Undoing of Satan and all his counsel

Jesus Christ says in Luke 11: [21] When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace:
[22] But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.

Satan understands what the purpose of the land of Palestine is in God’s program and why He gave that particular piece of real estate to the nation Israel, explains Richard Jordan.

You go back to Genesis where Jacob has the dream of the ladder and so forth and calls where he’s at “Bethel”, the house of God, and he calls it the gate of heaven.

Genesis 28: [16] And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.
[17] And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

You remember Lot sat in the “gate of Sodom”? He’s in the government.

Jacob sees the angels ascending and descending. They go out and they come back. They come here, get their orders and they go fulfill their orders and come and report back.

Here’s a strong man; he’s armed and he’s going to keep the ground that he knows is the place where God’s going to reign. His goods are at peace, but if a stronger than him shows up he’ll take it away from him.

The conflict between Satan and Christ . . . Satan enters into Judas and it’s not enough just to put the idea in his mind; there’s a conflict on a personal level between Satan and Christ and Satan’s not going to leave it to anybody else. He’s going to personally come and attack the Lord Jesus; he’s personally going to go after Him.

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Jesus Christ is the rightful ruler of the universe by virtue of the Crosswork.

Paul, in Colossians 1, tells us the reason God could have a dispensation of Gentiles: [13] Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
[14] In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: “he’s delivered you from the power of darkness

Hebrews 2: [14] Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

The Lord Jesus Christ successfully entered into the sphere of Satan’s greatest strength, the power of death, and what did He do? He destroyed death. How? By the resurrection.

Why didn’t He stop Satan from doing what he’s doing in John 13? You remember when Christ confronts Saul on the Road to Damascus?

Acts 9: [3] And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
[4] And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
[5] And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

You know what a prick is? You keep sticking somebody with it, pricking them, poking them. Why do you do that? Make them mad.

And Christ literally enraged Satan into a bloodthirsty rage to follow his natural fallen instincts.

The reason Christ didn’t throw Satan out is because He was going to His death and He was going to have Satan kill Him, so Satan did the very thing that turns out to be his undoing.

When Satan sees the Cross, he had to say, “I did it,” and it’s the thing that, through death, Christ “destroys him that had the power of death,” and it was that power of death that held you and me (as Gentiles) and Israel, mankind, in bondage and fear of death.

So Christ delivers us from the very thing that’s holding us in satanic captivity and secures redemption for Israel—and, as we learn, for us too.

Now, Satan didn’t know anything about us. You go to  I Corinthians 2 and you appreciate the fact that there was a part of the program that wasn’t there for Satan to even think about.

I Corinthians 2: [7] But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
[8] Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

We’ve studied about the fact that God has this congregation of the mighty ones that meets together and He trains them and teaches them to operate and to think in the wisdom, knowledge and understanding that He has in creation.

The fallen gods do the same thing, and yet in all of their counsel and all of their discussions, they never came up with—“What’s the strategy we’re going to use to fight and defend our purpose?” They never came up with the idea of grace.

The song says, “Grace ’tis a charming sound, melodious to our ears.” But it sure isn’t according to human viewpoint.

Paul says in Ephesians 3 that He’ll give you whatever you ask or think. I’ve thought about that verse a lot.

Would you have ever thought, not just asked, but even thought about asking God to make His Son a man so He could be a curse for you? No, you wouldn’t have thought of that. That’s grace thinking; that’s God’s love going to God’s wisdom and saying, “We need a plan,” and then God stepping forward and saying, “Here’s the plan.”

I Corinthians 3: [18] Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
[19] For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

Again, the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they’re vain. God knew what they were going to do. They didn’t think of what He was going to do. So He wins the victory. The ultimate victory comes through the wisdom of God. That’s the point.

In Colossians 2, you see not only did He provide that victory for the nation Israel, delivering them from the strongman, but in verse 9: [9] For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
[10] And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
[11] In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
[12] Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

There’s no water in that; that’s your identification with Christ. That’s something God does. The circumcision is made without hands. The baptism isn’t something a preacher or priest does. This is the operation that God does.