INTRO.- ILL.- One fine day. Hopefully, we all experience some fine days in life. Life at home. Mama’s love and good cooking. Daddy’s provision. Getting through school. Graduation. Getting our driver’s license. That first car. That first job. Better yet, that first paycheck. Our baptism into Christ. Marriage. The birth of our babies. Many fine days.
One fine day. That’s the name of a 1996 romantic comedy with Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney. These two are divorced, each with a child, afraid to commit to someone else, and living very hectic lives. One fine day, they accidentally meet at the school where their kids go to school and during the day they keep meeting, however they hate each other and don’t want to see the other ever again. But as the movie progresses, the relationship between the two changes from hating each other, to liking one another, and eventually to falling in love with one another.
Isn’t it wonderful when two people fall in love? Isn’t a great love story wonderful? I will tell you about another love story that is far more wonderful than any human can begin to imagine.
PROP. - Today, we’re considering the greatest love story ever told and two aspects of that one fine day.
1- Jesus rose
2- Satan died
I. JESUS ROSE
Matt. 28:5-6 “The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” Jesus rose. One fine day. Couldn’t have been better! Over the top!
ILL.- Remember in high school biology class when we would dissect frogs? Did you ever do that? We would cut them apart and examine the different parts, etc.
Well, when it comes to the resurrection there will be no dissection. There is no way a person can do it. There is no way a person can explain it, how it was done, etc. Physically or scientifically speaking, there is no way any person can understand or explain the resurrection.
ILL.- We know that there is a probe into baseball’s Barry Bonds’ past. Did he or did he not use steroid drugs to enhance his batting ability?
People can probe into the resurrection of Christ all they want. Did he or did he not rise from the dead? Did He have some kind of magic potion? The skeptics and unbelievers will always probe and ask questions. But when it comes to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead a person either believes it or they don’t.
ILL.- Twelve miles southwest of Joplin, Missouri, a roughly paved road runs through a narrow canyon. Nearby is the former border village of Hornet. The place is remote and far from civilization, so why do so many people come here?
They are searching for an unexplained puzzle that most of them actually seem to find. This puzzle has been seen along this road since 1866 and has created such a mystery that even the Army Corps of Engineers officially concluded that it was a "mysterious light of unknown origin". It has gone by many names but it’s most commonly known as the Hornet Spook Light.
This light has appeared seemingly as a ball of fire for about 140 years, varying in size from a basketball to even larger. It spins down the center of this gravel road at great speed, rises up high, bobs and weaves to the right and left. It appears to be a large lantern, but there is never anyone carrying it.
The light has appeared inside of vehicles, seems to retreat when it is pursued and never allows anyone to get to close to it. Does the light have some sort of intelligence? That remains just one of the many mysteries connected to this light.
People and scientists from all over the world have come to see it and try to figure out what it is and where it came from. AND THEY CAN’T DO IT. They haven’t yet and probably never will.
Do you believe in the “Spook Light”? Whether you do or not, I do. Why? Because I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I am a witness of the light! I am also a witness of a greater light.
How do we know the resurrection of Jesus is real, true? Because of the many witnesses as recorded in the scriptures. Many of these witnesses who saw Jesus after He rose from the dead gave their lives for Him.
I Cor. 15:3-8 “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”
No person in their right mind would be willing to die for something that wasn’t true. And some did. Also, there are now 6.5 billion people on earth and two billion of those people claim to believe in Christ. Two billion believe in the resurrection of Christ. The evidence is strong. WHY NOT BELIEVE?
ILL.- A former skeptic by the name of Josh McDowell puts it, “After more than 700 hours of studying this subject, and thoroughly investigating its foundation, I have come to the conclusion that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is either one of the ‘most wicked, vicious, heartless hoaxes ever imposed on the minds of men, OR it is the most fantastic fact of history.’” And McDowell chose to believe.
ILL.- On Thursday, March 30, 2006, miracle miner Randall McCloy of the Jan. 2nd Sago mine disaster of W. VA., went home. He said, “I’d just like to thank everybody for their thoughts and prayers.” He hesitated and then said, “I believe that’s it.”
Praise the Lord for this miracle! But there’s a greater miracle and a greater miracle man! Jesus rose!
II. SATAN DIED
Col. 2:15 “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
Jesus triumphed over Satan on the cross. How could this be? Because He did exactly what the Father had planned in order to overcome sin, Satan, death, and hell! IT WAS GOD’S PLAN! God is still over all, including Satan!
I John 3:8 “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”
Destroy the devil’s work. And that’s what Jesus did on the cross and by His resurrection. The devil was against us and Jesus was for us. And He came to take care of the bully who was out to hurt us. No likes a bully and least of all, Jesus.
Satan didn’t literally die but we wish he had. But for all practical purposes he did die. Through Christ’s death and resurrection Satan has been disarmed. He has no power except what God will allow.
Heb. 2:14 “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil.” Satan was destroyed through Christ’s death.
ILL.- Writing in Moody Monthly, Carl Armerding recounted his experience of watching a wildcat in a zoo. "As I stood there," he said, "an attendant entered the cage through a door on the opposite side. He had nothing in his hands but a broom. Carefully closing the door, he proceeded to sweep the floor of the cage." He observed that the worker had no weapon to ward off an attack by the beast. In fact, when he got to the corner of the cage where the wildcat was lying, he poked the animal with the broom. The wildcat hissed at him and then lay down in another corner of the enclosure. Armerding remarked to the attendant, "You certainly are a brave man." "No, I ain’t brave," he replied as he continued to sweep. "Well, then that cat must be tame." "No," came the reply, "he ain’t tame." "If you aren’t brave and the wildcat isn’t tame, then I can’t understand why he doesn’t attack you." Armerding said the man chuckled, then replied with an air of confidence, "Mister, he’s old--and he ain’t got no teeth."
And so it is with Satan. Satan doesn’t have the teeth that he once did but it’s not because he’s old, it’s because of Jesus’ death and resurrection! Jesus took the bite out of Satan.
ILL.- I heard Satan once described as a chicken with his head cut off. He’s dead but just doesn’t know it yet. He’s still thrashing around, causing trouble even though he’s dead.
One fine day. Jesus rose and Satan died. Satan was put in his place. One very fine day.
CONCLUSION---------------------------
ILL.- The song “I Finally Found Someone” is from the 1996 movie with Barbra Streisand and Jeff Bridges, “The Mirror Has Two Faces.”
I finally found someone
That knocks me off my feet
I finally found the one
That makes me feel complete
This is it, oh I finally found someone
Someone to share my life
I finally found the one
To be with every night
’Cause whatever I do
It’s just got to be you
My life has just begun
I finally found someone
We have found someone in Jesus. We have found the greatest someone of the ages who makes our lives complete. Jesus, the son of the living God, risen from the dead and reigning forever more.
