The one who commits sin is of the Devil, for the Devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s works. 1 John 3:8
I know, the Devil hardly seems like a fitting topic for this time of year. But we must understand that while Jesus is the reason for the season, the devil is the reason that Jesus had to come down to earth and present Himself as a living sacrifice to save us from our sins.
We are told in Romans 3:23 that all sin and fall short of the glory of God. It sounds harsh when John says in this Scripture passage that the one who commits sin is of the devil, doesn’t it? We all like to believe that we are good people headed to heaven. But are we? 1 John 1:8 says if we say we have no sin, we are liars and we are deceiving ourselves. 1 John 1:9 says that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But in verse 10, again John says that if we say we have no sin, we make Him to be a liar and His word is not in us. If we are liars, making God out to be a liar and God’s word is not in us it sounds pretty hopeless, doesn’t it? Sounds like we are of the devil.
If I were to ask you if you had sin in your life right now, what would you say? Would you say no? Would you say, I try not to? How would you answer that question? We all have sin in our lives. The difference is whether we have intentional or unintentional sin. Intentional sin is when we know we are sinning, and we just continue without repenting and without being willing to give it up and give it over to God. Unintentional sin is sin we don’t mean to do and don’t always realize we are doing until it’s too late. Hebrews 10:26 tells us that if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for our sins.
Our Scripture passage says that Jesus was revealed for a purpose which was to destroy the works of the devil. While you are gazing at that precious babe in a manger, know that His purpose was to fight the devil. He was born amidst evil. King Herrod wanted to kill him. People were confused about why He had come. They thought He had come to rule the nation. He came to fight the devil. He came to save us from our sins.
Alone we can’t fight the devil, but with God’s help nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37). James 4:7 tells us to fight the Devil, we should submit to God, resist the Devil and the Devil will flee from us. God sent His Son so that whosoever believes on Him may have eternal life (John 3:16). This is a choice that we must make. We also must make a choice to let go of the sin in our lives.
As we live out our days on this planet, we will either go on sinning deliberately or we will do our best not to sin and strive for God’s righteousness. If you have been trying to straddle the fence, know this is not going to work. You must choose today whether you want to be of the devil or of God.
I spent many years trying to straddle that fence only to find it was barbed wire and straddling it just wouldn’t work. Take time to look at your life. Do you have intentional sin that needs to be removed? Repent and pray for God’s help with that. We are told that once we repent our sin is forgotten and God moves it as far form us as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).
If we understand that Jesus is the reason for the season, we have a good start. But we must also understand why Jesus had to come to earth. He came to earth to save us from the devil. We can choose to accept or reject that salvation.
As you look at the beautiful nativity scenes, remember the true reason Jesus came. He came to save us from the devil and from our own sinful nature. That precious baby boy came to fight the devil and He is still doing it today. If the devil is giving you a run for your money, turn to Jesus. He will fight for you. And spoiler alert, He wins.
Have a great day!