March 4

“The prince of the world cometh: and he hath nothing in me.” John 14:30

When man was tempted and fell, God cursed the tempter. “Upon thy belly shalt thou go,” he said. “and dust shalt thou eat.” The sphere thus allocated to Satan was the earth, and his food was to be the very substance of which man had been made. Satan had gained a clear title to all that man had become by turning from God. He has acquired “squatters rights” in the old creation.

Praise be to God that, through Christ, Satan has now no rights in us. God the Redeemer met the situation by taking the old creation out of the way at Calvary and providing in Christ a new creation. So God has his Man. There is a Man who, even while he was on the earth, could affirm that the prince of this world had no claims upon him whatever. And this Man is now on the throne, guaranteeing that Satan has no claim upon us either, since we have been redeemed. The Son of Man was glorified so that we, the many sons, may also be brought to glory.