“I am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death” (Rev. 1: 18)

By deception Satan became the head of this world. And having taken Adam under his control, he became the head of this dominion, this world, and of all principality and power in it.

But a stronger One than he came into the world. A second Adam came, not as the first Adam was, but as the first Adam had caused his descendants to be in the degeneracy of the race to which it had come from the first Adam. That second Adam came and disputed the dominion of this one who had taken possession.

He who came into this rebellious dominion proved to be stronger than he who had possession, and He defeated him at every step. Then in order to show to the universe how completely more powerful He is than the other, Jesus not only defeated Satan while He was alive but after He gave Himself over dead into the hands of this one who was in possession, who shut Him up in his stronghold, dead. And even then He broke the power of Satan! The battle has been fought and won.

Thus Christ has demonstrated that he is not only stronger than Satan when He is alive, but that [even] when dead He is stronger. Therefore He came forth from the tomb and exclaimed before the universe, “Behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and death.”

Well then, when a dead Christ is stronger than all the power of the devil, what can a living Christ not do who sits at the right hand of God today? Is there any room for our being discouraged? Is there any room for fear, even in the presence of all the principalities, and powers, and might, and dominion that the devil can muster on the earth? Jesus's power is enlisted on our behalf-His living power. His dead power would be enough, wouldn't it? But He does not stop at that.

Jones, General Conference Bulletin, 1895, pp. 436,437