Why did God not go over man’s head and forcibly take the dominion away from Satan and keep it himself? There is a very important legal issue involved. If God had done that, He would have been violating legal principles which were part of His Creation and a direct expression of His nature. If God had gone over man’s head and taken the dominion by force away from Satan, that would have been to repossess it without “due process of law,” a violation of divine justice. For God has bound himself to observe principles of divine jurisprudence even where Satan, the “father of lies,” is concerned. God cannot be unjust even with Satan.
Because man transferred the title for the dominion of this earth to Satan, the only way God could legally recover it for man was through man, the original trustee of the earth. The earth was given to man. It was swung away from God and away from man’s dominion by man’s choice. It must be swung back by man. But where was the man who could do this? When Adam’s allegiance went from God to Satan and with it the dominion of the world, man ceased to be free and became a slave of Satan. Being owned and controlled by Satan, he could in no way free himself. A man must be found upon whom Satan had no claim or control in order to head a movement for swinging the world back to its original allegiance. This man must be able to remove Satan’s legal claim to the earth before it could be restored to its original ruler ship.
This man had to be a member of the trustee group in order to qualify to enter the legal battle to repossess the earth, God’s gift to man. And he had to be without stain or taint of sin. He had to be absolutely perfect in order not to furnish Satan with any legal claim upon him. He could not be Adam’s son, for then he would have Adam’s taint; and if he had Adam’s taint he could not live a perfect life. And if he did not live a perfect life he would be Satan’s slave like all of the rest.
But Jesus came, a man among men. And when He appeared, a mighty battle took place between Christ and Satan. The entire destiny of the world and of the human race depended upon the outcome of this battle. If Satan could find or produce one tiny flaw in the life and character of this Man, then he, Satan, would control Him and remain the undisputed ruler of the world and the human race. Satan fought the battle from the time that Jesus was born until Jesus died on the cross. The Cross was a victory for all of mankind. Jesus died so that we can be forgiven for our sins and lives the life that God mean for us in the beginning. “For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” (1 John 5:5-6)
Calvary was indeed a victory. It in actual fact destroyed all of Satan’s legal claims. Nothing is lacking there. But the enforcement of Calvary’s victory was placed in the hands of the Church, Christ’s corporate Body upon earth. The Body with hands and feet is the vehicle which carries out the commands of the Head. If the Body fails to respond, the will of the Head becomes a dead letter.
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.” (Galatians 3:13). Scripture teaches us that there are two points of view from which we may regard Christ’s death upon the cross. The one is the Redemption of the Cross: Christ dying for us as our complete deliverance from the curse of sin. The other, The Fellowship of the Cross: Christ taking us up to die with Him, and making us partakers of the fellowship of His death in our own experience.” We are getting into the good new of this story. The next writing we will start on the Cross. The Cross of the Jesus Christ is the most important event that has ever happened in the world.