Power over the Demonic

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. ---1 John 3:8b

When Peter realized that Jesus was more than just a human friend, that He was truly the Son of God, Jesus declared that Peter would be referred to as “the Rock” upon which the Church would be built. The Rock is not Peter as an individual, but as a foundational piece, the first of many building stones in the Church.

After Peter received his new name and was declared to be the beginning of the “Church,” Jesus said another remarkable thing. He said, “…and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." (the Church). By this time, the disciples had been trained and participated in the wonderful works of Jesus, but were also exposed to the spiritual world of Satan and the demons. They were very aware of the vile, devastating and humiliating ways the underworld of the supernatural manipulated, conspired to destroy, and killed mankind… those made in the “image of God.”

In Matthew 16:18, Hades was known as the grave or a place of the departed souls, which we know as hell. Jesus wanted to illustrate that the powers of Satan and his demons could not win when they tried to overpower the Church. With all the authority that Jesus carried as the Son of the Living God, He was declaring that “No weapon formed against the Church would prosper!” However when we look at the church today, we have to wonder what happened? We see the church is full of sick people dying early deaths, that there is division and rebellion among its members, and that we are not being effective in our communities where people are living a victorious lives. Did Jesus fail? Did He miss it? This was not what Jesus had in mind for His Church. The works of Satan are not to prevail against the body of Believers, and this is not why Jesus went to the cross.

The answer is “NO” Jesus did not miss it. We have missed it. We as a Church have not used the power and dominion that Jesus passed on to us to block the strategies of the enemy. Tomorrow, we are going to see the tool that Jesus gave Peter (the Church) to block and defeat the enemy of the Church. It is still available to anyone that will use it. Check in tomorrow to find out how You can defeat your worst enemy - Satan.

Confession: I confess that the Church as a whole is not being effective against the strategies of the devil. We (the Church) need to know what Jesus did for us on the cross and how to keep the enemy from killing, stealing and destroying her people. Father, we declare that “No weapon formed against us will prosper” with confidence when we can employ the tools you have given us.