The Cross
Victory Through the Cross
Sunday, October 29, 2023
Welcome:
Let us bring our hearts and minds into the presence of God. Let us be reminded of why we gather in worship of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Let us come humbled before Him, with hearts adoring Him and mouths that praise Him. For He is worthy. We gather because we are created to worship our Creator. We gather, to be reminded of His greatness, goodness, and faithfulness. We gather, to be in fellowship with the Body and to be strengthened in our faith. So come and be present this morning. Let your whole self and spirit join in the worship of our Lord.
Let us remember what His attitude was when He came down from heaven to this earth in the form of man. Let us emulate His attitude today and every day.
Philippians 2: 5-11 NASB 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, as
He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. 9 For this reason also God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Psalm 136: 1-3
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.
Let His people say: His love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.
Let’s pray and lift up praise.
As we finish this series regarding the Importance of the Cross- we must close out this series focusing on the truth that is the sole basis for why Jesus willingly became our sacrifice- VICTORY over the enemy, over all evil and death! It is the cross that is the Sole Basis for Satan’s Defeat!
This truth must be central in our beliefs and what guides our actions. This is unchanging and there is nothing Satan can do about his defeat. This stands for all eternity. He can’t change the truth and the outcome that he is in fact defeated, but you can better believe he will do all he can to hide
this truth that we-the church stands victorious. He will do all he can to have us living defeated, in fear, without hope, and filled with anxiety regarding our circumstances and our future. He’s doing a pretty good job too and I want to credit him for anything, but look around at all the fear, anxiety, and hopelessness in our world.
The cross says that is not our truth. The cross says our truth is one of victory! Over every scheme, every trial, every setback, we are not to worry about our tomorrows because our God has us and is working all things for the good of those who love Him.
But we must choose to live in the truth of the cross by faith in Christ. This is a choice we make in faith. Because when we choose to live in this truth, that commitment and choice in our heart then guide our actions to follow that commitment. Let’s look to God’s Word this morning and see what our truth is and how the cross positions us for victory.
Colossians 2: 6-15 NIV
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off
when you were circumcised by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. To live in this victory there are some truths we must understand.
- The Only Basis to Resist Satan. Is through the Cross. We must humble ourselves and know we cannot resist the enemy on any other basis, certainly not our own wits or strength, other than Jesus’ victory over him through the cross. This is the only way we are positioned to resist him. This is where humility comes in because the truth is if we try to challenge satan any other way, we will be defeated. You and I are not stronger or smarter or craftier than satan. We’re just not. He was an angel in the heavens. He knows God’s Word so well and twists it in the slightest and sneakiest ways that make it seem like we’re following truth, but it’s no longer truth to glorify God. It’s not giving honor to Christ and it’s not in alignment with the character and purposes of God. He knows our weaknesses just as God does and you can bet he will be coming at you in every way possible in your weakest areas to expose them and break you. Remember Paul last week talking about having a thorn in his flesh messenger of satan. Paul had to draw from the power of the cross. It is foolishness and arrogance to think you can
outsmart or out will the enemy. He will take great pleasure in proving you wrong. You can’t beat him on your own. We need Jesus; this is why He came to give us certain victory.
Colossians 2:14 14 Having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.
This is what Jesus did for us on the cross- He took the charges against us for our sin; the debt we owed for that sin and He canceled it completely. He wiped away the debt and all the charges were cleared because He nailed them to the cross. He nailed them to the cross- not you, not me. Jesus did this. We receive this gift by faith.
Jesus told a parable to explain how He defeated satan once and for all:
Mark 3:27 NLT 27 Let me illustrate this further. Who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.
Satan was a strong man who was overly confident in his strength and power. He took all that he could from those around him and under his influence for his purpose was to seek, kill and destroy. Jesus is the One who is even stronger. He bound up satan and took away any hopes of victory he had by removing the debt humanity owed our
Holy God. Jesus set the captives free! He took away Satan’s weapons he uses over us. The truth is it took One even stronger than Satan. The only one stronger is Jesus Himself who is God. It’s not you
or me or anyone in humanity. Trying to come at the enemy in our own power is futile and self-defeating. We must come against the enemy the way Jesus did through the cross. This is where he was defeated and this is how we defeat him also when he comes prowling. We place the cross and its power between us and the enemy and we stand in the power of Christ’s blood shed for us and by the faith we have in Jesus and his defeat over the enemy.
We proclaim he has no power over us because the cross has set us free from his grasp. We tell him to flee. We learn how to prepare ourselves for battle with the enemy in Ephesians:
Ephesians 6:12 NIV 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
We want to fight with other people because we can see each other we must remember when someone is attacking us- family, friends, co-workers, whomever… our true battle and struggle is not with that person, but with the spiritual forces at work manifesting through that person. Looking for our weak spots to react, hurt, or break us. So don’t fight with people or let their words cut deep into your heart back to this truth and fight your battle from the victory you have through the cross. That’s the only way we as Christians fight.
Ephesians 6: 13-16 NIV 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Learn this, memorize this, and practice this heart stance daily. So you might stand firm and keep standing. Through the cross, you have all the power you need to keep standing. We take up our shield of faith and we extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one sent our way- we stand in victory!
- Eradicates Satan’s Greatest Weapon-Guilt.
Did you know Satan’s greatest weapon used against humanity is guilt?
Jesus has victory over guilt- through the cross. Satan knows he has been defeated and he knows where he’ll be going as God determines the timing-to the Lake of Fire. But he’s also saying to our Holy and Just God, “I know where I’m going and why I’m going there but remember this, I have and will continue to cause your creation to rebel against You just as I have. They are turning from You and acting on their sin. Your Justice O God demands you also send humanity there along with me!” And you see this is how he twists and manipulates truth. He is right, God is just and His justice requires punishment for our sins. Justice had to be satisfied. But God had other plans in mind to satisfy the penalty for our sins.
So God sent His Son, to come to earth as the last Adam. He is called this because He came in human form and took on flesh, so he was in the likeness of Adam, as a man. This is why He could be our sacrifice because He wasn’t sacrificed as a deity; but as a man, Jesus Christ. So when He died, His death represented the death of the whole Adamic race and the sin that came through this race through the first Adam.
Our guilt was laid on Him and Jesus paid the penalty in full through His death. Justice was met and God’s wrath towards the sins of humanity was satisfied. We were spared having to be sent to the Lake of Fire with Satan as his time comes, because God in His mercy, made way for us to be redeemed and made righteous by our faith in what Christ did at the cross. We were forgiven our sins and our debt was canceled. The slate was wiped clean!
Let us know and remember the true nature of the enemy:
Revelation 12:10 NIV 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.
He is known as the Accuser. Day and night he goes before God to accuse us of our wrongdoings. All the ways we fall short of His glory. Thus, creating guilt in us as he reminds us of all the ways we don’t measure up. “Who do you think you are? Who are you trying to fool? You aren’t worthy. You’ll never be good enough. Don’t you remember what you did? Look at where you came from you really think God would choose you?” But what do we read? Now have come the salvation (we are saved and rescued from the pit of hell) and the power, and the kingdom of God, and the authority of Jesus-our Messiah! Now have come this power through the cross and the accuser has been hurled down! Defeated!
So his tactics of holding guilt over you have no more power, for Jesus took care of that and atoned for our guilt.
Colossians 2:13 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, We are forgiven in Christ through the cross!
Understand this: Through the Holy Spirit we will experience conviction that is very different than guilt.
Guilt is vague and general across the board for your shortcomings or wrongdoings, it doesn’t seek resolution and there is no hope. Conviction is specifically pinpointing a weakness or shortcoming, bringing us to repentance, and pointing the way to a path to overcome. Conviction always includes hope. God can justly punish satan and also justly acquit those who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
- Acquitted and Set Free!
Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
This is our truth! This is what God says is our truth because of His Son. It doesn’t matter what the enemy tries to throw at us, he has been hurled down and defeated once and for all!
So how do we live in this freedom and victory? Freely we come before God and freely we confess when we fall short. We come to Him right away. It is the enemy who wants you to hang back in guilt when you fall short. It is God who says because of what My Son has done come with confidence before the throne of grace and share your heart with me. I will freely forgive your repentant heart.
1 John 1:9 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
This is how we live in victory by freely confessing and receiving His forgiveness for our confessed sin, which purifies us. Then we make way for His grace that is sufficient to move in our lives and bring the victory He promises.
Revelation 12:11 11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
We must confess- speak out the testimony we have in Christ. That is our part in this victory.
We triumph over the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and what, our testimony of His grace and power at work in our lives!
We must remember where our power comes from and where the enemy was defeated through the cross! We have everything we need to remain in victory when we face our battles through the cross. In fact, we are already victorious from this stance. We simply stand in this truth and proclaim it over the schemes of the enemy. We confess and speak! We apply the power of the cross over our situations and we stand in the love of God.
Romans 8: 35-39 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake, we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Conclusion: Let us confess daily the victory Jesus won over Satan at the cross. Through the cross, we have everything we need to win every battle. His victory is our victory! Let us take our positions as a people who are victorious. For this is God’s gift to us, His children.
Let’s pray:
