The Warrior Returns Series

The Warrior Returns

October 21, 2012

There is a distinctive facial expression that is common to people from all countries and cultures. It doesn’t matter what language you speak, what color your skin is, or what country you live in. The response is always the same. The expression is known as “the surprise brow.” We all use this facial expression. When we’re surprised, our eyebrows rise, and our eyes widen so that our vision is enlarged. This picture perfectly shows it. The surprise brow is the body’s way of forcing us to see more.

Not only do our eyebrows rise; our jaws drop. That’s what happened the first time I laid eyes on Debbie.

When we’re taken by surprise, everything stops, every activity is interrupted, and our attention becomes completely focused, on whatever it was that surprised us.

When you begin reading the Bible, the first two chapters seem to lull you to sleep. A utopia, called the Garden of Eden, was created, and the first man and first woman were put in a pure and perfect environment. Other than those two, no one has ever known or seen a world without sickness, suffering and sorrow.

Then, in chapter 3, the first surprise hits us. The surprise comes in the form of a serpent. He not only speaks, but he successfully tempts the first couple to go against God’s will, and to disobey Him. Instantly, the world is plunged into a war. From that moment until now, the human race has been faced with an enemy we cannot defeat, involved in a war that it cannot win. We’re fighting a battle we’re going to lose. Sounds depressing, but get ready for a word of encouragement.

On our own, there’s no solution to this problem. But! Sometimes you gotta love that word!! But, God believes there is! So, how does God respond? He responds with another surprise: God is going to send a Warrior. The surprise is ‘who and how it all takes place.’

The initial announcement of the Warrior was a surprise. It could have sounded like some posturing, like between 2 boxers at a press conference. God told the enemy, satan ~ I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers. He will crush your head, and you will strike (bruise) his heel (Genesis 3:15). Beginning at that moment, the nation of Israel waited in anxious anticipation for this Warrior who would get bruised, but who would crush the enemy.

There was a surprise when the Warrior was born. He was born to a peasant girl who was surprised, in a little country town, in a stable full of animals.

There was surprise in the manner and words this Warrior used. He challenged the authority of the day, he talked to unseemly women, he talked to and touched the sick, He could bring the dead to life, He was able to control nature – like trees and the wind, and He could even walk on water! There was nothing normal about this Warrior! He didn’t even carry a sword or spear!

Then there was the surprise when the Warrior died because great warriors aren’t supposed to die. They’re supposed to kill and defeat the enemy. When He died a criminal’s death on a cross, dreams were shattered and hopes were destroyed.

Just when everyone thought the Warrior was dead and the war was lost, another surprise came: the Warrior rose! He’s the only warrior who died on the battlefield and yet returned to life to fight again.

Now would come the revolt and victory! The Warrior would finish the task, conquer the world, and fully inaugurate His kingdom. But that didn’t happen. Another surprise was coming ~ the Warrior ascended into heaven, and this world has been in the same state for the last 2,000 years. We’re still watching and waiting for the Warrior to return.

I just gave you, in essence, a thumbnail sketch, a Reader’s Digest version, of the Bible. From Genesis 3, the story of the Bible proceeds like this ~ creation, satan, sin, sorrow, suffering, the Savior.

Yes, the Warrior came. Yes, the Warrior died. Yes, the Warrior rose. But the story hasn’t yet ended. The battle still rages on. satan is still alive. Sin is still real. Sorrow still stings, and suffering is plentiful.

President Obama and Governor Romney cannot solve our problems. All the money can’t solve our problems. They can’t fight these battles or win this war. Genesis 3:15 tells us that a final showdown has yet to take place. That’s why the Warrior will one day return. satan started this war, and the Warrior is going to end it. Peace is going to replace war. Justice is going to replace inequity. Righteousness will replace wickedness.