~ How God Deals With the Devil ~
By Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
It was not
God's will that the human race would be afflicted with sickness, disease and
death ever since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden! Regretfully,
that is the sad scenario of where we are today!
God,
however, made a Healing Covenant with the nation of Israel which He chose for
His own people. It was simple: 'Turn from paganism, reject Satan the god
of this world, and if you will worship Me and serve Me, I will take sickness
away from the midst of you.
Not only will I
bless you but I will protect you so that the plagues that are afflicting the
pagan will not touch you'.
GOD'S HEALING
COVENANT!
Here are the official words of the Covenant that Moses made
with the Lord on their behalf:
“If thou
will diligently hearken to the VOICE of the
Lord thy God, and will do that which is right in His sight, and will give ear
to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these
diseases upon thee which I brought upon the Egyptians. For I am the Lord that HEALETH
thee.” (Exodus15:
26, 27)
Furthermore, He promised to
provide sustenance for them: “Thou shall
not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do after their work: but thou
shall utterly overthrow them. And quite break down their images.
“And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless thy
bread and thy water, and I will take SICKNESS
away from the midst of thee.” Ex. 23:
24, 25)
When they SINNED and
broke His commandments, bad things happened, like when they were bitten by
snakes. They confessed their sins and begged Moses to pray for them. God
instructed Moses:
"Make
thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: And it shall come to pass, that
everyone that is bitten, when he looks upon it shall live.
"And Moses
made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a
serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the (dead) serpent of brass, he
lived."(Numbers 21: 4-9)
A dead
serpent could not kill them! Why did God
instruct Moses to use such an object lesson to heal them? He went back to the
Garden of Eden and His stern Word to the serpent that Satan used to tempt Eve:
"And I will put enmity between thee
and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; It shall bruise (crush) thy
head and thou shall bruise his heel." (Gen.3: 15)
LOOK TO JESUS CHRIST
& LIVE!
Almighty God
informed the Devil who had possessed the snake, that he would be utterly
defeated. God declared that the DELIVERER would be born from the SEED
of the woman, who would crush his head. In that battle, however, he would
bruise the Deliverer's heel.
This
was a DIRECT prophecy of the virgin
birth of Jesus Christ (the Deliverer) and the victory He would have over
Satan by rising from the dead! The bruising of His heel was His death on the
cross which resulted in a temporary bruising only, because of His glorious
resurrection!
In theology,
we call both of these great truths 'the
law of the first mention': the SEED of the woman (not the seed of a man)
and the Coming of the DELIVERER, Who
would crush Satan's head!
Can you
imagine the fear and trepidation Satan must have felt as he was constantly
wondering when the Deliverer would be born. He knew the Holy Scriptures that
stated the God-Man, Christ the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.
Satan
stirred up King Herod to kill all the male babies two years and under, but God
outsmarted him. He wanted Jesus dead but not on the cross. Stoning or being
pushed over the brow of a Hill would have suited the Devil. His worst fears
were realized, when Jesus Christ died on the Cross!
JESUS said: "And as MOSES lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up." (John 3:14) Our Lord was referring
back to Numbers 21 and further back to Gen 3:15, declaring that His death on
the Cross would bring healing and eternal life to ALL who looked to Him.
His vicarious
death on the cross would satisfy the demands of Divine Justice in paying for
all the sins of humanity back to Adam's fall, for all who would appropriate His
promise by FAITH! Hallelujah.
JESUS DESTROYED
THE DEVIL!
The Bible says: "For
as much then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself
likewise took part in the same; that through DEATH He might DESTROY
him that had the power of death
that is the DEVIL and DELIVER them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage." (Heb.2: 14, 15)
"He
that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sinned from the beginning. For
this purpose the Son of God was manifested that He might DESTROY the
works of the devil." (1 John 3: 8)
"How
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power Who went
about doing good and HEALING all who were oppressed of
the Devil, for God was with Him." (Acts
10: 38)
ST.
PAUL wrote: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made
Himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant (slave), and
was made in the likeness of men:
"And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became
obedient unto death, even the DEATH of the CROSS.
"Wherefore
God hath Highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name:
That at the Name of JESUS every knee should bow of things in Heaven, and things
in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil.2:
5-11)
HEALING MIRACLES GLORIFY GOD!
Jesus
said: "Ye shall know the TRUTH and the
truth shall make you FREE." (John 10: 10); "Believe Me that I
am in the Father and the Father in Me: or else believe Me
for the very works' sake.
"Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me the works that I do shall ye do
also and greater works shall he do because I go unto My Father (and will send
the Holy Spirit).
And whatsoever ye
shall ask in My name that WILL I DO, that the Father may be glorified in the
Son. If ye shall ASK anything in My name, I WILL DO IT. (John 14: 11-14)
1). THE SNAKE IS DEAD
2). THE SERPENT'S HEAD IS CRUSHED
3). CHRIST HAS CONQUORED
4). SATAN IS DESTROYED
5). GOD'S WORD IS CONFIRMED
6). I AM FREE. I AM DELIVERED. I AM HEALED
7). GOD IS GLORIFIED THROUGH CHRIST
