My Old Man is Dead and I Wrapped Him Up in a Blanket

…Our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Romans 6:6-7

Before we were saved, we were bound by satan’s power; we were powerless in our efforts to abstain from sin; we were held captive by the sin we embraced. However, this magnificent verse from Romans tells us that what Christ Jesus did on the cross broke those bonds and rendered satan powerless; he is incapacitated—all he can do is bark his deceitful commands. We see this plainly illustrated in this story from the Old Testament in the book of Judges:

And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; do not fear.” And when he had turned aside with her into the tent, she covered him with a blanket. Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a jug of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him. And he said to her, “Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there any man here?’ you shall say, ‘No.’ ” Judges 4:18-20

We might recall that Sisera was the Canaanite commander who was fleeing from the Israeli army and sought refuge in the tent of a supposed ally. His actions make him a wonderful illustration for our old man; the one which once reigned supreme over us. Sure, he can speak authoritatively, but his words are without power. The fact that the Lord used a woman to finish him off expresses for us today just how powerless satan is for any child of God.

Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:11

For those who are in Christ, the old man is dead; accept this reality, fully understanding that satan has lost his power and control. This is what we reckon to be so! The enemy lays there on the floor, helpless as Sisera rolled-up in a rug, only able to speak as if he still had some kind of authority. The fact of the matter is that if we sin today it is because we chose to listen to and obey a powerless, defeated enemy.

Then Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. Judges 4:21