The Serpent's Final Sentence

The accuser possessed the right to condemn (as seen in Job and Zechariah), and he wielded the power of death (Hebrews 2:14). His dominion was legal, rooted in humanity’s sin. But even in Eden, God pronounced a sentence that would one day be executed: the Seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15). The Cross would be the courtroom where that prophecy became judgment.  

As Jesus approached Calvary, He announced that an irreversible moment in cosmic history was coming.  “Now is the judgment of this world, ” He said.  “Now the ruler of this world will be cast out” (John 12:31). Jesus understood that His death would not only redeem humanity—it would render a verdict against the evil one, stripping him of the authority he had gained through Adam’s rebellion. The Cross was not merely atonement; it was the divine courtroom where Satan’s power would collapse forever.  

At Calvary, Jesus took the one weapon Satan possessed—sin. Paul declares that God made Christ, “who knew no sin, to be sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21). In that moment, the sinless One became the offering that absorbed the full weight of divine judgment. When sin was condemned in the body of Christ, the legal foundation of Satan’s dominion shattered. This is why Paul boldly proclaims that Christ “disarmed principalities and powers” and “made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in the Cross” (Colossians 2:15). The language is military and humiliating: Christ stripped the enemy bare, exposed him before the universe, and marched him in defeat like a conquered king in a Roman triumph. Calvary was not a silent victory—it was a cosmic overthrow.  

In the same act, Jesus canceled the “handwriting of ordinances” that stood against humanity (Colossians 2:14). Every accusation, every charge, every law we broke—He took it all and nailed it to the Cross. When our record was destroyed, Satan’s legal right to accuse was destroyed with it. What power does an accuser have when the evidence has been eternally erased? The enemy’s entire system—the curse, the fear, the judgment—collapsed when Jesus bore our sin. Through His own death, Christ destroyed “him who had the power of death” (Hebrews 2:14). The devil’s greatest weapon was turned against him, and death itself became the instrument of his defeat.  

When Jesus descended into the lower regions, the victory continued. Peter writes that Christ proclaimed His triumph to the “spirits in prison” (1 Peter 3:19). This was not an invitation to salvation but a declaration of conquest. Ephesians 4 describes Him descending before ascending “that He might fill all things.  ” In the realm the enemy believed he controlled, Christ overturned the gates, shattered the silence of death, and took the keys of death and Hades (Revelation 1:18). Hell could not hold Him. Satan could not stop Him. The grave became the stage where the King displayed His absolute authority.  

When Christ rose, everything changed—forever. Satan is still active, but his authority has been judged and stripped. He tempts, but he cannot own. He accuses, but he cannot condemn. He roars, but he cannot devour those who stand in the finished work of Christ. The believer is no longer part of the kingdom of darkness but has been transferred into the Kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). We do not fight for victory—we fight from victory. We do not struggle to obtain freedom—we enforce the freedom purchased for us.  

Because the record of sin is gone, Satan’s accusations have no legal standing.  “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies” (Romans 8:33). The believer stands on blood-bought ground, clothed in righteousness, shielded by grace. Submission to God and resistance to the enemy will always lead to his retreat (James 4:7), because he is no longer the ruler of this world—Christ is. And through union with Christ, we share in His triumph.  “As He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). His victory becomes our position. His authority becomes our inheritance. His crushing of the serpent becomes our daily walk of overcoming (Luke 10:19).  

The Cross was not simply a moment of redemption; it was the throne of judgment against the powers of darkness. There, Satan was condemned, stripped, broken, exposed, and eternally defeated. The resurrection sealed that judgment and inaugurated a new reality for every believer—freedom from accusation, deliverance from darkness, and the right to stand in the authority of Christ. We live not as victims of a defeated enemy but as sons and daughters of a conquering King.