When God created the universe, He designed laws to govern it—laws meant to make life beautiful and help us live in harmony. These laws are not against us; they are for our preservation and order.

Genesis 2:16-17 [16] And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; [17] but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.

When God placed man in the Garden of Eden, He did not tell Adam and Eve that Lucifer was present. Instead, He gave them a word—a command—to protect and preserve them from an enemy they did not know. Every instruction from God is for preservation.

Unfortunately, man was deceived by Satan and disobeyed God. The moment they ate, the Bible says their eyes were opened—not that they were blind, but that they fell from the realm of God’s glory into another realm. They lost their position and entered the domain of Satan.

Man went against the law that governed his life, and instantly, spiritual death occurred—separation from God—and union with Satan. Satan became lord over man, and man lost his dominion. Authority over the earth was transferred, and Lucifer began to rule because man legally handed it over through disobedience.

Ezekiel 18:20…The soul who sins shall die.

God had already declared that sin must be judged. Man stood guilty and deserving of death for justice to be satisfied. However, in His mercy, God introduced the law of substitution. He killed an animal to temporarily atone for sin, allowing man to maintain fellowship with Him. (Genesis 3:21; Leviticus 17:11)

But this was only a temporary measure. Since man had been legally brought under bondage, redemption also had to be legal.

Hebrews 9:22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

Man could not redeem himself because his nature was already corrupted. Anything born of man would still be under judgment. So God provided a perfect sacrifice—Jesus—who came to fully satisfy the demands of justice once and for all.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Jesus did not sin, but He was MADE sin. Our sins were placed on Him, and through the law of substitution, He took our place completely. Substitution means taking on fully what you were meant to carry, bearing it, and freeing you from it entirely. Through this, every legal claim of the enemy was broken.

At the cross, two things happened: our sins were forgiven, and the power of sin was broken. Not only were we cleansed, but we were also given a new nature—the righteousness of God in Christ.

We are no longer sinners but saints with the nature of Christ. Even when a believer falls, their identity does not change—they are not sinners trying to be righteous, but righteous people learning to walk in that reality. However, while our spirits have been made new, the flesh still carries desires that must be dealt with daily by walking in the Spirit and refusing to yield to the flesh. (Galatians 5:16)

James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

If you do not resist, the flesh will dominate, and your life will begin to reflect the influence of the enemy. Many remain bound because they are not conscious of their new nature. But when you understand that you are the righteousness of God, you become intentional about your choices.

God has perfected our spirits and placed His own Spirit within us. He has done the greatest work, but He has left the soul and body for us to align with Him. The soul—especially the mind—must be renewed for transformation to take place. (Romans 12:2)

Sin does not affect God—it affects us. When God instructs us to live righteously, it is for our protection, so that the enemy finds no place in us. We must live in such a way that when Satan comes, he finds nothing in us to connect with.

Daniel 9
Daniel understood that Israel’s captivity was a result of sin. Before restoration could come, he addressed the root cause through repentance. Without dealing with sin, the enemy would still have a legal ground to hold them.

It took God becoming a man to redeem us from the rulership of the devil. The cross of Jesus is the courtroom where justice was satisfied. Through His blood, we have been legally redeemed from every curse and bondage that came as a result of the fall.

We are now the righteousness of God, and Lucifer has no claim over our lives.

STAY BLESSED AND HIGHLY FAVORED, WE LOVE YOU.

PASTOR BEN OCHOLA.