Series Introduction:
We are counting down to Easter. It’s the highest day in the church year. However, there is only one way to arrive at the empty tomb of Easter Sunday. We need to travel to Jesus’ cross.
We are discovering the blessings we receive because Jesus died on the cross. These blessings are often called by one name – the atonement. There are several explanations of how the atonement works. There are at least seven because “there is an essential mystery about the atonement, so that men cannot know completely how it works.”
Citation: Leon Morris in Basic Christian Doctrines, edited by Carl F. H. Henry, Baker Book House, 1962
Introduction:
The great Reformer, Martin Luther wrote a powerful hymn entitled, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” The third verse in our hymnal declares, “And though this world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear….” (emphasis added)
Thesis:
Jesus defeated Satan and set us free.
Key Question:
How did Jesus’ death defeat Satan and the forces of evil?
Shortly after God put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Satan appeared to tempt them. He lied to them about God, about the results of disobeying God and about how they could become like God. As a result, they surrendered themselves and all their descendents to the authority of Satan. We became his slaves – the citizens of his kingdom.
The apostle Paul declared this spiritual law of the universe in his letter to the Romans. “Do you not know that if you continually surrender yourselves to anyone to do his will, you are the slaves of him whom you obey…?” (Romans 6:16 AMP) Jesus said the same thing. “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” (John 8:34)
Adam and Eve, our first parents, rebelled against God, choosing to follow Satan’s lead. They became his slaves because they obeyed him.
So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:14-15)
And when the proper time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman … to set us free from Satan’s control. (Galatians 4:4)
Satan attacked Jesus with everything he could muster. He had King Herod exterminate all the little boys in Bethlehem, but God warned his parents and his Son was spared. Satan tempted Jesus as he had tempted Adam, but Jesus resisted his temptations for 33 years. He led a sinless life.
Finally, Satan gathered his forces of evil and ambushed Jesus. He sent in one wave after another. He started late on Thursday night and continued to late Friday afternoon.
• The conflict was so strong Jesus thought he might die. In fact the stress was so powerful that the tiny blood vessels in Jesus’ skin ruptured. He began to slowly bleed to death. His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. (Luke 22:44)
• One friend betrayed Jesus to his enemies. One friend denied ever knowing him. The rest disappeared into the night.
• His enemies lied about him, laughed at him and slapped him. Then, Satan had them turn Jesus over to the Roman soldiers who whipped him until his back was shredded down to the muscles and bones. The soldiers made a crown of thorns and continued to beat him and to laugh at him. They forced him to carry his cross to the executions site. They nailed him to the cross raised it up and let it drop into a hole in the ground.
• Satan’s minions continued to mock him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can't save himself! Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him. These people refused to believe in Jesus in spite of all the miracles he had performed. They would not believe in him if he came down off the cross. They were simply serving as Satan's voice tempting him to rebel against God’s will for him.
• Through all this pain and anguish, Jesus remained faithful and obedient to God. Finally, he yelled, “Finished” and he died.
Satan thought he had won. BUT GOD (two of my favorite words) BUT GOD raised Jesus back to life on Sunday morning. Jesus defeated Satan and set us free.
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. (1 John 3:8b)
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Colossians 2:13-15)
Not only did God cancel out the accusations of the law against us, but he also conquered and disarmed Satan and his forces of evil, who tempt people to follow all kinds of false teachings. The picture is of conquered soldiers stripped of their clothes as well as their weapons to symbolize their total defeat. The phrase “triumphing over them” literally means "leading them in a triumphal procession." This figure of speech reminded the original readers of how a Roman general led his captives through the streets of Rome for everyone to see as evidence of his complete victory.
God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:11)
REPENTANCE POINT: How should you change?
We often feel trapped and out of control when we try to live according to Jesus’ teaching. Some people even say that the devil makes them do wrong things. But Jesus died on the cross to defeat Satan and to set us free to live for God.
FIRST STEPS: What is the first step in this shift in our thinking and living? What should we do in response to Jesus’ victory?
1. Thank Jesus for defeating Satan and all the armies of hell.
2. By God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, live the kind of life that draws others to Jesus.
The apostle Paul declared, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.” (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)
RESPONSE GOAL / INVITATION:
When a victorious Roman general came home from war, he would lead his soldiers and their captives in a parade, while the people watched and applauded. The air was filled with the sweet smell of burning spices in the streets. As the gospel aroma is released in the world through our lives and testimonies, it is always sweet smelling, although it may be received differently. Ultimately there are two kinds of people: “those who are being saved and those who are perishing” (v. 15). To the perishing, Christians are the smell of death, not because the gospel message has become evil-smelling or death-dealing, but because in rejecting the life-giving grace of God unbelievers choose death for themselves. To those who welcome the gospel of God's grace, Christians with their testimony are the fragrance of life.
Will you ask the Holy Spirit to help you determine if you are welcoming God’s grace or rejecting it?
Let’s pray.
