Thurs., 5/24/12 Devotion (1 Jn. 3:8b)

Today's encouragement comes from 1 John 3:8b, where the apostle wrote these words:

"For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might de-stroy the works of the devil."

If the devil had not done his best to foul up the world--especially by tempting human beings to sin--there would have been no reason for the Son of God to appear, as a Redeemer. Though sin is to be abomin-ated in all its forms, it is still the case that it made the way for God to demonstrate the full gamut of His wonderful characteristics--in-cluding love, forgiveness, atonement, mercy, grace, righteousness, justification, and patience.

Has the devil left some of his work on us? Let us be encouraged: Christ is in the sanctification process of destroying it, and building us up, in our growing love for Him.

[Puritan quote of the day: "If we love God, our hearts ache for the dishonor done to God by wicked men." --Thomas Watson, in, "All Things for Good"]