The devil's influence and power have dominated for thousands of years. His deceptions have ruined many lives, destroyed many ministries, and divided many marriages. But from John 12:31, we see that the cross is the solution for humanity's problem with the devil. The cross is where the "Seed of the woman" crushed "the head of the serpent" (Genesis 3:15), dealing a deathblow to him. The cross, where Jesus Christ died outside the city of Jerusalem, is where He cast out the devil from the city of humanity, and where Christ defeated this evil one for all eternity.
I lived in sin for many years, was in bondage to the flesh, and in captivity to the devil. My sins were deep and dark, they characterized my life for a long time, and the power of the devil was seen quite clearly in me for all those years. But something happened. On the cross, Jesus Christ forgave all my sins, released me from captivity, and destroyed the power of the devil in my life. The effects of the cross of Jesus Christ - the casting out of the devil - have been applied in my heart and life by the Holy Spirit.
Question 4. According to John 12:32, what would happen when Jesus died on the cross?
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It is this truth, among others, that the cross of Jesus Christ would draw all people, which caused Paul to cling to the cross with such tenacity and single-minded devotion. He knew that when he displayed the cross before the eyes and hearts of men and women, that God would draw them to Jesus.
The cross, to give it a metaphor, is shown to be a magnet. It has a drawing influence for those who will believe and be saved. It also has a repelling influence on those who reject eternal life. Both influences are at the cross:
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Cor. 1:18
It is a mysterious thing how the cross of Christ is infused with the power of God. How He draws people to it by His Spirit is a mystery, as is how He reveals Christ in the Word to our hearts, and how He gives us faith to believe in Him. One of the verses of the hymn I Know Whom I Have Believed expresses it well:
I know not how the Spirit moves,
Convincing us of sin,
Revealing Jesus through the Word,
Creating faith in Him
https://hymnary.org/text/i_know_not_why_gods_wondrous_grace_to_me
Though we do not know how God convinces of sin by His Spirit, how He reveals Christ in the Word, or how He creates faith in our hearts, yet we do know where this happens. It happens at the cross. As the guilty, condemned, and hopeless sinner drops to his or her knees at the foot of the cross and looks up believingly into the face of Jesus, something supernatural happens. The sinner is forgiven and accepted, cleansed, and relieved of the burden of sin, pardoned, and transformed. And the cross is not only where we find justification and acceptance with God, but it is also where we find the power to overcome sin (Romans 6:7-10).
This is the drawing influence that the cross exerts, the power of God that the cross provides. This magnet of a cross will be the subject of our study, and I have no doubt that it will draw my heart into deeper fellowship with God, and it is my prayer that the study will do the same for you.
Please examine the following story and answer the questions:
“So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. 5 But as one was felling a log, his axe head fell into the water, and he cried out, "Alas, my master! It was borrowed." 6 Then the man of God said, "Where did it fall?" When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float. 7 And he said, "Take it up." So he reached out his hand and took it.” 2 Kings 6:4-7
Question 5. According to 2 Kings 6:4-7, what happened to the axe head?
Question 7. What happened to the axe head when the stick was thrown into the water?
Dave writes, "Ahh...I see the symbolism here. We are that axe head that has fallen into the sinful pattern of this world and are sunk in sin. Christ redeemed us and restored us back to God through the Cross. Just as the axe head floated up to the surface, so are we who are dead in our sin but then raised like Christ, in Christ, by Christ, and through Christ."