My mom, as she got older, her taste and television shows changed and it got, I would just be honest, it got a little dark. I don't know what it is about, you know, getting into her later years, but she just got into shows like, I've never watched, right, like CSI Special Victims Unit and just like weird deaths were taking place in her living room every night and she had a favorite show and that favorite show she would watch two episodes at nine and at 10 and so, as you know, during the last six months of her life, I'd go back every other week and sit with her and so I watched many episodes of this particular show and on one episode, it was dark, I mean it was violent and dark, it was about these thugs who would hang out around the homeless shelter at night because they made it fun, they made it kind of initiation to beat up the homeless and I'm like, mom, why are we watching this? And she looked at me and she was, you just wait, I was like, okay, and so, near the end of it, you see this old homeless woman and she's got, you know, she's got a hoodie kind of pulled over her head and she's laying there trying to keep warm, we're surrounded and blanket and she're not the thugs show up and one of them walks up to her and tries to kick her and all of a sudden the hands comes out, it stops the leg and he stands up and flips the guy over and he gives a roundhouse kick to the next guy when he does that, the hood falls back and you see Chuck Norris, Walker, Texas Ranger, once again, is saving the day and I said, mom, why, why did he dress up like a homeless woman and she said he just had to get his hands on it? And I was like, okay, that's a good illustration for Jesus. Thank you for loving me. Why, why did the Son of God take on flesh? Why did the Son of God become weak and frail? Why did he submit to the law? Why was he found in the appearance of the man? Why did he obey all the way into death? Why did he obey all the way into death on the cross? Because he wanted to get his hands on death. He wanted to get his hands on sin. He wanted to get his hands on evil and defeat them once and for all. We have been studying the cross for the past several weeks and we've looked at the cross as an unfolding of God the Father's heart, as an unfolding of the true humility of Christ as an example for us to live, as our substitute to give us a righteousness and a future and a hope. But today we're studying what is the primary theme of the cross through the New Testament. That it is a point of victory. That it is a point of joy. That it brings, it is Jesus defeating death and evil and sin. It's what's throughout the New Testament. It is this message that Jesus has broken a whole through death so that we can go through it with hope. You see the whole story of the Bible is a story of waiting for the one who's going to undo the work of Adam and Eve. Who is going to free us from this slavery of sin, from this hopelessness of death and every new leader fails and they all fail for the same reason. God unfolds it for us in Genesis chapter 7 after the flood, after every creature in heaven and earth has been killed. Because you all think, be honest. Every one of you thinks if everyone on the earth were killed except for me and my family, it would be paradise. No, I think it would be wrong. There would be no sin left. And so God proved us, proved it to us just one time. He said, OK, I'll take the most righteous man on earth and kill everyone else just to show you that the problem is our hearts. The heart of man is only, every imagination of man is only evil all the time. Separated from God. As we wait and Abraham fails and David fails and Solomon fails. And finally, Jesus comes on the scene and he defeats death and he defeats him and he defeats evil for us. Please stand as we read from 2nd Colossians 2 verses 8 through 15. Hear the word of the Lord. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. And you have been filled in him who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with the circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead. And you who are dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by cancelling the record of death that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him. That's the reading of God's word. All men are like grass and all of our glories like the flowers of the field and the grass withers in the flowers fall but not God's word. God's word stands forever. You may be seated.
Christus victor, the victorious Christ, God through Christ, Jesus Himself, defeated sin, death and evil once and for all for us and even in us. And the first thing I want you to see about this victory is that it's real. It actually happened in time space history. It really happened. And I stress this every Easter and I'm just going to let you know I will continue to because it is so hard to actually believe it. I mean with the bodily resurrected Jesus right there in front of them we're told in three different places the apostles doubted it. And if they're going to doubt it while he's right there eating in front of them surely is tempting for you to doubt it two thousand years later when you've never seen him. And I want you to embrace that doubt. I want you to understand that that's not something unexpected. And I want you to know that the truth of the resurrection withstands that doubt. It is the only historical explanation for the rise of Christianity. Let me explain what I mean. Sometimes when people make claims and their claims just stand and start contrast to what's in front of your eyes. It kind of you know it stands out. It's like one day I was getting my kids ready. They're about three and four and I was getting them ready to go to a library hour story hour at the library and you know I got one was getting himself dressed when I dressed the other one and the one who's getting himself dressed looked at me says daddy I don't need your help to get dressed. I'm smart like way to go buddy. And he says daddy I think I might be the smartest little boy in the world. And I looked at him and I said buddy that would be a lot more impressive if your pants weren't on backwards right now. And he looks down he sees those back pockets like darn it. And I feel like in the first century there were people who were tempted to say that to the disciples the apostles. I mean when Peter says you know we rejoice with the joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. I don't you think somebody was tempted to look at him and go Peter your master got killed publicly. When when John writes in the book of Revelation that at the end of days we will look and say say that the nations of this world have become the nations of our Lord and of his Christ and he will reign forever and ever. Don't you think people were tempted just to go are you talking about that guy that they crucified they beat him and mocked him until death. That guy's going to rule the world. John get a grip your pants on backwards and yet he did. I mean look at it right now today we're not willing to look some day in the future. Right now today billions of people on every continent. People on every continent adding up to billions are worshiping this man who was crucified because he was crucified. And that crucifixion is what won the victory. It's real. It's the only thing that explains you know the popularity of this man the the lasting power the staying power of this religion. I mean do you think in 2000 years there would be millions of people worshipping David Kuresh. I don't think there's any worshiping now. During the time of his ministry David Kuresh if you all don't remember him he's the guy down in Waco who gathered a bunch of followers and they died in the inferno. And I mean during his ministry he was more successful than Jesus. I mean Jesus only had 12 followers. I mean 12 that's not that impressive. And then he died and now there are billions because he was raised from the dead. And that's what Paul went around preaching. That's what all the apostles went around preaching. And Paul worst of them all describes his life by saying five times I received at the hands of the Jews forty lashes. Less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned I've been left for dead. I've been shipwrecked a night in a day. I've been on frequent journeys. I've been in danger from robbers from my own people from the Gentiles danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers, toil and hardship. And in every case all Paul had to do is say the resurrection is not real. Receiving that forty lashes if at any point he had said it's not true. I made it up. This was a conspiracy. Okay. I've been hit enough. It would have stopped. It would have stopped. Think about that. Let that sit in your brain. This is not somebody who came long long long time after Jesus. He was probably around the same age as Jesus when Jesus was killed. Just a few weeks after Jesus's death he began. He got converted and began preaching the gospel because he said he saw him raise from the dead physically. Now he was tortured his entire life. You all remember John McCain, Senator from Arizona? He testified in front of the Senate once about whether or not our military should use torture to get information and he said he shouldn't. It's waste of time. He made this point. He said the information you get from torture is not reliable because people lie to make the torture stop. They'll tell you anything to make the torture stop. That's one of the man who is tortured. If you say the resurrection is not real, it's not physical. You can't touch Jesus. If it's not real then what you're saying is the Apostle Paul and all the other disciples lied to get tortured, lied to get it. It's not, it's insane. It's hard to believe that a man got it from the grave. I understand that but it is believable. It makes sense of the facts in front of us. And why do I labor that every Easter? Because one of these days you're going to need more than a good bedtime story. You're going to need more than an inspiration. You're going to need more than just being reminded that the flowers come up every spring. You're going to need a resurrection that is as bodily and believable and real as the grave that stands in front of you when you put your loved ones in it. You're going to need a resurrection that is as real as the life that you have ruined by your sin that you could have stopped but didn't. You're going to need a resurrection that is as true as death and you have one and he's there for you and he asks us to do the same thing that he asked Thomas to do and Thomas doubted him. Here I am. Stop your doubting and believe. And when we do, when we believe, we get this victory. This victory that Christ has won. The victory over death and sin and Satan and everything that's evil. And he tells us how he does it. First he defeats sin. It says let's look at the text here. Having been buried with him in baptism you were also raised with him and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh got made alive together with him having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of death that stood against us with its legal demands. I get asked all the time, why did Jesus have to be raised from the dead? What did that have to do with our salvation? Well Jesus died for our sins, right? Every little child that comes into me, every one of these tulips represents a child that came into my office at one time or the other and said Jesus died for my sins. If he's still dead, he's still paying for him. But when he was raised from the dead, it was his receipt. I got told the other day I bought some glasses for the church. I thought it'd be nice. We had some nice wine glasses for weddings and things and I got told no. I'll get told no a lot, but I did this time. You know, it was by a woman in the church that we're not opening though, you're taking them back. We're not going to have glass right here for our children to step on. It's not going to happen. I was like, but they look nice. No. Okay. I'll take them back. But what? But I don't have a receipt. And then Bianca jumped in to save the day. Receive.
And Jesus, when he comes out of the grave, his bodily resurrection, no matter how much shame I might feel, no matter how much guilt I might feel, no matter how much I may feel like my sin has not been paid for. His bodily resurrection is the receipt. All the suffering that needs to be done has been done for us. He is freed us from that guilt. He's freed us from that shame. And because we are free from it, we're free to, we're free to live. We're not slaves to sin anymore. We're not slaves to that, that continual beatdown of doing the things that we didn't want to do anymore. I was in the 80s, back in the 80s, sorry. There was an Anglican priest named Terry Wait. And Terry Wait had achieved worldwide notoriety for being able to negotiate hostages in the freedom. There were some things going on in the background he didn't know about, but given the bit of the doubt, he tried. And so, when there were a series of several American hostages taken in Lebanon, he went and surrendered to the terrorists to try to negotiate their freedom. And he failed. And he was just handcuffed like the rest of them. And he spent six months handcuffed in a hotel room. And the only time he'd ever been un- handcuffed is when he had to go to the restroom. And then they would handcuff him to the handicapped rail there in the restroom. And when he was talking about it after he was saved, he said, the most humiliating thing of the entire process is when they would forget to handcuff me to the rail. He said, because I knew I couldn't escape and I knew they would beat me if they came back in the room and saw me on handcuffs. So, I would actually take my own shackles and close them around the rail because I knew I was never going to get out. And I think that describes the way a lot of us live in our sin. We don't even bother to say, I'm never going to do that again. We don't even bother to say, I'm better now. I'm going to live free from my sin. I'm worthy of love. I'm better than this. I'm bigger than this. I'm not going to fall in love with somebody who's going to misuse me. I'm not going to misuse the gifts that God has given me. I'm not going to because I'm better. I'm raised in newness of life. Instead, we just go, yeah, if I even try, and I know I'm going to fail and sin and shame and guilt are going to come and just beat me up. And what the gospel teaches us is not only has God made you alive. He's made you different. You truly are different. Your heart is no longer condemned to think only evil falls all the time. You now have the ability to be different. But more than that, that shame and that guilt that beats you up, that ocean of shame and guilt that keeps you enslaved, it's been drained. Jesus took it for you. He drank that cup. He drank it to the bottom. And you can let him bear that shame and guilt. And you can tell your brothers and sisters about your sin. And you can ask them to walk through it with you because he has defeated that. And you're no longer a slave. He has defeated sin. He has defeated evil. Satan attacked him and attacked him. And every time he came out and he had two things he tried to get him to do. Use your powers. Don't follow God's law. Don't live this life. Don't suffer this pain as a man. Suffer it as God cheat. You're very glad I was not Jesus because I wanted you to cheat it. But and every time Satan came to tempt Christ, what did he say? If you're the son of God, if you're the son of God, if you're the son of God, turn these stones into bread. If you're the son of God, prove it. Why are you suffering? Throw yourself off a temple. Let's see, watch the angels catch you. God's not going to let you hurt. And he kept coming at him with that same temptation, his entire life until he was on the cross and he had the crowd shouting at him. If you're the son of God, come down from that cross. And Jesus's last words were words of victory when he said father into your hands, I commit my spirit. Father, his last words were words of faith. His last words were words that said that I still know who I am. I am your son and I trust you to the end. I say, it could not be him. And he has been beheaded by that. And he's weak and all he can do now. He can't touch you if you're under Christ. He can make you feel bad things. And even to that, you can be delivered from. You can. You're not enslaved to the dark clouds of doubt and depression and pain. You don't have to be slaves to that for the rest of your life, to that anger that comes across you uncontrollably. You don't have to be a slave to that because evil has been defeated. It takes a lot to learn how to use it and it takes faith and it takes people praying for you, but it's there for you. And finally, he defeated death. He defeated that enemy that looms over us like a mountain looming over a city that we always see every day. We know it's there and we know we're moving closer to it. And that death that begins working itself and the day we're born, we get old, we get wrinkled, we get dry, we get pains, our knees and our ankles and our elbows and we just learn to live with it. We're dying every day it feels like. Until the end, sometimes I'll have someone tell me, you know, I'll be comforting them with the death of a parent or a grandparent. And they'll say, oh, you know, it was actually a blessing. They were so much, they weren't so much pain. They had lost her memory and I'd say, I'm sorry for that too. That's not how it was designed to work. She should have stayed, she should have kept her vitality. She was created to live forever and live with you. And I know that your love did not die with her and I'm sorry. I'm sorry. And Jesus is calm and wanted the Son of God calm as a man so he could get his hands on it. He's got his hands on death. And death tried to hold him in the grave and my systematic professor, my systematic theology professor, he said always say it like this. He said, death trying to hold Jesus is like a light bulb trying to hold a million megawatts of electricity. He just exploded it from the inside. He was too big. He was life. He was the resurrection and the life. The grave could not hold him. That would be a good time to say, man. There you go. The grave could not hold him and he raised up out of it and now and he ascended into heaven where right now he's praying for us as a human still alive. And what that means for us is this. Think of when the 15th century explorers were discovering, discovering his funny work as long as here. But finding for the first time for Europeans, the Americas and they came back to Europe and Columbus or DeGama or whoever you like. This beauty came to you and he said if you'll get on his boat and sail with me to the west further than you can see further than you would ever have imagined. I'll show you a new world that is green and beautiful and temperate. No longer we have to live through these cold winters in England. You can come live through warm winters in Florida. Come with me. And you would have said, ah, I'm not falling off this earth. That's the end. That's past the end. How are you believing in Florida? But if you believe he's been there, right? You've looked at you and say, I've been there. Trust me. And that's what Jesus is saying to us now. Death is not the end. If you'll come with me through the grave, you'll let me guide you. I'm going to show you new worlds that are beyond your wildest dreams. Trust me. Come with me. Let me show you. Please pray with me. Lord Jesus, we praise your name because you have defeated our enemies. You have defeated them all and you have defeated them forever. And I pray Lord that you give us faith, the faith to be raised from the dead, that raised from the death of our sins and being raised from the death of our bodies. Oh Lord Jesus, we long to celebrate that victory with you. Would you make us alive right now in faith? Would you give us the gift of life? We prayed Jesus name. Amen.