Christ's Blood Repels the Devil

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil. Heb. 2:14

We must have the kind of Savior who can save us from the power of this world’s god (2 Corinthians 4:4) and this world’s prince (John 16:11), the devil. We must have a Savior who can save us from the power of sin and death. Christ must be the true, eternal God, through whom all believers receive God’s approval and are saved. If Christ wasn’t greater or better than Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, or John the Baptist, then he wouldn’t have been able to reclaim us.

Because he is God’s Son, he was able to reclaim us and free us from our sins when he shed his blood. If we believe this, we can rub it in the devil’s face whenever he tries to torment or terrify us with our sins. This will quickly defeat the devil. He will be forced to retreat and leave us alone.

Here’s an illustration that can help us understand how Christ defeated the devil by dying. The fishing hook, which is Christ’s divinity, was concealed by the earthworm, which is Christ’s humanity. The devil swallowed both when Christ died and was buried. But Christ’s divinity ripped open the devil’s stomach so that it couldn’t hold Christ anymore. The devil had to throw him up. The devil ate something that proved to be fatal. This truth gives us wonderful comfort. Just as the devil couldn’t hold on to Christ in death, so the devil can’t hold on to us who believe in Christ.

Luther, Martin; Galvin, James C. (2009-05-26). Faith Alone: A Daily Devotional (p. 272). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.