Jesus’ Victory over the Great Enemy Gen 3:1-20; Ps 96; Col 2:8-15; John 12:20-33
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUVqz9pOulc
Introduction
Today’s texts confront most of us about our deep unbelief. For in practice, most churches operate as if there were no evil “rulers and authorities” in the heavenly places ceaselessly working against the cause of Christ (Col 2:15; Eph 3:10; 6:12 etc.). This is why prevailing prayer is lacking, we rarely see miracles (cf. Luke 13:10-16) and the Church seems impotent to touch mental torment beyond the reach of ordinary medical care (cf. Mark 5:1-20).
God himself has declared war, for he said to Satan masquerading as the deceiving snake in Eden (Rev 12:9), “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Gen 3:15). The kingdom of God and the dominion of darkness are perpetually engaged in a cosmic war whose focal point the Church. The New Testament writers are unanimous in their testimony about the scope of the devil’s evil dominion, Jesus calls him “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31), Paul describes him as “the god of this world” (2 Cor 4:4), John says, “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19 cf. Rev 12:9). This ugly truth will not go away because we ignore it. The Church on earth has traditionally been described as “the Church militant”, but this is hardly a true description of your average Anglican parish, including us. But this sermon must not concentrate on the Church or the devil, everything is about Jesus. Spiritual warfare is an identity-defining issue for us because Jesus saw it as essential to his earthly mission (Matt 12:28-29; John 12:31; 16:11).
Understanding Evil
Genesis 3 exposes the nature of all evil because it reveals Satan’s core strategy. The temptation, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Gen 3:4-5), show that the essence of evil is to put yourself first. Wherever you see a person ruled by self-centredness you see a person ruled by the devil. This is the exact opposite of the life of Christ.
Christus Victor
Although the Gospels contain numerous accounts of Jesus releasing people from demonic oppression (Matt 8:16; 17:17-18; Mark 1:23-26; Luke 4:41 etc.), his final victory over Satan is always depicted in terms of the cross. Having failed in the wilderness to induce Jesus to become a selfish spectacular miracle working Messianic ruler (Matt 4:1-11) the devil’s strategy turns to casting Christ out of the world by killing him. Crucifixion was always part of the plan of God (Acts 2:23; 4:27-28), as an act of the selfless love of the Son of God which alone can cover over the self-centredness of sinners.
Whilst Satan believed the cross would seal his final victory, it would prove to be his ultimate defeat. Jesus’ testified of this in today’s Gospel, “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life…. Father, glorify your name…. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.” (John 12:25, 28, 31-33). The cross is the place where divine selflessness conquers evil’s selfishness.
In submitting to his murder Jesus put the glory of his Father before his own survival, and in doing so totally undermined the authority of the devil to manipulate human life through the power of self-preservation. In putting the Father first Jesus bore our guilty burden of losing the glory of God’s intimate presence on the cross (Mark 15:34; 2 Cor 5:21). Therefore, he has been exalted to a place of power and authority far beyond anything in this broken creation (Phil 2:5-11). The crucified Christ has become the all-conquering Lamb of God (Rev 5 ff.).
Because of Christ’s work Satan has been cast out of heaven, he has become a disbarred illegal prosecutor with no authority to accuse, blame or shame the saints of God (Rev 12:7-10). He has no rightful hold on those who belong to Jesus. This is what the scripture means when it says in 1 John 3:8, “The reason the Son of God appeared was destroy the works of the devil”. Likewise, Hebrews testifies, that Jesus “through death…might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (2:14). The Greek for “destroy” means “render powerless/incapacitate”. The devil has been “put out of office”, his rulings against sinners are invalidated for Jesus by covering over our guilt has destroyed the power of death from within (1 Cor 15:56-57). As Paul defiantly pronounces, “he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.” (Col 2:15).
Free to Die
As the one sinless person, Jesus was free from guilt and shame and could never be accused by the devil of anything. He alone never deserved to die. But he died in our place bearing all the weight of alienation from God that belongs to us (Mark 15:34). In rising from the dead, to quote Paul, the Lord “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light in the gospel” (2 Tim 1:10). Every evil power is being placed under his feet (1 Cor 15:25; Eph 1:20-21).
The death and glorification of Jesus as our representative has radically transformed what it means to be human (cf. 2 Cor 5:16-17). Through the revelation of the gospel Christians know death is far more profound than the mere end of physical existence. For those who do not believe in Jesus death is the wages of sin (Gen 2:17; Rom 3:23; 5:12), death is the first stage of the Last Judgement. The devil delights in this, for as Jesus said, he has been “a murderer (of souls) from the beginning” (John 8:44). Christ alone delivers us from death as a devilish defeat, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 15:56-57).
Christians still die physically but no power can terminate our relationship with God. The sign of this liberation is freedom from fear, especially of death. John explains, “By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is (i.e. Jesus) so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” (1 John 4:17-18). J.B. Phillips helpfully expounds what this scripture is saying, “fear always contains some of the torture of feeling guilty”. From the time of the loss of the glory of God in Eden (Rom 3:23) the human conscience testifies not only that they must die but that we deserve to die. Jesus has liberated us from such a tyranny. In Christ condemnation has been taken away so the terror of death abolished (Rom 8:1). Freedom from paralysing fear, and I mean this quite literally, was the greatest change in my life after conversion.
Demonised
When the Church opens its eyes, it will see that we live in a day of intense spiritual exposure. For centuries the “Christianisation” of Western nations cloaked the true power of the Great Enemy. This is rapidly coming to an end for signs of “the murderer” are everywhere. The legalisation of same-sex marriage spelled the death of matrimony as humans have always known it, and with abortion and euthanasia killing off the image of God (Gen 9:6), it’s much easier to see what Satan is doing in our society than what Christ is doing. Today, the fragility of human life is being exposed by crises that shatter our comfort zones. Deprived of usual securities hoarders have stripped our supermarket shelves whilst the nation is running scared of an economic and logistical meltdown. Human weakness and fragility are manifest, but few accept that putting oneself first is at the root of all this panic and the epidemic of psychological crises in our midst, depression, anxiety, suicide, the most self-centred act of all. Few see that the horrible power behind our terrible turning-in-on-ourselves is the murderous father of lies (John 8:44). Few accept that the only remedy for demonic control is a crucified life (Gal 2:20). Only when we have died with Christ to our limitless self-centredness and risen with Christ to live for the sake of the gospel can we join with Jesus in destroying the works of the devil. When lost, frightened people look at our lives do they see the signs of Jesus’ victory over the Great Enemy?
Conclusion
Jesus said, “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has nothing in me.” (John 14:30). Being in Christ the devil has nothing on us, we are beyond the authority of every accusation. Why then does the Church manifest so little spiritual clout? It takes deep humility to accept that we have been deeply deceived. It is the book of Revelation that most bluntly tells us how the supreme victory of the cross is manifest in this broken world. “And they have conquered him (the Accuser) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” (Rev 12:11). As the cross was the final revelation of the Father’s love, so the selfless suffering of the people of God for Christ reveals him as the conqueror of all the works of the devil. The conqueror of guilt, shame, fear, anxiety. In a society possessed by self-indulgence, addicted to drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, possessed by a desire for worldy peace, prosperity and security, only a life of self-sacrifice breaks the devil’s grip on the heart and conscience. In not earnestly praying for gospel conversions, healings and deliverances most of the Church has removed itself from the battle. Remembering that in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus equated anger with murder (Matt 5:21), if no-one has ever been angry with you on account of the gospel (Col 4:3), it is plain that “the murderer” reckons you no threat to his dominion (Col 1:13). You are accounted as irrelevant to the struggle. Today, whoever longs to witness to the triumph of the gospel through their life must count the cost of following Christ. We must be willing to lose anything/everything (Mark 8:34-35; Luke 14:26-33) so that the devil might be cast out from our midst and Christ’s kingdom invade Bassendean and beyond.
Introduction
Today’s texts confront most of us about our deep unbelief. For in practice, most churches operate as if there were no evil “rulers and authorities” in the heavenly places ceaselessly working against the cause of Christ (Col 2:15; Eph 3:10; 6:12 etc.). This is why prevailing prayer is lacking, we rarely see miracles (cf. Luke 13:10-16) and the Church seems impotent to touch mental torment beyond the reach of ordinary medical care (cf. Mark 5:1-20).
God himself has declared war, for he said to Satan masquerading as the deceiving snake in Eden (Rev 12:9), “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Gen 3:15). The kingdom of God and the dominion of darkness are perpetually engaged in a cosmic war whose focal point the Church. The New Testament writers are unanimous in their testimony about the scope of the devil’s evil dominion, Jesus calls him “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31), Paul describes him as “the god of this world” (2 Cor 4:4), John says, “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19 cf. Rev 12:9). This ugly truth will not go away because we ignore it. The Church on earth has traditionally been described as “the Church militant”, but this is hardly a true description of your average Anglican parish, including us. But this sermon must not concentrate on the Church or the devil, everything is about Jesus. Spiritual warfare is an identity-defining issue for us because Jesus saw it as essential to his earthly mission (Matt 12:28-29; John 12:31; 16:11).
Understanding Evil
Genesis 3 exposes the nature of all evil because it reveals Satan’s core strategy. The temptation, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Gen 3:4-5), show that the essence of evil is to put yourself first. Wherever you see a person ruled by self-centredness you see a person ruled by the devil. This is the exact opposite of the life of Christ.
Christus Victor
Although the Gospels contain numerous accounts of Jesus releasing people from demonic oppression (Matt 8:16; 17:17-18; Mark 1:23-26; Luke 4:41 etc.), his final victory over Satan is always depicted in terms of the cross. Having failed in the wilderness to induce Jesus to become a selfish spectacular miracle working Messianic ruler (Matt 4:1-11) the devil’s strategy turns to casting Christ out of the world by killing him. Crucifixion was always part of the plan of God (Acts 2:23; 4:27-28), as an act of the selfless love of the Son of God which alone can cover over the self-centredness of sinners.
Whilst Satan believed the cross would seal his final victory, it would prove to be his ultimate defeat. Jesus’ testified of this in today’s Gospel, “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life…. Father, glorify your name…. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.” (John 12:25, 28, 31-33). The cross is the place where divine selflessness conquers evil’s selfishness.
In submitting to his murder Jesus put the glory of his Father before his own survival, and in doing so totally undermined the authority of the devil to manipulate human life through the power of self-preservation. In putting the Father first Jesus bore our guilty burden of losing the glory of God’s intimate presence on the cross (Mark 15:34; 2 Cor 5:21). Therefore, he has been exalted to a place of power and authority far beyond anything in this broken creation (Phil 2:5-11). The crucified Christ has become the all-conquering Lamb of God (Rev 5 ff.).
Because of Christ’s work Satan has been cast out of heaven, he has become a disbarred illegal prosecutor with no authority to accuse, blame or shame the saints of God (Rev 12:7-10). He has no rightful hold on those who belong to Jesus. This is what the scripture means when it says in 1 John 3:8, “The reason the Son of God appeared was destroy the works of the devil”. Likewise, Hebrews testifies, that Jesus “through death…might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (2:14). The Greek for “destroy” means “render powerless/incapacitate”. The devil has been “put out of office”, his rulings against sinners are invalidated for Jesus by covering over our guilt has destroyed the power of death from within (1 Cor 15:56-57). As Paul defiantly pronounces, “he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.” (Col 2:15).
Free to Die
As the one sinless person, Jesus was free from guilt and shame and could never be accused by the devil of anything. He alone never deserved to die. But he died in our place bearing all the weight of alienation from God that belongs to us (Mark 15:34). In rising from the dead, to quote Paul, the Lord “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light in the gospel” (2 Tim 1:10). Every evil power is being placed under his feet (1 Cor 15:25; Eph 1:20-21).
The death and glorification of Jesus as our representative has radically transformed what it means to be human (cf. 2 Cor 5:16-17). Through the revelation of the gospel Christians know death is far more profound than the mere end of physical existence. For those who do not believe in Jesus death is the wages of sin (Gen 2:17; Rom 3:23; 5:12), death is the first stage of the Last Judgement. The devil delights in this, for as Jesus said, he has been “a murderer (of souls) from the beginning” (John 8:44). Christ alone delivers us from death as a devilish defeat, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 15:56-57).
Christians still die physically but no power can terminate our relationship with God. The sign of this liberation is freedom from fear, especially of death. John explains, “By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is (i.e. Jesus) so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” (1 John 4:17-18). J.B. Phillips helpfully expounds what this scripture is saying, “fear always contains some of the torture of feeling guilty”. From the time of the loss of the glory of God in Eden (Rom 3:23) the human conscience testifies not only that they must die but that we deserve to die. Jesus has liberated us from such a tyranny. In Christ condemnation has been taken away so the terror of death abolished (Rom 8:1). Freedom from paralysing fear, and I mean this quite literally, was the greatest change in my life after conversion.
Demonised
When the Church opens its eyes, it will see that we live in a day of intense spiritual exposure. For centuries the “Christianisation” of Western nations cloaked the true power of the Great Enemy. This is rapidly coming to an end for signs of “the murderer” are everywhere. The legalisation of same-sex marriage spelled the death of matrimony as humans have always known it, and with abortion and euthanasia killing off the image of God (Gen 9:6), it’s much easier to see what Satan is doing in our society than what Christ is doing. Today, the fragility of human life is being exposed by crises that shatter our comfort zones. Deprived of usual securities hoarders have stripped our supermarket shelves whilst the nation is running scared of an economic and logistical meltdown. Human weakness and fragility are manifest, but few accept that putting oneself first is at the root of all this panic and the epidemic of psychological crises in our midst, depression, anxiety, suicide, the most self-centred act of all. Few see that the horrible power behind our terrible turning-in-on-ourselves is the murderous father of lies (John 8:44). Few accept that the only remedy for demonic control is a crucified life (Gal 2:20). Only when we have died with Christ to our limitless self-centredness and risen with Christ to live for the sake of the gospel can we join with Jesus in destroying the works of the devil. When lost, frightened people look at our lives do they see the signs of Jesus’ victory over the Great Enemy?
Conclusion
Jesus said, “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has nothing in me.” (John 14:30). Being in Christ the devil has nothing on us, we are beyond the authority of every accusation. Why then does the Church manifest so little spiritual clout? It takes deep humility to accept that we have been deeply deceived. It is the book of Revelation that most bluntly tells us how the supreme victory of the cross is manifest in this broken world. “And they have conquered him (the Accuser) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” (Rev 12:11). As the cross was the final revelation of the Father’s love, so the selfless suffering of the people of God for Christ reveals him as the conqueror of all the works of the devil. The conqueror of guilt, shame, fear, anxiety. In a society possessed by self-indulgence, addicted to drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, possessed by a desire for worldy peace, prosperity and security, only a life of self-sacrifice breaks the devil’s grip on the heart and conscience. In not earnestly praying for gospel conversions, healings and deliverances most of the Church has removed itself from the battle. Remembering that in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus equated anger with murder (Matt 5:21), if no-one has ever been angry with you on account of the gospel (Col 4:3), it is plain that “the murderer” reckons you no threat to his dominion (Col 1:13). You are accounted as irrelevant to the struggle. Today, whoever longs to witness to the triumph of the gospel through their life must count the cost of following Christ. We must be willing to lose anything/everything (Mark 8:34-35; Luke 14:26-33) so that the devil might be cast out from our midst and Christ’s kingdom invade Bassendean and beyond.