- 42 - 7. 5 Descent into hell and victory Christ was dead. His earthly death had released his spirit from its material body. As a mortal he had withstood all the onslaughts of hell and had thereby performed the first and most important part of his Messianic mission successfully. He had not been conquered by hell. Nevertheless, this alone did not assure his victory over the enemy he had repelled, for in a battle between two opponents, he who acts wholly on the defensive is not truly the victor, even if he succeeds in defending himself against the other’s attacks. In order to claim a victory, he must overpower his antagonist and force him to acknowledge himself beaten. “This was true of Christ as well. As a man he had repelled all the attacks of his mighty opponent. That was all he could do as a man. Now, however, that he was freed from the flesh, he could, as a spirit, advance upon his enemy, the Prince of Darkness. He descended into hell, relying upon the all-conquering Divine power that he had earned as a mortal through his loyalty to God. God now sent him the heavenly hosts as his comrades in arms. Now began a struggle like that which had occurred when Lucifer with his adherents had battled with the Heavenly Legions in the days of the great revolt in God’s spirit kingdom. The present battle was waged in Lucifer’s realm and was a personal duel between Christ and Lucifer, as well as a general battle between the legions of heaven and those of darkness. This mighty conflict raged into the lowest depths of hell, into which Lucifer and his followers had been forced to retreat. Then, when the defeat of the Powers of Hell was no longer in doubt, many of those who had formerly been their vassals but who, nevertheless, repented of their disloyalty to God, went over to the side of the heavenly hosts and fought with them against their former oppressors. The number of those who thus deserted grew from moment to moment. When Lucifer saw that all was lost, he begged for mercy. He, who in the desert had tried to tempt the Son of God by offering him the kingdoms of the world, now stood quaking before him whose faith in his Sonship he had then sought to undermine. Now he trembled at the thought that this same Jesus of Nazareth would deprive him of all his sovereign power, and that the moment had arrived when he and his followers would be doomed to the depths of darkness. He was all too familiar with the prophecy that foretold the time when he, as the prince of the kingdom of the dead, with his henchmen would be hurled into the uttermost depths, shorn of all his power and deprived of his sovereignty over God’s fallen children. Christ, however, disclosed to him that he was not to be deprived of his sovereignty entirely, but that it was to be restricted to those of his subjects who were whole-heartedly devoted to him, and that all who desired to leave his kingdom and return to God must be released. He was no longer permitted to regard them as his subjects. He might, if so disposed, bind them to himself by artifice and guile, but not by force as heretofore. Satan accepted these terms. He had no other choice. He had, in fact, expected much harder conditions.
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