The Devil's Aspirations

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them . . . --Colossians 2:15

These demonic forces are . . . superhuman, personal, intelligent forces led by a great mastermind implacable in hatred, unwearying in scheming, and terrifying in ferocity.

Wherever there is evil, it is his work. Wherever there is good, it provokes him to fury.

Sometimes he is violent as a lion, sometimes wily as the serpent, and sometimes as plausible as an angel of light. But though he and his demons are infinitely adaptable, his strategy remains ever the same: victory over the Maker, whatever the cost; the destruction of the church, however long it takes; the establishment of hell on earth.

This was the adversary that Christ had to confront and conquer, and he emerged victorious in his every encounter: in the three great temptations in the wilderness; in the poor demonized men and women who accosted him regularly throughout his ministry; in those 'works of the devil' (disease, disability, and death) which posed him a challenge at every turn; and, above all, in the last great conflict on the cross of Calvary.

Here, once and for all, Christ overthrew the dominion of Satan. 

--Donald Macleod, Christ Crucified: Understanding the Atonement (IVP, 2014), 241