“NO ONE CAN ENTER A STRONG MAN’S HOUSE AND PLUNDER HIS GOODS, UNLESS HE FIRST BINDS THE STRONG MAN.” —MARK 3:27
When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, they opened up a window through which the devil entered and brought deception, followed by God’s curse. As a result, we are all born into sin. We are bound and captives to a “strongman,” the devil and his fallen angels.
But Jesus came on a rescue mission to earth, the strong man’s house. And here is the good news: Jesus is a much bigger and much stronger strongman than the devil. The whole story of the gospel is that Jesus came and took the strong man and bound him.
Two thousand years ago, there was a fight, a confrontation between the Lord Jesus Christ and Satan. That fight is over. Satan lost. He is bound and no longer has any legal right or authority.
Once the strongman is bound, says Jesus, the stronger man will begin plundering the goods in his house. These “goods” are human beings who have been held captive. If they choose to follow Jesus, they can walk out of their captivity and into freedom.
“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36, NIV).
“Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
We are not fighting hand-to-hand combat with the devil; Jesus already defeated him. Yes, there is spiritual warfare, but we’re told to resist, and he will flee.
Don’t you love that word flee? It means he runs away!
Satan is like a squatter. He squats illegally on souls, land, and territory that are no longer his.
He may try to squat on parts of our lives, too. But you and I, as ambassadors, as representatives of the Kingdom of Heaven, have authority to declare, “You’re defeated; you’ve already lost; in the name of Jesus who defeated you, we resist you…get out of here….leave and let the Kingdom come in here now.”We take the power and authority given to us and leverage it; we exercise it for the glory of the Lord. We don’t have to fight, only resist.
