The Believer’s Victory in Jesus
May 12, 2025
Dr. Bradford Reaves
Crossway Christian Fellowship
Matthew 5:5-6
A War Worth Remembering
Today is Memorial Day weekend. For many, it is a time of cookouts, flag-waving, and gatherings. But for a moment, we pause to remember the fallen—those who paid the highest price so that we might live in freedom. Every freedom we enjoy in this country came at the cost of blood. In total, more than 1.2 million U.S. military personnel have died in service since the Revolutionary War with an estimated 750,000 lives lost in the Civil War alone, the most costly of our wars and just over 400,000 lives lost in WWII. In Arlington National Cemetery, approximately 260,000 graves are adorned with American flags each Memorial Day.
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.” (Samuel Adams)
This isn’t just a statement about politics — it’s a prophetic warning for the Church today. Silence in the face of evil is not neutrality. It’s surrender. As Americans, we honor those who died so we could live in freedom. But as Christians, we must also honor the One who died to free us from sin, darkness, and the grip of Satan himself. This Memorial Day, while we reflect on the brave men and women who laid down their lives for our national freedom, we are also reminded of the far greater freedom won at the Cross. Jesus Christ triumphed over the powers of darkness, disarmed them, and declared eternal victory. The war is won — but many believers are still living like captives. So today’s message is a clarion call. It’s time to wake up. Time to remember. Time to live in the freedom that was blood-bought — not just by our soldiers, but by our Savior. This is “The Victory of the Cross: Christ’s Triumph Over Satan and the Powers of Darkness.”
Silence in days like these isn’t spiritual maturity—it’s spiritual surrender. This Memorial Day weekend, we honor those who gave their lives for freedom. But today, we also honor the greatest liberator of all: Jesus Christ, who secured not just political liberty but eternal victory over sin, death, and Satan.
Over the past several weeks, we’ve been exposing the darkness in our series Modern Satanism:
Part 1: Media, Education, Culture
Part 2: Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll
Part 3: LGBTQ, Human Trafficking, and Pedophilia
Part 4 & 5: Illuminati, Freemasonry, and the Beast System
These messages were heavy because they needed to be. Satan's systems are real and rising. But today, we pivot. Today we remember that what Satan builds, Christ shatters. What Satan perverts, Christ purifies. What Satan claims, Christ has already conquered. Because what Satan forms in systems of evil and deception, the cross reveals, releases, and revives. If you are feeling trapped in darkness and that Satan always has the upper hand in your life, I want you to remember with me the power of the cross over your life and the hope that Jesus brings in ever facet of your life if you let him.
He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. (Colossians 2:15)
This is not a message of condemnation—this is a declaration of emancipation! Today we declare that the Cross was not just a sacrifice—it was a victory.
I. The Real Enemy: Satan and the Powers of Darkness
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)
We live in a world of conflict, but our greatest battle is not political or social. It is spiritual. The Bible pulls back the curtain and shows us that behind the violence, the addiction, the confusion, and the chaos, there is an enemy. And he is not playing games. Satan is the ruler of a dark kingdom. His weapons are deception, accusation, shame, and fear. He wants you bound, silenced, and ineffective. But here's the truth: he is already defeated. Think of the trenches of World War II. Many battles were won before the war officially ended, but soldiers still had to move forward, take ground, and live in the victory that had already been secured. That’s where we are now.
II. The Battlefield: The Cross Was a Cosmic War Zone
To the casual observer, the Cross looked like defeat. Jesus, bloodied, mocked, humiliated. But spiritually? Hell was being plundered.
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:30)
That was not a cry of resignation. It was a declaration of victory! In the Greek, tetelestai means: Paid in full. Accomplished. Settled.
by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. (Colossians 2:14–15)
On that Cross, Christ was doing spiritual jujitsu—using the weapon Satan thought would destroy Him to destroy Satan's power itself! Like a military operation behind enemy lines, Jesus entered enemy territory and detonated a spiritual nuke. Chains began falling. The veil tore. The grave shook.
On the morning of June 6, 1944 — D-Day — Major Dick Winters and a handful of men from Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne found themselves behind enemy lines near Brécourt Manor, Normandy. They had parachuted into chaos, scattered across the French countryside under fire, unsure who had survived the jump. But when Winters got word that a nest of German artillery was raining fire on American troops storming Utah Beach, he knew hesitation could mean disaster.
With no time to wait for reinforcements, Winters took just 12 men and launched a bold assault on a well-fortified German position held by nearly five times that number. Against all odds, they flanked the position, neutralized the guns, and captured vital intelligence. That small team saved hundreds — possibly thousands — of American lives storming the beach that morning.
Winters later said, “I wasn’t a hero, but I served in a company of heroes.”
Now, imagine the Cross of Christ through that lens. On the hill of Calvary, our Savior launched Heaven’s rescue operation. Like Winters and his men, Jesus dropped into enemy territory, not with an army, but alone — the Righteous One in the midst of rebellion, surrounded by powers and principalities. It was Hell’s stronghold, but Jesus wasn’t intimidated. He assaulted the gates of death with nail-pierced hands and crushed the artillery of guilt, shame, sin, and Satan.
On that Cross, Christ disarmed the rulers and authorities — not by overwhelming force, but by strategic sacrifice. He gave His life to secure ours. One obedient Man changed the course of eternity. “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” — Colossians 2:15
Just like Winters’ handful of brave soldiers tipped the scales in one of the most crucial moments of World War II, Christ’s obedience tipped the scale of all history.
The tomb is empty.
The throne is occupied.
The enemy is disarmed.
The church is redeemed — and now we are the company of the redeemed, sent behind enemy lines with a mission.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (Hebrews 12:1)
Because of Christ’s victory, we run — not as victims, but as spiritual soldiers. We fight — not for victory, but from it. We march — not in fear, but in resurrection power.
III. The Prisoners Freed: Chains Still Fall Today
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1–2)
Satan holds people hostage through sin, shame, addiction, fear, and lies. But when you stand under the Cross, those chains must fall.
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. (Hebrews 2:14–15)
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, (Luke 4:18)
I once prayed with a man who had battled years of addiction, pornography, shame, and self-hatred. He hated himself because he grew up under the weight of an abusive father. After I preached a message, he came up front and asked me to pray for him. As I prayed, he started praying too, until, he took over the prayer. His voice cracked as he prayed, but in that holy moment, you could almost hear it — the sound of spiritual chains hitting the floor. No spotlight, no emotion-driven music — just the quiet, sacred release of a man finally laying it all at the foot of the Cross.
That day, I didn’t just witness a man getting prayed over. I witnessed the Cross doing what only it can do — breaking the unbreakable. Later he said, “I didn’t just walk away forgiven… I walked away free. Like someone had unlocked a prison I didn’t know I was in.”
That’s what Jesus does. He doesn’t just cleanse your sin — He breaks your chains. Chains still fall. Even now.
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? (Isaiah 58:6)
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and burst their bonds apart. (Psalm 107:14)
IV. The Church Must Not Live Like Victims, But Like Victors
You were not saved to survive. You were saved to stand.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. (Ephesians 6:10–11)
Stop living under what Jesus already lifted off you. Stop surrendering ground He already won. The Cross was not partial victory—it was total triumph. Too many believers are living like prisoners when Christ has already opened the cell door. The cross wasn’t a half-victory — it was a total triumph. Yet far too often, the church walks in defeat, distracted by division, weighed down by grumbling, choked by gossip, and paralyzed by apathy. It’s time to lay those weights down.
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. (Psalm 55:22)
And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.” (Isaiah 10:27)
Division is a weight. Grumbling is a weight. Gossip is a chain. Apathy is a cancer. The enemy doesn’t need to possess you if he can just distract you, divide you, or dull you. But the Church of Jesus Christ wasn’t made for the shadows. We were born for battle. We are not spiritual civilians — we are Holy Spirit soldiers!
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. (2 Corinthians 10:4)
You were not saved to sit.
You were not redeemed to retreat.
You were not filled with the Spirit to fit in — you were empowered to stand up and stand out.
It’s time to shake off the spirit of heaviness and put on the garment of praise (Isaiah 61:3). The devil wants a silenced church, a fractured church, a bitter church. Jesus is raising up a singing church, a praying church, a bold church. He didn’t set us free so we could stay asleep, adrift, and aloof — but so we could be awake, aware, and awaiting His return!
You may feel tired, poor. weary, wounded, or stuck - but that’s not your identity.
You are not what happened to you.
You are not your mistakes.
You are not your past.
You are not the labels other have put on you
You are not the sum of your failures and shortcomings
You are redeemed, armed, and assigned. There is a crown before you, a call upon you, and a Spirit within you. It’s time to act like it.
Here are 10 things that you become in Christ:
1. You are a New Creation
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” — 2 Corinthians 5:17
2. You are God’s Workmanship, Created for a Purpose “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” — Ephesians 2:10
3. You are More Than a Conqueror “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”— Romans 8:37
4. You are Chosen, Royal, and Set Apart “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” — 1 Peter 2:9
5. You are the Temple of the Holy Spirit “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”— 1 Corinthians 3:16
6. You are Seated with Christ in Heavenly Places “And raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” — Ephesians 2:6
7. You are Redeemed and Forgiven “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.” — Ephesians 1:7
8. You are Equipped for Battle “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.” — 2 Corinthians 10:4
9. You are the Light of the World “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. — Matthew 5:14
10. You are Called, Justified, and Glorified “And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.” — Romans 8:30
This is the time to wake up — to put on the armor — to take back your joy — and to fight from victory. The devil tried to bury you — but God is calling you to breathe again. To believe again. To praise again!
On D-Day in 1944, Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy. That moment didn’t end the war, but it guaranteed the outcome. When Jesus died and rose, He landed the decisive blow. The war is still playing out—but the outcome is not in doubt. So church, stop living like you're losing. Christ has won. Come home to the One who was pierced for your rebellion, who was crushed for your iniquity, who is coming again with eyes of fire and a crown of many crowns. This is your moment to return to Jesus Christ—the real King, the true Light, and the only Way.
