«　WEEK 3　DAY 2　»

　　John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the ruler of this world be cast out.

　　Matt. 27:51 And behold, the veil of the temple was split in two from top to bottom, and the earth was shaken and the rocks were split.

　　In His work on the cross Christ also cast out the ruler of this world and judged his world...(John 12:31). This indicates that Christ's work in His death included the casting out of Satan, the ruler of this world. Satan thought that he was wise in having the Lord Jesus crucified. Actually, by doing this Satan caused himself to be cast out. The cross was the way used by God to cast out Satan.

　　The New Testament reveals that Satan has formed an evil, satanic system called the world. Through the world, the satanic cosmos, Satan has systematized fallen mankind under his usurping hand. Satan uses the world to keep people from the purpose of God and to distract them from the enjoyment of God. But this evil world system, the kingdom of darkness, was judged through Christ's work on the cross. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 770-771)

　　Because the world system is connected to Satan, when he, the ruler of the world, was judged, the world was judged as well. The ruler of this world was cast out when Satan was cast out by Christ's work in His death. Simultaneously, the world system related to Satan was judged.

　　When the Lord Jesus was crucified, the entire old creation and the satanic world were crucified with Him. Hence, the Lord's crucifixion was the termination of the satanic world. Therefore, in Galatians 6:14 Paul could declare, "Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world." (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 771)

　　Matthew 27:51...says that "the earth was shaken and the rocks were split." The shaking of the earth signifies that the base of Satan's rebellion has been shaken, and the splitting of the rocks signifies that the strongholds of Satan's earthly kingdom have been broken. Hallelujah, the Lord's death tore the veil, shook the base of Satan's rebellion, and broke the strongholds of Satan's kingdom! What a death! Praise the Lord for His death! Because God's righteousness was fully satisfied, Christ's death could be so effective. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 812-813)

　　Beside death and sin, we have another problem—the devil. In His crucifixion Christ also destroyed the devil (Heb. 2:14).

　　The Greek word translated "destroy" may also be rendered as "bring to nought, make of none effect, do away with, abolish, annul, discard." After the devil, the serpent, seduced man into the fall, God promised that the seed of woman would come to bruise the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). In the fullness of time, the Son of God came to become flesh (John 1:14; Rom. 8:3), by being born of a virgin (Gal. 4:4), that He might destroy the devil in man's flesh through His death in the flesh on the cross. This was to abolish Satan, to bring him to nought. Hallelujah, Satan has been abolished and done away with!

　　Perhaps you will say, "How could the devil have been destroyed when he is still so prevailing?" It is a lie to say that the devil is prevailing. The Bible never says this. Do not believe in this lie. The Bible says that the devil has been bruised, destroyed. His head has been crushed. Are you going to believe your feelings or God's Word? God's Word tells us that through His death on the cross Christ has destroyed the devil. This is an accomplished fact, a fact that is included in the holy Word as the testament bequeathed to us. We need to take this bequest by faith according to the holy Word.

　　By His mercy, the Lord has opened our eyes and has shown us the all-inclusiveness of His death. And through experience we do realize that death, sin, the devil, the fear of death, and slavery were all truly crossed out in Christ's crucifixion. (Life-study of Hebrews, pp. 92-93)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 31, 71