Christ Reigns In The Church Year

Text: Selected Text

Theme: Christ Reigns In the Church Year

A. The King Comes

B. The King Conquers

Season: End Times 4: Christ the King

Date: November 22, 2009

Web page: http://hancocklutheran.org/sermons/Christ-Reigns-In-the-Church-Year-SelectedText.html

Welcome to St. John’s Lutheran Church as we gather together to hear our Lord’s promises and to praise him for his grace and mercy. We follow the order of service as outlined in the bulletin. As we celebrate the Last Sunday of End Times: Christ the King, we take to heart how he reigns in the church year from Advent through End Times. We begin with the invocation

P: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen.

Lord Jesus, by your blood you ransomed us to be your people and brought us into your kingdom through the Gospel. As our risen King reign over us in your grace and mercy until we stand before your heavenly throne in glory; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

P: Dearly beloved, we enter the presence of a great King, a holy and righteous King. With penitent hearts, let us confess our sins before our merciful and gracious King. We use the order of private confession on page 154 in the front of the hymnal.

In the peace of forgiveness,we praise our Savior-King, Jesus Christ, by singing "Crown Him with Many Crowns," hymn 341.

A. The King Comes

Introduction: Genesis 3

What does the government do with rebels? When the Thirteen Colonies rebelled against England, King George III sent soldiers to put down the rebellion. When the southern states rebelled against the federal government, Abraham Lincoln sent soldiers to put down the Johnny Rebs. And when Adam and Eve rebelled against God, he sent his Son to die for them. How different our King is!

Let’s go back to that tragic day. The Lord God had richly blessed Adam and Eve. He had created them in his image, so that their hearts and minds were in perfect sync with his will. He gave them dominion over his wonderful creation. His lavish love brought them together as husband and wife and provided them the Garden of Eden. He gave them the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. With that second tree they could honor, worship, and thank their God by obeying his command not to eat from it. How rich and generous God’s love was!

But Satan deceived Eve. She and Adam rebelled against God’s love. They ate from the tree, doubting God’s truth and believing Satan’s lie. They became rebels.

That’s the heritage handed down to us. We inherited Adam’s sinfulness. We confess, "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me" (Psalm 51:5 NIV). For "flesh gives birth to flesh," (John 3:6 NIV), as Jesus explained Nicodemus. So every inclination of the thoughts of our hearts were only evil all the time (Genesis 6:5). For "the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so" (Romans 8:7 NIV). Yes, we were rebels.

But did God send his armies of angel hosts to put down Adam and Eve and destroy them, as the rebels they were? Not at all. He came calling to them in the cool of the evening. He brought them to admit their guilt. "I ate it." He made it clear that instead of blessing they had brought the curse of sin down on themselves. Eve would face pain in child birth. Because of Adam, the ground was cursed. Painful toil for food would fill their days. For thorns infested the ground. And finally they would return to that ground in death. "For dust you are and to dust you will return" (Genesis 3:19 NIV). Cursed! How dreadful sin is!

But the Lord promised not to abandon these rebels to Satan. He promised to send the Satan-crusher. Speaking to Satan, the Lord says, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and hers" (Genesis 3:15 NIV-footnote). "You, Satan, have lured my children away making them your friends in sin, so that they rebelled against me. I will change them. I will bring them back to me so that they become your enemies once again. I will put enmity between you and them."

And how would the Lord God do that? He would send the One, born of a woman. This coming One would crush Satan’s power. The Lord makes that clear to Satan: "He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel" (Genesis 3:15 NIV). What hope for Adam and Eve as they listened in! One was coming, more powerful than Satan. One was coming to set them free from the curse. One was coming to rescue them from death. How they longed for the coming One!