1 John 3:8 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.
I had an opportunity several years ago to experience a special Christmas festival in a small town in the Czech Republic. It was Saint Mikuláš Day and part of the celebrations included a group of people dressing up as the saint and His angels coming to bring gifts. Part of this tradition also included people dressing up as a čert (the Czech word for devil). These čerts would run around with willow whips terrorizing the children into being good before Saint Mikuláš showed up. I think the youths involved were pretty eager to be the čerts. I think we’re a lot more comfortable with this image of a devil, a figure who runs around to cause mischief and tell us to be good or else. But that’s not what this verse has in mind.
Returning to the idea of practicing, we see in this verse that in addition to lawlessness, practicing sin is ‘of the devil,’ that is, an attribute of the devil that marks those who practice sin as being part of his kingdom. This sin is rebellion against God, trying to claim His power and authority. This is what happened in at the beginning, when man first sinned and fell short of God’s glory. Satan twisted God’s word and Eve was deceived. It is also what we see in Matthew 4 when Jesus was tempted by satan in the wilderness. The devil twisted what God had said and sought power and authority over God and His creation. The devil promised things that weren’t his to give. Practicing sin is believing the lies of the devil and seeking God’s power and authority for ourselves. We see in Genesis 3 and Matthew 4 how alluring and pleasing the devil's’ words can be. We must be aware of this and be on guard against it. We do not need to fear him! That is the blessing and hope of this verse. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. He freed us from our blindly following sinful patterns. Christ defeated death and the devil when he rose from the dead. In the resurrection, we have His righteousness freely given to us and so the sinful patterns will be completely destroyed. This is the good news of Christmas, the coming of a savior to destroy the works of the devil! Are we living that truth? Do we share and rejoice in the truth of Christ’s victory, or are we comfortable playing the role of the čert?
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