Even the holy men who lived before the coming of Christ understood that God had in mind plans of peace for the human race.
Who is there that can adequately gauge the greatness of the humility, gentleness, self-surrender, revealed by the Lord of majesty in assuming human nature, in accepting the punishment of death, the shame of the cross?
God removes the sin of the one who makes humble confession, and thereby the devil loses the sovereignty he had gained over the human heart.