Sermon Central
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"the King Who Overcomes Evil"
Contributed by Clarence Eisberg on Nov 19, 2020 (message contributor)
Summary: Christ the King Sunday. A very unusual year. Worried. the cross, became the symbol of Christianity…. The cross was not his final destination…. There must be more to the story. Some quotes from the book "How Evil Works"
Jesus came as a result of the promise of God to Adam and Eve to defeat Satan who holds people in the grip of the fear of death. (Hebrews 2:14) Jesus came as the King lifted high on a cross to offer His perfect life as the perfect Lamb of God. His perfect sacrifice is what brings forgiveness for every broken commandment of everyone who places their trust in Jesus. It is He who defeated death by rising from the grave and death itself.
David Kupelian in his book “How Evil Works” writes: “”we do not understand evil, what it is, how it works, and why it so routinely and effortlessly ruins our lives. Despite the human race’s extraordinary capacity for invention and progress we clearly have a millennia old blind spot”….to the influence and power of Satan at work to destroy God’s creation. We can see that violent behavior when it roams our streets, just as Herod’s soldiers roamed the streets of Bethlehem late one night.
As much as we want, husbands and wives can’t seem to stay married. Family breakdown is all around us. We have been given a lie that the grass is greener or there is less conflict with another. Americans are increasingly forsaking their faith in Christianity and its’ values, along with the challenge to forgive one another.
A crisis throws us off our guard, upsets us, and inclines us to make decisions and accept “solutions’ we normally would reject. The COVIN 19 crisis has challenged our sacred institutions of worship and family gatherings. Families are God’s created stronghold. Within the family is where we are to find acceptance, care, support, without love and hope suicides rise and depression wins the day. Family is God’s creation from the beginning of time. In God’s design the family challenge overcome evil.
In our present culture there is contempt for authority. We see in our streets against the police. Satan would love a world without police…. Chaos destroys lives, families, institutions. This is why Jesus calls us to be “peacemakers” to Love our neighbor as ourselves. It is a better way. Pride and hate use intimidation. Intimidation leads to fear. Fear destroys lives. Too often as human beings we seek easy solutions, even to the point of giving up sacred freedoms.
Men, boys, masculinity itself has been under a withering national assault for decades. The Great Society almost destroyed the American Black family, by removing the father from the home if the home was to receive financial aid from the government.
Our current culture is filled with “gender confusion” and role reversal. Jesus called Satan the father of lies. Satan understands that when we break the bond between a father and his children it becomes easy to break the bond between our heavenly Father and we His children. When that bond is lost we human beings feel abandoned and lost in a sea false substitutes.
In Revelation 17 John is told that “great prostitute” dressed in purple and scarlet, glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls is false religion. False religion can be an attractive substitute that replaces the truth of God, but offers temporary power and glory. John further identifies the beast on which the “great prostitute” of false religion relies is political government ruled by selfish kings and rulers. These are the tools of Satan in his cosmic war against God’s chosen people and His church.
