Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. Hebrews 2:14
Did you ever hear of a woman named Madalyn Murray O’Hair? This incredibly evil woman is directly responsible for the elimination of Bibles from school classrooms in the United States. She was one of the founding members of the American Atheists organization and was its leader for many years. She was responsible for the supreme court case that led to the banning of Bibles and prayer from public schools. One day in 1995, O’Hair, her son, and her granddaughter disappeared. It turned out that an employee of her atheist organization (she had a policy of hiring convicted murderers to work for her) had murdered them, cut them to pieces with a saw, and buried their bodies on a ranch in Texas. But while she lived, O’Hair fought to have every mention of God removed from every public place in America. One day, a Gospel preacher was one of several people taking part in an event where O’Hair was one of the guests. The preacher did not mention O’Hair in his comments. Some Christians asked him afterwards why he didn’t take the opportunity to tell her off. He said, ‘I didn’t need to tell her off; she’s as far off now as she can get.’ He was right. O’Hair might have won her battle to ban Bibles from schools, but she lost her soul. How terrible will be her audience before the Great White Throne when she has to answer for that vile deed and all of its consequences. But she is just one of those who have already lost the battle against God. As our text tells, even the devil has already lost his great war against God.
Satan has great power over humanity. Adam gave him that power by going along with the devil’s lies and stepping into the penalty of death for disobeying God. Since then, the devil has had the power of death. Death separates fallen man from God forever, just as the rich man who landed in hell in Luke 16 found a great gulf between himself and the comfort of Abraham’s bosom. It is the devil’s lies that convince suicide victims to complete the horrible act that separates themselves from the possibility of ever responding to the Gospel message. It is the devil’s lies that convince people to lose their lives in the pursuit of pleasure, destructive habits, power, money, and anything else that prevents them from heeding the Gospel message and that hastens their death. It is the devil’s desire to rob God of the glory that a redeemed soul brings to Him. And death is the devil’s greatest weapon. But that weapon was destroyed when the Lord Jesus vanquished death by His glorious resurrection from the dead. Jesus not only bore our death penalty on the cross, but He also released us from that penalty. Satan does his worst to make Christians unhappy and ineffective for our Lord. And he has some temporary victories, as we can all recall in our own experiences. But he has lost the war, and will someday be forever consigned to judgment.
Did Madalyn Murray O’Hair win her war? No. In fact, her son William Murray is currently the chairman of the Religious Freedom Coalition, is a Baptist pastor, and is a faithful and devoted follower of Jesus Christ, and does everything he can to spread the Gospel of salvation through faith in Christ. Did the devil win his war? No. He has already lost. In fact, he loses every day that you and I reject his lies and live in the good of God’s salvation and in obedience to His holy Word. – Jim MacIntosh