not like to hear you telling him that he was defeated on the cross. You know in Revelation chapter 12, we read about Satan coming down to earth and a certain people overcoming him. How do they overcome him? It says in Revelation 12 and verse 11, they overcame him first of all by the blood of the lamb, by the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed on the cross. We overcome Satan's accusations. You can't overcome the accusations that Satan puts into your mind concerning your past failure and sin, except you believe that when Christ died and shed his blood, it atoned for all the sins you ever committed. It's gone. Unless you believe that, you won't be able to overcome the accusations of Satan. If you just tell him, well I'm not going to do that again, that doesn't help. What about what you did in the past? The blood of Christ has cleansed you, blotted it out, you are declared righteous before God. If you believe that, you have boldness before Satan. But the other thing it says there in Revelation 12 verse 11 is the word of their testimony. Now there is a place for us to give our testimony in the church before people. That is to be a witness for Christ. Jesus said we must be witnesses for him to the uttermost parts of the earth. But here, in the context here, he's speaking about the word of our testimony to Satan. You have to tell Satan with your mouth because he can hear you. The devil can't hear your thoughts. God can hear your thoughts. Even the angels can't hear your thoughts. Your fellow human beings can't hear your thoughts. And the devil can't hear your thoughts. The demons can't hear your thoughts. When you pray in your thoughts, the devil can't hear you. If you say something to the devil in your thoughts, he can't hear you because God has not given him power. He can put my thoughts into your mind just like a human being can put thoughts into your mind by saying something to you. But he cannot hear your thoughts. It's very clear in 1 Corinthians 2 that who knows what a man is thinking in his thoughts? Only the spirit within him knows. God knows, of course. He knows all things because he looks at a man's heart. So I need to speak to the devil with my mouth if he is to hear what I'm going to say. And it's important for us to speak the word of our testimony to Satan saying, you were defeated on the cross of Calvary. And I always encourage every person whom I lead to Christ, when I ask them to confess their sins and to receive Christ as their Savior and Lord, I always urge them also to speak to the devil and tell him straight to his face that he was defeated on the cross. I remember one incident where I was sharing with a lady who had come to our home. My wife and I were sitting and talking to her and telling her to accept Christ as her Savior. And then I told her, say to the devil, you were defeated on the cross. And all of a sudden she turned around to me with changed her face, expression on her face changed and her voice changed. She turned around to me and said, I was not defeated on the cross. She was demon possessed. I never knew that. Well, when you confront a demon, then you speak to the demon. So I spoke to the demon inside that woman and said, you were defeated on the cross, Satan, you demon, you were defeated on the cross. Get out of her in Jesus name. And of course, demons have got to respond to the name of Jesus. If you believe and you speak in faith, they go. And that demon went out immediately. Then I told this lady, now tell the devil you were defeated on the cross by Jesus Christ. She said it and she was free. But that day I learned something. And that was that the devil does not like to hear that he was defeated on the cross. Do you like to hear stories of games in which you were defeated? No, you like to hear the stories of cricket matches that you won, not cricket matches and football matches where you were defeated. Well, the devil doesn't like to hear that either. But it's important that we tell him that that strengthens our own life. And it's important that we teach all of God's children this wonderful truth that when Jesus said on the cross, it is finished. The devil's kingdom was finished for those who accept it. It's not for every Tom, Dick and Harry. If you don't submit to God, then, of course, if you don't make God your king, you don't make Jesus your king, then the devil is your king. But if you decided to make Jesus your king of your life, lord of your life, then the devil is no longer king of your life. He can be the lord of all those other people, but not you. You need to know your position in Christ that you can be completely free. Here it speaks in Hebrews chapter 12 about fear that the devil seeks to bring upon people, the fear of death. And that's one of the greatest fears that the devil seeks to bring upon people, the fear of death. And every other fear that we have in our life is, we can say, an inferior fear to the fear of death. The fear of death is the most powerful fear that people have. All the other fears you have, the fears of the future, the fears of poverty, the fear of sickness, the fear of everything else comes beneath that. And the devil is always seeking to bring fear into your heart so that he can control your life. If you allow fear to come into your heart concerning anything, you can be pretty sure that the devil will get a little hold in your life. That's why it's very important that we never allow fear to come into our heart, because fear is the opposite of faith. When I have faith in God, when I believe that Almighty God is my Father, when I believe that Jesus Christ has defeated Satan on the cross and is surrounding me and protecting me, it is impossible for me to have fear of anything. It's impossible for me to have anxiety, tension, doubt concerning anything. The Lord takes care of everything. But if I allow fear to come into my heart, then the devil gets a foothold there. The Bible says here in Hebrews 2 and verse 15, Jesus came to deliver us from fear because fear brings slavery. Anyone who's afraid brings slavery. What can the devil do to you if he was defeated on the cross, if his armor was taken away? I mean, the devil is the greatest terrorist around. People are afraid of terrorists only because of their weapons. But if their weapons are taken away, what can the terrorist do? He's helpless. So this is the position we need to see the devil in. Defeated on the cross when Jesus died and Jesus rose up triumphant over death, hell, the grave, Satan, sin, everything. And he ascended up to heaven. And the Bible says everything is under his feet. That's what it says in Ephesians chapter 1. God has put everything under the feet of Jesus Christ and he's given Christ as head to us who are his body. And if we are the body of Christ and the devil and all demons are under the feet of Christ, then you can be pretty sure he's under our feet because we are the body. And that's why it says in Romans 16 and verse 20, the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. You see, he's going to be crushed. He's already been defeated on the cross 2,000 years ago and now he's going to be crushed. All his power is going to be taken away from you, from all his power over you. He will not even be able to threaten you, frighten you, anything. It's all going to be gone. He's going to be crushed. His place, the devil's place, is under our feet. That is the place the devil is ordained, that God has ordained for the devil. And I must keep him there. He's not supposed to sit on my head or do anything like that to me. Take that position in Christ and you will never live in fear anymore. God bless you.