Knowing Christ

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. 1 John 3:4-10

Why did Jesus appear? Why the Incarnation? To destroy the works of the devil. What are the works of the devil? Sin. The Incarnation of Jesus Christ is all about Jesus destroying sin and recreating this world as it was before Adam sinned.

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

I think the note in the ESV Study Bible on these verses will be sufficient for our devotional today:

“Knowing Christ means becoming involved in an all-out war against the works of the devil, that is, the practice of sinning.”

May you make it your practice to wage an all-out war on the practice of sinning this Christmas season.

~Benji