For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)
“The power that God used to raise Christ from the dead dissolved, melted, and liquidated the works of the devil.” – Mark Hankins
Jesus came to redeem us primarily through His death and resurrection. The power of Christ’s resurrection is destructive — not to us, but to the works of the enemy. The word destroy is luo, which means to loose, break, or undo. Jesus rose from the dead to undo all that Satan had done in man through the fall. Jesus put an end to the works of the devil by first bearing those works in Himself as our substitute in His death, and then rising again free from them all.
In 2 Peter3:10-12, the word luowas translated “melt” and “dissolved.” When we take this definition back to 1 John 3:8, we get an interesting insight into Christ’s destruction of the works of the devil. “Now the Son of God came to the earth with the express purpose of liquidating the devil’s activities.” (Phillips Translation)
God made Jesus to bear and become all that was wrong with us in spirit, soul, and body and then vaporized it with the power of His resurrection!
Confession: Jesus was my substitute! Because of His death and resurrection, I am free from the works of Satan! (John 8:36)