THE SON OF GOD APPEARED
Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the
one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as
He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the
devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning.
The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy
the works of the devil. —1 John 3:7–8
When verse 8 says, “The Son of God appeared for this
purpose, to destroy the works of the devil,” what are the
“works of the devil” that he has in mind? The answer is
clear from the context.
First, verse 5 is a clear parallel: “You know that He
appeared in order to take away sins.” The phrase “he
appeared to…” occurs in verse 5 and verse 8. So probably
the “works of the devil” that Jesus came to destroy are
sins. The first part of verse 8 makes this virtually certain:
“The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has
sinned from the beginning.”
The issue in this context is sinning, not sickness or bro
ken cars or messed up schedules. Jesus came into the world
to help us stop sinning.
Let me put it alongside the truth of 1 John 2:1: “My little
children, I am writing these things to you so that you may
not sin.” In other words, I am promoting the purpose of
Christmas (3:8), the purpose of the incarnation. Then he
adds (2:2), “And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He Himself is
the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also
for those of the whole world.”
But now look what this means: It means that Jesus
appeared in the world for two reasons. He came that we
might not go on sinning; and he came to die so that there
would be a propitiation—a substitutionary sacrifice that
takes away the wrath of God—for our sins, if we do sin.
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