Sermons | FBC Boerne

Sunday Sermon | Why He Came: Destroy the Works of the Devil

• FBC Boerne • Season 2 • Episode 3

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What if Christmas isn’t about cozy sentiment but a royal invasion that shatters winter? Pastor Daniel Justice opens with 1 John 3:8 to claim something fierce and freeing: the Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil. From there, we trace how that victory moves from doctrine to daily life through the simple, demanding habit Scripture calls abiding.

We start with identity. The enemy keeps us stuck in who we were; the Gospel names who we are now—children of God, not yet what we will be, but already rescued and being remade. We unpack the “already and not yet” of salvation and use the D‑Day analogy to show why battles remain even though the war is won. That shift loosens shame and builds confidence rooted in Christ, not in performance.

Then we talk honestly about sin. Scripture calls it lawlessness—mutiny against a holy God—not quirks to manage. Jesus didn’t come to negotiate with sin but to take it away. Abiding in Christ breaks the cycle of habitual sin by reshaping desires and habits through the word, prayer, confession, and community. Victory isn’t swagger; it’s a new birth. Born of God, we receive new power and new behaviors as the Spirit conforms us to the Son.

To make this walkable, Pastor Daniel shares four guardrails: mastery (what controls you), eternity (what holds your gaze), unity (who you’re united with), and ownership (who you belong to). These anchors help us stop giving ground to a defeated enemy and start living like the King has returned. The result is practical freedom: less hiding, more holiness; less defeat, more joy; less winter, more spring.

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SPEAKER_00:

Good morning. Let me also say I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and I hope you can stay awake this morning. Hope that turkey is not still having long-term effects and that you are gonna be with us this morning and eager to jump into God's word. I'm excited to get to open it up with you this morning. But before we get there, um if you've if you've been around me much at all, you may know that I have like this great love for the Chronicles of Narnia. Okay, I don't know if you know that series of books by C.S. Lewis. I happen to love those. And and I've wondered why do I like those so much? I think it has something to do with the fact that I was homeschooled, and it wasn't just homeschooled, like we were like the most homeschool family uh growing up. Like, and if you were homeschooled, you know what I'm talking about. You know those people. Um, that was us. And I think what it was, the Chronicles of Narnia may have been like the coolest thing I was allowed to do uh was to read those books. And so I think I just it began just this great love for those. And now I'm really thankful for it because I think they are pretty amazing. Uh, but in the Chronicles of Narnia, in the first book, in The Lion, the Witch in the Wardrobe, we find out when we get into that book that Narnia is under the spell of the white witch. And here's what she has done: she has made it always winter and never Christmas. So there is just this cold, dark, oppressive winter in Narnia. But as the book opens, it says that Aslan, the true king of Narnia, has stepped into Narnia again. And what it tells us is that the minute Aslan enters the country, before he ever confronts the white witch, before they ever go to battle and he destroys her, the moment he steps back into the country, it says her powers begin to crumble. The snow melts, the rivers that are covered in the ice begin to crack open, flowers start to push through the snow and the always winter and never Christmas, that stronghold is broken and it begins to unravel simply because the true king of Narnia has stepped back into the country. Now, hopefully you can see the ties to the gospel. You can see that Jesus is the is the is Aslan. Aslan is the Christ figure in these books. And I honestly would not be surprised if C.S. Lewis did not have our passage of scripture in mind this morning when he wrote that scene. In 1 John chapter 3, verse 8 is where we are going to continue in our series on why he came. And today, the reason that we are going to see scripture tell us why Jesus came is for this purpose right here. 1 John 3, verse 8 says, the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. Amen. And I want you to let that thought sink into your mind today. You can remember that, right? Short statement. The reason the Son of God appeared. Why? Was to destroy the works of the devil. Now, think about that for a moment. That means that Christmas is not God sending warm thoughts and holiday greetings. That means that when Christmas, when we celebrate Christmas, when we celebrate the reason Jesus came, it is we are celebrating that God sent a warrior to destroy the works of the devil. He came to declare war on sin. And in the coming of Jesus, the long winter of sin begins to thaw. Darkness starts melting at his arrival. Now that sounds good, doesn't it? You may say, but but but Pastor, like point of point of contention here for just a moment, I read the news, I turn on the TV, I open up X and I scroll. It looks like the devil's works are well and good, and he is thriving in this world. It doesn't look like Jesus has destroyed the works of the devil. I see them. Right? I mean, we could say, what about the Christians who were being slaughtered in Nigeria? What about the senseless acts of violence that we just see anytime we open the news? Is this could this is this true? Has Jesus really destroyed the works of the devil when they seem to be flourishing? But we don't even have to go that far, do we? You could say, but a lot closer to home. Like people that I work with, people in my neighborhood, I can see that the devil is alive and well. He is working. I can see the effects of sin in the lives of people around me. I don't even have to go that far. I can see the effects and the works of the devil and sin at work in my own marriage. I can see the effects of sin and the work of the devil in my own kids and the choices they're making. But I don't even have to go that far. I can see that the devil at times is working overtime in my own life. Is this passage of Scripture really true? The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. And if it was, was he successful? This morning, we're gonna look at that this morning. Because it begs us to ask the question if Christ has destroyed the works of the devil, why do we continue to give ground to a defeated enemy? So if you have a Bible, I want you to open it up to 1 John. We're gonna pick up in the last two verses of chapter 2 before we dive in to chapter 3. And so if you don't have a Bible, there's one in the pew back there in front of you, not only for you to use today, but it's for you to take if you don't own a Bible. We want you to have a copy of God's word, and we want you to be able to read it and understand it and apply it to your life. So let that be a gift from us to you. But as you are turning to 1 John chapter 2, let me go ahead and read for you verses 28 and 29 as we get going this morning. Listen to what John says here. In verse 28, he says, And now, little children, abide in me. If you have a copy, if this is your copy of God's word, circle that. Abide in me. This is the bridge that is going to carry us into everything we talk about today. The bridge between right belief and right practice is this statement. John is setting up where he is going when he says, Little children, followers of Jesus, abide in him. So that when he appears, we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. I want you just to quickly, as we look at that text, I just want you to see something because this is gonna be the foundation that we build everything on today. Look at the result of abiding in Christ. Look at what John says it does. Number one, it gives us confidence in our walk with him. Second, it removes shame. It says at his appearing, when Christ returns, if we are abiding in him, it says we have no reason to say, oh no, he's back. It's yes, he's back. It removes shame from our lives. But then the third thing that abiding does, he says it produces righteousness. Do you see that? When he says everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him, he couches that in this idea of abiding in him. Now, when you look at those two verses there, what you should see is just a complete reorientation of the life of a believer. When we go from darkness to light, when we go from dead in our sins to alive in Jesus Christ, and we are abiding in him, we our lives are completely transformed. And that is John's point. That is what a relationship with Jesus Christ does. Abiding, then, is the key to victory. It is the key to how we experience the victory that Christ has won in his coming. This victory he's won in defeating and destroying the works of the devil. The secret to it is abiding in Jesus Christ. And that and in 1 John chapter 3, John is going to expose the works of the devil for us. And as he does, he is going to show us how the gospel, the finished work of Jesus, destroys the work of the devil and allows us to experience victory even while we live in this earth. So go ahead and look now in chapter three, where we will find in the first few verses the first aspect of the work of the devil. Now, John, when he wrote his gospel, in John chapter 10, verse 10, he gives us a summary statement about our enemy. He says, here is why the here's what the enemy does. The enemy seeks to kill, steal, and destroy. John 10, verse 10. Write that in the margin there of your Bible by 1 John chapter 3, because that is the devil's work, to steal, kill, and destroy. But that manifests itself in a lot of different ways, doesn't it? Those are big categories, but there's a lot of room for the devil to operate within those three things, aren't there? One of the ways the devil loves to work is to keep us trapped in our old identity. And John starts with this in verses one through three by showing us what our identity is now in Jesus Christ, so that it exposes the work of the devil and trying to keep us trapped in an old identity. So look at this, verses one through three. He says, See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And so we are. Listen, child of God, in your new identity, you don't fit in here. Let that set you free. I think we spend way too much time trying to fit in here. The press that John is making here is do you care more about blending into this world than you do about being holy and living like a citizen of heaven and living like a child of God? Let this set you free today. As a follower of Jesus Christ, you are not like this world. You will never be. But here's another truth about your identity. You are also not yet what you will be. Amen. Let that set you free too. Because I bet every single one of us say, man, there are times I blow it in my walk with Christ. Well, guess what? You are not yet what you will be. There is such a foundational principle of the gospel in verse true. It is called the already, but the not yet of the gospel. And here's what that means: there are aspects of the gospel that we have now, that we have realized now, that are ours in Jesus Christ. But there are still things yet for us to experience, and some of those we will only realize in his return when we are with him forever. All you have to do is just think about the truth of what our salvation means, that we have been justified. That means our sin, we had it has been declared paid in full. That is the already of our salvation. Our sin has already been paid for. We have already been declared righteous, not because of us, but because of Jesus. But we are also, as believers, we are not just justified, we are being sanctified. That means we are becoming more like him through his spirit that indwells us as we abide in Christ. Right? There's coming a day when we will see him face to face, when we will be with him forever, right? That is still yet to come, the beauty when we will be glorified with our Heavenly Father and see our Savior face to face. So there's an already, but a not yet. And so where are we right now? We're in this fourth part of our identity that John points out, that we are becoming more like him. And this is what he presses into in our text today. The fact that we are becoming more like him, where it says, hey, those who abide in him will become pure as he is pure. And this is what we're pressing into today. The fact that Christ's victory over the works of the devil is how it starts to become part of our daily transformation, our daily becoming more like Jesus. It's already part of our identity. But now, for us as believers, we want to start to look more like who we are, to let that truth become part of our reality. A great example of this comes from history. June 6, 1944. The Allies invade the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. On this, at this battle, World War II in Europe is effectively won. From this point forward, Hitler is a defeated enemy. This was the decisive victory that secured victory in the war. But you know what? Even though that was true, there were still battles being fought. Right? The people of Europe had to start to understand we have been liberated. Hitler is no longer the power to be feared, but now he is the enemy who has been defeated and is shrinking back, and his power is crumbling. So even though the battles raged, people were technically liberated, but they had to learn to live that way. A point could be made that is similar to what we experience now. Christ's victory has decisively broken the power of sin. But many of us keep walking around in our old identity as if we're still under an old regime. The war won, but we struggle to inhabit the freedom that is our that is already ours. Church, the reason Jesus came was to destroy the work of the devil that wants to keep you trapped in your old identity. But he doesn't stop there. There's other ways he works. Look as we keep going here, verses four through six help us see another aspect of the way the devil works. He also wants to keep you enslaved to sin. Look at verses four through seven. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sin, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. In order for us to break free from being slaves to sin, we have got to see the reality of sin and the reality of the work of Jesus in the gospel. So let's start with how John points out the reality of sin in these verses here. What does he say about sin? He says it is lawlessness. He doesn't sanitize sin, does he? He calls it out. And this is one of those texts that sometimes we want to avoid, right? Because we like to, we like to act like sin isn't that big a deal because we struggle with it. And we don't really want to deal with those things that we struggle with. So we want to act like, oh, God's grace, it's just gonna cover that. I don't really have to actually work on that or try to get rid of that in my life. No, listen to what he says about sin. Sin is lawlessness, it's not just small mistakes, it's not just personality quirks, right? No, sin is rebellion against the holy God. Sin is mutiny against him. As followers of Jesus, right? We should want no part of sin in our lives. So, why do we try to sanitize it? But look at the reality of the gospel. If the reality of sin is it is lawlessness and it is an affront to a holy God, what does he say about the work of Jesus? The reality of the gospel is that Jesus came to take away sin. Look at verse 5. You know that he appeared in order to take away sin. Church, we cannot celebrate a Savior coming at Christmas and still protect the sin in our life that we want to hold on to. He came to get rid of that in you, to get rid of that in me. John confronts it honestly because we must honestly be serious about letting the Holy Spirit do his work of destroying the sin in our own lives. I bet you can think of areas right now where you sit in your life. Areas where you've given just a little corner to sin. And how time over time that just grows. And these little things that you said, oh, it's just a little thing, it's not that much. It's nothing to worry about. God will overlook that one. It just grows and it gets a foothold. Right? And then that foothold becomes a stronghold, and then that stronghold starts to become a stranglehold in your life. Church, can I tell you the reason the Son of God came was to destroy that thing that is keeping you from experiencing the fullness and the richness of life in Jesus Christ? How is he gonna do it? If the reality of the gospel is that's what he wants to do, and that's what he came to do, what's the reality of the process? Back to verses 28 and 29 of chapter 2, but he also points it out here in this section between verses 4 and 7. He says it's abiding. Abiding in Christ kills the cycle of sin. Now he's not talking about sinless perfection, where he says, no one who abides in him keeps on sinning. That's not to say that as a child of God, you are not going to sin. That's not what he's saying here. He's saying you will not make a habit of continuing to sin. That as a follower of Jesus, if you are abiding in Jesus Christ, you will sin less and less. That you will find victory over those things the more you are pursuing Jesus and spending time with him in his word and in prayer and in community with other believers. That is what he's talking about here. That abiding in him kills those patterns of sin in our life. It reshapes our habits, it reshapes our desires, and it sets us on a new direction as we abide in him. Church, it's why he came. He came so that you would not have to be a slave to sin. That through the Spirit of Christ that dwells in you, you could be set free to live differently, to experience life abundantly, that sin wants to take from you and rob you from experiencing. But there's a third aspect to the works of the devil that I want us to see here. The third way today that I want us to just consider for a moment of how the devil loves to work and how the gospel, in the coming of Jesus, he has destroyed this. Is the devil wants to keep you in a defeated mindset. And in the coming of Jesus, we are not defeated, but we are victorious. Because he is victorious. I bet in this room today, more of us than really want to admit, if we were honest, would say way too many days of my Christian life, I go around living defeated. I have a defeated mentality. I'm just trying to get by till I get to heaven. Right? I'm just struggling through, right? I'm just gonna keep my head down and hope I can make it. Hope one of these days, right, I'll get to that pearly gate and Saint Peter will let me in. Maybe one of these days, right? If, right, if if God's in a good mood, you know, I'll get there, right? I'm just a work in progress. Don't judge me too harshly. Church, that characterizes the American church, and it is appalling to the gospel. We are not defeated. We are victorious. It's not a future thing, it's a present thing. He has defeated the work of the devil, but he the devil wants you to believe the lie that you are defeated, and victory is still something that is future. No, victory can be experienced now. Look at what he says in verse 8. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. And now our passage, our the core of our text today, the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning. There's that same language again, this habitual pattern of sinning in your life. He says, Hey, if you're born of God, that's not you. For God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he's been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. Why do we not have to believe the lie that we are defeated? How has the coming of Jesus set us free from a defeated mindset? First, Christ came to destroy sin. He didn't come to tolerate it or negotiate with it or manage it. No, he came to destroy it. And church, can I tell you some good news today? That he finished what he came to do. When he went to that cross after living a perfect, sinless life, and his blood was shed, and hanging on that cross, he cried out, it is finished. And then three days later, he got up out of a grave to prove that not only had he defeated the penalty of sin in our lives, not only had he stamped our ticket to heaven so that we could live with him forever. No, he also destroyed the power of sin for us. He has destroyed it. Positionally, sin's power has been crushed. There is no more that Christ must do to destroy the works of the devil. He has done everything through his finished work on the cross. But practically, for you and I, we still live in a battlefield. Until Christ returns, until he returns, the war is won. Make no mistake. But our defeated enemy still wants to lob shots every chance he gets. He wants to throw punches. But guess what? You're not a defeated foe. You are victorious in Jesus Christ because he has destroyed the works of the devil. But what is that? How does that manifest itself for us practically in the real life? John tells us here. He talks about it, he talks about it as new birth. Verse 9, no one born of God. So think with me for a moment. Christ appearing to destroy the works of the devil. When we think through that, right, what does that result in for you and I? Scripture would call it new birth. That we have been born again. When we place our faith in Jesus and His finished work, that He Accomplished for us on the cross. The Bible says we are born again. Amen. Guess what? New birth means new behaviors. You are not what you once were. You are now something new. You have a new identity. You are no longer dead in your sins. You are now alive in Jesus Christ. So this new birth that He came to give you, it destroys sin as you allow the Holy Spirit to work in you. That's where that abiding, remember I said this frames everything that we're going to talk about? As you abide in Him, what He is asking of you, the reason you're a de, the enemy is defeated and you are not defeated, is not because you have the ability in your own strength to be self-righteous and somehow achieve perfection. No, you do not. I do not. But the simple reality is as we abide in him, and we will allow him to do what he wants to do, which is to destroy the work of the devil in us, to remove those sins that want to keep us enslaved, as we will submit and yield to that in our lives, as we abide in him, we will begin to look more like our Father. It's his work, he will accomplish it. The way we participate is in abiding. But you know, the devil loves to keep you believing the lie that you were defeated, even though you have a new identity, even though you are no longer a slave to sin. He wants you to live like you are. You know, I was reading a story this week of a guy named Sean who at 16 years old went into prison and he spent the next 16 years of his life in prison. And as I read the story, it said while he was there, he struggled at first, like he would, you know, get in trouble more and more. But eventually, like a switch flipped, and it says he started to go to school while in prison, and he got his bachelor's degree and he got two master's degrees while in prison. And then he got out. But you know what happened when he got out? He couldn't ever flip the switch that he was no longer a prisoner. He kept feeling less than. Even though he's more educated than the majority of people, right? Even though he had so much now to offer, it says even in prison, he was mentoring people. Like his life had completely changed, but he got out and he still lived with this defeated mindset. But the article goes on to say that it wasn't until he started this organization that mentored people in prison to help them get their education. And he started and he built this company to help do that. And it says, in that, in finding this new purpose and this new identity, is when the switch finally flipped for him and he started to realize I am not who I once was. Now that's a secular story. But church, as followers of Jesus Christ, shouldn't that be much more so for you and I when we know the truth of the gospel? The truth of our new identity? But I think we live so many times like Sean did when he got out of prison. Going around like, well, we've got nothing to offer. Alright, we're we can't we can't get by, right? All we can do is get by. We can't overcome. All right? We just got to manage it. But that is not true. Christ came to destroy the work of the devil. So let's restate the question that we asked at the beginning. Instead of if Christ has destroyed, since Christ has destroyed the work of the devil. We can keep from giving ground to a defeated enemy. Amen? So how do we do it? How do we experience that victory? I want to give you a few things quickly here as we close to maybe help us think through how we start to live this truth out. To live with a new identity, to live as those who were no longer slaves to sin, and to live instead of defeated, victorious children of God in this life. What are some principles that can help us not give ground to a defeated enemy? Because how sad is that? Right? That what characterizes us way too many times is that we give ground to a defeated enemy. So what can help us not do that? First of all, first principle, first guardrail principle is mastery. In other words, what controls you? Take time this week to evaluate, to say, are there things in my life that control me? Are there things I've given way too much time and attention to in my life? Even good things can become sinful things when they become God things in our lives. Amen. Even good things when they become too big of a priority can become things that control you and get way too much of your time. It can be your job. It can be your hobbies, it can even be your kids. Right? When we put way too much of our attention on something other than God, when something takes the place of God in our life, it has mastery over us. Right? And that is giving ground to a defeated enemy. So what is something in your life that you have allowed to have way too much control over you? Second guardrail principle, eternity. In other words, what has your gaze? The more you fix your eyes on eternity, the less sin will dazzle you. Now, hear me clearly, there's nothing wrong with enjoying this life. In fact, Scripture says we are to enjoy it, that we're to live every day as if it's a gift from God, and we're to make the most of us, right? Make the most of it, and we are we are to enjoy every bit of it because it is a gift from Him. But enjoying it and living like this is all there is are two totally different things. Amen. And so to keep that guardrail up in our lives that says, are my eyes fixed on Jesus? Or have I set my gaze on earthly things alone? Right? When we set our eyes on this earth alone, we are giving ground to a defeated enemy because as believers, this life is not all there is. This is not our home. We are passing through. Our citizenship is in heaven. Third guardrail unity. Who are you united with? Remembering who you're united with. See, in salvation, the Bible says we are united with Christ. And so this is an important guardrail for us because here's what that means. As someone who's united with Christ, when we walk into sin, we are taking Christ with us. And that ought to be appalling to us, right? I mean, when we just think about it, you say, oh my goodness, I would never want Jesus to walk into my sin with me. Well, remember who you are. You are united with Christ. It should feel unthinkable to us to drag Christ into our sin. That's why we must allow Him to destroy that sin in our lives. And then the final guardrail, ownership. Who do you belong to? Remember who you belong to. You have been bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Amen. And blood-bought people live like blood-bought people. Your time is not your time. Your talents aren't your talents. Your families are not your families. Everything you have and everything that you are belong to him. It's a gift from him that he has given you to use for his glory. Church, that belonging is secure. Amen? In Jesus Christ. That guardrail in our life helps us not give ground to a defeated enemy. You remember the illustration at the beginning? The White Witch and Narnia and Winter. You know, at the beginning of the book, that winter looked really permanent, unbreakable. But you know, it melted the moment Aslan returned. And here is how C.S. Lewis states that. It was a prophecy that had been told, and they they were holding on to that one day maybe this will happen, but in when he returns, it does happen. Wrong will be right when Aslan comes in sight. All at the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more. When he bears his teeth, winter meets its death. And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again. Churches, our worship team comes, we're gonna spend some time. And here's what I want you to do. I'm gonna ask you to think about how you personally have given way too much ground to a defeated enemy in your life. And I want you to hang on to the truth that the reason Jesus came was to destroy the work of the devil. Because here's what I know to be true for us sin sometimes feels just like winter did in Narnia. It feels cold, it feels heavy, it feels immovable, that it may never change for you. You may just be destined to live a half-life as a child of God. But I want to be the one to give you good news this morning. It doesn't have to be that way. Christ has come, and in his coming, sin has been defeated. The devil's works have been destroyed. You don't have to live defeated. Victory over sin is why he came. But what's keeping you from experiencing that victory? And as we sing, we're gonna sing two songs, and I want to encourage you, stay where you are. Stay in this moment, stay in this room. Because I want to ask you to just get quiet and still before the Lord. And just say, Lord, have I been abiding in you? Right? Or have I been giving ground to a defeated enemy in my life? What's something I need to do right now so that I am reminded that he has been defeated in my life and I can live victoriously? Maybe you need to come to this altar and lay something down that the Holy Spirit has revealed to you is that thing that is causing you to live defeated rather than victorious. Maybe you need to come and pray with someone. We're gonna have ministers down here at the front that would love to pray with you. Maybe you would say the reason I'm living defeated is because I've never actually given my life to Jesus Christ. I don't have that new identity. I am still a slave to sin. I am still defeated, but today I want that to change. I want a new identity, I want to be set free. Today would be a great day for you to place your faith in Jesus. And those of us down here at the front will be more than happy to walk you through how you could do that today. Maybe you need to take one of those notepads in front of you and just write some things down. This next week, I've got to get into God's word because I can't abide in him if I'm not in his word. Maybe I need a mentor in my life that will walk with me and help me know the word of God. I don't know how God is speaking to you, but I know on the authority of his word that he is. And so as we sing, this is your time to respond to him in faith. So would you stand with me as we pray and then we're gonna sing. Father, would you take your word? Thank you that you have come to destroy the works of the devil. God, may we not leave here today continuing to live defeated. But may we walk out of this place today confident with a plan, with a purpose of how we are going to live victoriously because you are victorious. So would you have your way and would you do the work that you long to do in our hearts as we sing? God, may you have freedom to move in this place in Jesus' name.