Our Memorial Day Observance reminds unfortunately today that -War in an unfortunate and inevitable part of life!
Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: -NIV
Ecclesiastes 3:2a a time to be born and a time to die, -NIV
Ecclesiastes 3:3b a time to kill and a time to heal, -NIV
Ecclesiastes 3:8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. -NIV
Some Americans were vividly reminded of this at the sunrise of a Sunday morning, on December 7, 1941, when 353 Japanese war planes flew through a mountain pass over the island of Oahu in order to conduct a surprise military strike upon the United States (which was a country that was a neutral country at a time of war). The attack was against a naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. The attack commenced at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time. The base was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese aircraft (which included fighter planes, level and dive bomber plains, and torpedo bombers). The attack came in two waves, from planes that were launched from six aircraft carriers.
Eight battleships and 10 smaller warships were sunk or put out of commission. A total of 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded.
Japan announced declarations of war on the United States and the British Empire later that day in Tokyo. The British government declared war on Japan immediately after learning that their territory had also been attacked. The following day the United States Congress declared war on Japan.
On December 11, despite the fact they had no formal obligation to do so under the Tripartite Pact with Japan, Germany and Italy each declared war on the U.S., which responded with a declaration of war against Germany and Italy.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt opening remarks in a speech he made the following the day after the attack were; “Mr. Vice President, and Mr. Speaker, and Members of the Senate and House of Representatives: YESTERDAY, December 7, 1941 a date which will live in infamy the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, “ No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us. Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces with the unbounding determination of our people we will gain the inevitable triumph so help us God.”
In the days ensuing that attack hundreds of thousands Americans rushed to enlist in the armed forces. The national battle cry with which the United States entered World War II was "Remember Pearl Harbor!" And upon that battle-cry the US and her allies went onto eventual victory!
NOW WHY DID I REHEARSE FOR YOU THAT STORY? In order to present to you a powerful life principle which is this – REMEBERING! Remembering can be a very powerful exercise It can stabilize us, comfort and assure us, deliver us, motivate us, move us forward into this war-torn existence we call life!
It can inspire us and cause us to stay faithful on the path that God has called us!
It can cause us to appreciate, and ever appropriate the sacrifice that others have made on our behalf, and even motivate us to perpetuate and promote what others have done.
Having said all that although Memorial Day is an American Holiday, and there have been many highly decorated great soldiers in the history of America, as well as hero’s from other countries around the world and throughout history. But today I would like to take this occasion for us to remember the battle of all battles, the war of all wars, the soldier of all soldiers, who instructed to remember, to never forget, the sacrifice he made for us. In-fact he was so adamant about that that he instituted an ordinance to insure that we never would! The ordinance is called the Lord’s Supper, let me read the words for you if I may…
Luke 22:7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”
9 “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked.
10 He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, 11 and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 12 He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.”
13 They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.-NIV
The Apostle Paul’s version:
1 Corinthians 11: 23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” – NIV
I would like to bring you a message that I’ve entitled this Memorial Day weekend…
Remembering the Greatest Soldier of All- Jesus Christ!
I call him a soldier because Hebrews 2:10 calls him…
Hebrews 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.-NKJV
And a captain is one among a group who leads the others to achieve an objective, which I will elaborate upon later…
But I would like to use the Memorial Weekend Service to do a review as to why Jesus Christ is the greatest war hero of all time, in the hopes that those who may not be his may see what battle he fought, and why he fought it, and those of us who are his, may be revived in our commitment to Him as we remember Him!
Which is what the scripture literally commands us to do!
2 Timothy 2:8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel,
Let’s us first rememberl…
I. The WAR in which He enlisted.
That’s right, He was not drafted, but he enlisted…
John 10:18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”-NLT
That is, no one could take His life by force.
No one could overpower Him!
Do you remember the incident in Luke 4 where he taught something that infuriated the crowd?…
Luke 4: 28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. -NIV
Oh no, he was a war hero that willingly laid down his life, in what I would call the conflict of the ages..
A) When did this war that He enlisted in begin?
1. Sometime between the creation of the world and man!
a) At creation:
Job 38 (NIV)
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?
b) Morning stars and angels sang and shouted for joy at creation of the earth.
B) Why am I pointing this out?
1. Well one of the Morning Star’s who sang and shouted for joy is known by other names – Satan, Lucifer, Devil, Deceiver, Dragon, Serpent etc.!
C) Why did this war break out?
1. Because there was an attack, and assault upon the Throne, upon the Authority of God!
Isaiah 14 (NIV)
12 How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
15 But you are brought down to the realm of the dead,
to the depths of the pit.
2. Satan rebelled against God’s throne, God’s authority!
a) Not going to work!
Isaiah 45:5a I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God.-NIV
Revelation 12:3b Sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4a Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.
b) Convinced a third of the angels to rebel with him!
Revelation 12:7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8a But he was not strong enough, and….
c) They planned a coup! They tried to take over heaven but…
Revelation 12:8b they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.- NIV
D) War over right?
1. WRONG! The war continued, but the direction and emphasis of it changed!
Q: What do I mean?
2. Setting:
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31a God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. - NIV
Genesis 2: 8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;
Genesis 2:17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
3. Stop right here and say - What a gracious and generous God!
Genesis 2:9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.
Genesis 2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;
a) An example:
i. Imagine sitting with God in the finest restaurant and He were to say to you- you can order anything, and everything, on the menu that you wish, as much as you wish, just don’t order this one thing!
ii. Or God placing you in the world’s largest car dealership, a dealership full of cars with the keys in it, and God say, you are free to take any car you wish, you can drive it, return it, jump in another one, just stay away from this one!
iii. Or God putting you in the finest housing development in the world and saying to you are free to move into any house you wish, I own them but I offer them to you, but this one, only this one, is off limits!
3. What is this about?
Psalm 24:1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2 for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.-NIV
Psalm 50:12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. _KJV
a) The fulness thereof = All which it contains; everything which goes to "fill up" the world: animals, minerals, vegetables, people, birds, bees, flowers, and the TREES!
b) It all belongs to God, and He has a right to place parameters on whatever He wishes!
c) God has a right to rule over, and establish the rules for His creation!
E) ANYWAY THE WAR CONTINUED ON HEAVEN BY SATAN ATTEMPTING TO CONVICE MAN TO JOIN HIM IN HIS REBELLION TO BECOME HIS ALLY!
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
F) What was the weaponry of this war?
1. Lies!
2. Deceit!!
Genesis 3: 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
G) Wages of war?
1 John 3:4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.-NIV
N. Emmons, D. D.- GOD HAS A RIGHT TO GIVE LAW to all His intelligent creatures. It is the part of a superior to give law to an inferior. Every lawgiver must be supreme, in respect to those to whom he gives law. God is by nature supreme in all His natural and moral attributes.
Romans 6:23a For the wages of sin is death,- NIV
1. Death- ???at?? -thanatos - separation
Genesis 2:6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
1 Timothy 2:14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. -NIV
a) Adam deliberately ate the fruit in out right rebellion
Genesis 2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
a) Result?
Genesis 3:7a Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked;
i. That they were GUILTY, the had no ground to stand upon before a holy God!
Genesis 3:7b so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden
2. Guilt
3. Shame
4. Fear
Genesis 2:9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
5. Animosity
6. Enmity
a) Filters down to their first born!
Genesis 4:1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” 2a And again, she bore his brother Abel.
Genesis 4:8b Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. -ESV
7. WAR! [ON TWO FRONTS]
a) WITH GOD!
i. Adam and Eve became allies of the serpent and joined him in his cosmic rebellion!
Rev. Huizinga- Knowing War’s Origin: In Man’s Fall - The first declaration of war and act of aggression in human history occurred with that fall of Adam in the garden of Eden about six thousand years ago. No formal written declaration of war was drafted and stamped. No swords clashed. No guns blazed. No bulwarks crumbled. No ground shook. No blood spilled. No cries sounded.
Rev. Huizinga-- Knowing War’s Origin: In Man’s Fall -A commandment was broken. A good commandment of God was wickedly transgressed when Adam ate a piece of fruit he was commanded not to eat. Adam transgressed the covenant. Adam dealt treacherously against God. This eating was war, and war of staggering proportions, for it was man’s war against Almighty God.
b) With man, with each other!
Genesis 3:12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”-NIV
Genesis 4:8b Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. -ESV
i. Yet:
Rev. Huizinga- - Knowing War’s Origin: In Man’s Fall -The conducting of warfare in human history does not begin with any physical aggression between men, but with Adam’s spiritual assault against God in rebelling against God’s commandment.
Rev. Huizinga- - Knowing War’s Origin: In Man’s Fall - Genesis implies that Adam’s sin was war. First of all, that God threatened Adam with the punishment of death should Adam eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:17) implies that eating from that tree was an act of warfare against God. For God kills His enemies. God called Joshua and Israel to kill His enemies. The Psalms speak often of God destroying His enemies. That God threatened to kill the law-breaker in Eden implies that the law-breaker was a warring enemy in opposition to God.
Rev. Huizinga- - Knowing War’s Origin: In Man’s Fall -Through the Fall, our parents had joined an unholy alliance with the devil. The devil was at war with God. When Adam chose to obey Satan rather than God, he joined the war against God.
Rev. Huizinga- - Knowing War’s Origin: In Man’s Fall - Wicked war! Adam said “Yes, I shall” to God’s “Thou shalt not.” Doing so, he made the infinitely good and ever-blessed God of covenant fellowship his enemy. He made his Maker in whom he lived, and moved, and had his being the object of his hatred.
Rev. Huizinga- - Knowing War’s Origin: In Man’s Fall - Moreover, by eating that fruit Adam declared, “Honorable Satan, my wife and I would count it a privilege to be numbered with your principalities and powers and join your militaristic cause of overthrowing God…
Rev. Huizinga- - Knowing War’s Origin: In Man’s Fall - Foolish war! What foolish pride Adam exhibited in declaring war against his good and mighty God! It was the human against the Almighty, creature against Creator, dust of the balance against the Infinite and Eternal.
Psalm 2 (NIV)
1 Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break their chains
and throw off their shackles.”
Rev. Huizinga- - Knowing War’s Origin: In Man’s Fall - Deadly war! God killed Adam. God always kills His enemies. His holiness and justice demands it.
Genesis 3:17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
Genesis 3:19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
b) AND NOT ONLY DID THIS ACT OF REBELLION LEAD TO A WAR WITH GOD, AND WITH OTHERS BUT ALSO WITHIN OURSELVES! A WAR - Within!
Romans 7:15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.-NIV
Romans 7:21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?- NIV
c) Which is the reason for war with others!
James 4:1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. -NKJV
G) What is the point?
1. When man sinned we became God’s enemies!
Romans 8:7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will.-NLT
G) What is the war the He enlisted in?
1. This war against God in which man ALLIED himself with Satan, is the war our Hero entered into!
Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. -NIV
II. The WAY in which He entered this war?
A) Way?
Genesis 3 (NKJV)
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
1. Seed of - the woman?
a) Woman have no seed, men do?
i. Men “plant” the seed of semen in the vulva of a female that causes impregnation!
ii. Sinful seed of a rebel name Adam would not be enlisted in this war?
b) Who is the seed of the woman?
i. Our Hero!
B) How?
C)When?
Galatians 4: 4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,-NASB
i. Specifically:
Luke 1:26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” -NIV
Luke 1:31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
Luke 1:34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.- NIV
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. -NIV
John 1:14a The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.-NIV
Luke 2 (NIV)
6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” - NIV
Luke 2: 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. .- NIV
III. The Way in which He was trained for the war?
Isaiah 53:2a He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.-NIV
1. In a barren war-torn wasteland, where there is no moisture, where plants normally wither up and die!
John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.-NKJV
Isaiah 53:2b He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3a He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.-NIV
2. Despised and rejected are two words that explain his life’s experience!
Matthew Poole- He was accounted as the scum of mankind, as one unworthy of the company and conversation of all men.
Luke 7:34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' _NIV
John 10:20 Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”- NIV
Mark 3:21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.- NIV
Isaiah 53:3b Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.-NIV
3. Like many of our veterans were held especially Vietnam vets.
HISTORY.COM -MARCH 29, 2019
Twenty-one-year-old Steven A. Wowwk arrived as an infantryman in the Army’s First Cavalry Division in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam in early January 1969 to fight in an escalating and increasingly unwinnable war. By June, Wowwk had been wounded twice—the second time seriously—and was sent back to the United States for treatment at Boston’s Chelsea Naval Hospital.
HISTORY.COM -MARCH 29, 2019
It was after returning to the U.S. and while en route to the hospital that Wowwk first encountered hostility as a veteran. Strapped to a gurney in a retrofitted bus, Wowwk and other wounded servicemen felt excitement at being back on American soil. But looking out the window and seeing civilians stop to watch the small convoy of hospital-bound vehicles, his excitement turned to confusion. “I remember feeling like, what could I do to acknowledge them, and I just gave the peace signal,” Wowwk says. “And instead of getting return peace fingers, I got the middle finger.”
John 15:24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father.
25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.- NIV
IV. The Why of His Entering this Warfare?
A) Why?
Colossians 1:15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20a and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace
1. Reconciliation! Wow!
a) To offer the olive branch of reconciliation to the rebels, enemies, He could immediately wipe out!
2. Reconciliation – ?????? -kaw-far' (Heb)
a) To cover, purge, make an atonement, make reconciliation, cover over with pitch, to forgive
3. Reconciliation - ?ata??a?? -katallage (GK)
a) Adjustment for the differences, restoration to favor
Q: How would he do it?
V. The Weaponry of His Warfare?
Colossians 1:20b through his blood, shed on the cross.
A) Cross!
Colossians 1:21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— NIV
Romans 5:10b While we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, -NIV
2 Corinthians 5:18b God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ…
2 Corinthians 5:19a that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.
John MacArthur -“Jesus went to the cross not because men turned on Him, though they did; Jesus went to the cross not because seducing spirits orchestrated the minds of the religious leaders of Judaism to plot His death, though they did; Jesus went to the cross not because an angry mob screamed for His blood, though they did. Jesus went to the cross because God planned it. God purposed it. And God designed it as the absolutely necessary means by which and by which alone reconciliation could take place.”
1. He thus ended God’s hostility towards us!
2. Our hostility toward one another!
Ephesians 2:14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.-NIV
John Gill- This was what man could not do, what Christ was appointed and sent to do, and what he was every way qualified for as God and man; as man he had blood to shed, and could make reconciliation for sin in the nature which had sinned, and, as God, could draw nigh to his Father, and treat with him about terms of peace, and perform them; and so a fit daysman and Mediator between, God and man: this peace he has made by his "blood", that is, by the shedding of it, by his death as a sacrifice, which he underwent on the cross
B) Cost?
Romans 5:10b While we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son
1. God’s Son’s Life!
a) Salvation for sinners cost God His own Son; it cost God’s Son His life!
Q: Ok if God reconciled sinners, if that was an act of peace, then how can you call it a war?
Q: Who did He defeat?
C) Conquer?
Colossians 2:15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.-NIV
Charles Spurgeon -His cross was his triumph. Then he led captivity captive. What more do you want? Your enemy is vanquished, your sins blotted out, your death changed to life, your necessities all supplied.
2. He liberated you from your former ally now turned enemy
3. He liberated you from your sin within!
Romans 6:1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Romans 6:5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
Romans 7:23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
4. Death/Grave!
Romans 6: 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
1 Corinthians 15:20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
1 Corinthians 15:55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. -NIV
5. Hell!
Revelation 1:17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.-NIV
VI. What are we to do with the Warrior?
A) Repent
1. In His Name!
Act 2:38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
B) Receive Him! Believe Him!
John 1:11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—NIV
C) Remember Him!
1 Corinthians 11: 23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
VII. Why are we to remember this Warrior?
1 Corinthians 11: 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
A) Why?
1. He is coming again!
2. As Warrior!
a) Coming again to make WAR!
Revelation 19: 1 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
king of kings and lord of lords.
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.”
3. Jesus is referred to as the Captain of Our Salvation!
Hebrews 2:10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
a) Captain – Are Kay Goss - archegos – The captain of a company of followers, the file leader.
Some translations use the word
b) Author, or pioneer; The implication being someone who is a leader, who begins something. Someone who cuts a path for others to follow!
2 Timothy 2: 3 Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 2: 4a No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs,
2 Timothy 2:4a No soldier (continuously) in active service entangles himself in the affairs (civilian affairs) of everyday life,
2 Timothy 2:4b But rather tries to please his commanding officer.
Albert Barnes -A good soldier's "great object is not to pursue his own plans, or to have his own will, or to accumulate property or fame for himself. His will is absorbed in the will of his commander…
C. Garret - "You cannot be a saint on Sundays and a sinner in the week; you cannot be a saint at church and a sinner in the shop; you can not be a saint in Liverpool and a sinner in London. You cannot serve God and Mammon. You are a soldier everywhere or nowhere, and woe to you if you dishonour your King."
I am a soldier in the army of my God.
The Lord Jesus Christ is my Commanding Officer.
The Holy Scripture is my code of conduct.
Faith, prayer and the Word are my weapons of warfare.
I have been taught by the Holy Spirit, trained by experience,
tried by adversity and tested by fire.
I am a volunteer in this army, and I am enlisted for eternity.
I will not get out, sell out, be talked out or pushed out.
I am faithful, reliable, capable and dependable.
If my God needs me, I am there. I am a soldier.
I am not a baby. I do not need to be pampered, petted,
primed up, pumped up, picked up, or pepped up. I am a soldier.
No one has to call me, remind me, write me, visit me, entice me or lure me.
I am a soldier. I am not a wimp. I am in place, saluting my King,
obeying His orders, praising His name and building His kingdom!
No one has to send me flowers, gifts, food, cards or candy, or give
me handouts. I do not need to be cuddled, cradled, cared for or
catered to. I am committed. I cannot have my feelings hurt bad
enough to turn me around. I cannot be discouraged enough to
turn me aside. I cannot lose enough to cause me to quit.
When Jesus called me into this army, I had nothing. If I end up with nothing,
I will still come out ahead. I will win. My God has and will continue to supply all of my need.
I am more than a conqueror. I will always triumph. I can do all things through Christ.
The devil cannot defeat me. People cannot disillusion me. Weather cannot weary me.
Sickness cannot stop me. Battles cannot beat me. Money cannot buy me. Governments
cannot silence me, and hell cannot handle me. I am a soldier.
Even death cannot destroy me. For when my Commander calls me from His battlefield,
He will promote me to captain and then allow me to rule with Him.
I am a soldier in the army, and I’m marching claiming victory.
I will not give up. I will not turn around.
I am a soldier, marching heaven-bound.
Here I Stand! Will you stand with me?
1 Corinthians 11: 23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me. 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. 32 Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.
