The Believer's Victory In Jesus Christ Series

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.