Victory and the Cross Last Sunday we celebrated Jesus’ resurrection and we talked briefly about his death by crucifixion. This morning I want to focus our attention on what actually happened on the cross. I don’t mean physically to Jesus, but spiritually to us. What does it mean to us and for us that Jesus’ died on the cross? What was accomplished on the cross? The bible says in Colossians 2:15 that Jesus “disarmed the powers and authorities, [making] a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Colossians 2:15. Look at those words “disarmed” and “triumph” and tell me, what’s wrong with this picture? Is there anything about Jesus’ trial, torture and death by crucifixion that looks triumphant? Beaten, bleeding, nailed to a cross, struggling for breath, his life slipping away. Nothing points to victory. Jesus is the public spectacle, not the devil. The only victory appears to be that of evil over good. But while the world sees a dying man, we see a kinsman redeemer, taking our place to set us free from sin’s bondage. Rome sees a criminal paying for his crimes, but we see the One who knew no sin becoming sin for us so we could become the righteousness of God in Christ. Something else was happening on that cross. How did it all happen and what does that victory mean for us? Let’s look at how this unfolds through the ages. Victory Predicted. I hesitate to use the word predicted because it might imply the possibility it wouldn’t happen. Victory was assured, but go with me back to the beginning. God creates man and woman and places them in the Garden of Eden. He gives them authority and dominion over all the earth. He bestows them with purpose and instructs them to be good stewards, to work and take care of the Garden. He tells them to be fruitful and increase in number. He has created them to enjoy the abundance of the land. To make sure they can continue to enjoy the blessings of God, He instructs them as to the boundaries that need to be in place in their life. I hope you’ve realized by now that there are God ordained and God designed boundaries that are to be in place in your life. Violating those boundaries leads to defeat, despair, and death. You don’t need to test God’s boundaries to see if they are still there, or if the penalty is still painful. Adam and Eve tested them and we are all paying for it. You don’t need to test them as well. Into this wonderful setting the devil came to tempt and deceive. He invites Eve first to question God’s plan and intention for her life. “Did God really say...?” The devil introduces doubt about God’s faithfulness, about God’s love for them, about God’s intentions for Adam and Eve. Eve stepped across that God ordained boundary and brought her husband with her as well. By their rebellion sin came into the world. Innocence is lost forever and now, because of their sin we share the sin-tainted dna of Adam and Eve. All of us are sinners and in need of a Savior, a redeemer to set us free from the imbedded curse of sin. It is in this setting of sin and loss we hear the first sounds of victory. Here is what the Lord said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all the livestock, and all the wild animals. You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:14. Understand the symbolism here. God’s not just telling a serpent that he will bite people on the heel and men will smash his head. He is telling the devil that the offspring of a woman, the Messiah will come and redeem broken humanity. The day will come when you – the devil, the serpent – will think you have destroyed this Redeemer - you will strike him on the heel - but just when you think you have got him- he will crush your head and defeat you. This is the promise of victory. It doesn’t look or sound much like victory - but hear what I am telling you - God was promising a showdown all the way back in Genesis 3 and victory was assured! From then on, every Old Testament passage that declared God’s rulership and reign was actually a declaration of intent. Every passage that spoke of the Messiah or that declared his future rulership over the nations, the establishment of his kingdom - it was a reminder, a declaration that God will ultimately be victorious over the devil. Think of the prophet Isaiah - “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel - God with us.” Is. 7:14. And the devil shook with dread. And the prophet declared “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” Is. 9:2. And hell drew back in fear. And then the prophet declared “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.” Isaiah 9:6-7 And Satan must have screamed in rage at this bold declaration - God will establish his rulership and reign over this whole earth and over the hearts of men and women and the devil will be forever silenced. Victory is promised. Victory is coming. God’s word declared it and God’s word is true. So victory is promised or predicted. And then the second stage: Victory Begins. It begins with the ministry of Jesus. In fact, it began as soon as Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Satan knew that Jesus was his future conqueror so he immediately tried to destroy him. Through the evil madness of Herod he tried to have Jesus killed as all the baby boys two and under in Bethlehem were murdered. But God warned Joseph in a dream to take the baby and Mary to Egypt because Herod was going to try to kill him. Unable to kill him as an infant, the devil decided to try a different tactic and waited for another opportunity. Matthew 4 records the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. The devil tried to get Jesus to avoid the way of the cross, to settle for less than the perfect plan and purpose of God. (He is still trying that same temptation on the saints of God today - trying to get us to settle for less than God’s way.) But Jesus said “Away from me Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” And the bible says the devil left him, waiting for a more opportune time. Later the devil tried to get the crowd to take Jesus by force and make him their king. The devil didn’t care how he stopped Jesus - seduce him with power, offer him all the kingdoms of the earth, or kill him, he just wanted him stopped before he could redeem us from our lost and sinful condition. We see him trying again through Jesus’ friends. Peter essentially tells Jesus “The cross isn’t necessary. This can’t happen to you. We won’t let it.” And to Peter’s suggestion Jesus replied “Get behind me Satan.” The religious leaders of the day plotted to have Jesus killed and finally, Judas, one of the twelve, betrayed Jesus into their hands. But understand, none of these things would, nor could, deter Jesus from fulfilling what had been spoken of Him. He went about announcing to everyone that would listen that the kingdom of God had come - that it was at hand and then to prove it, to validate his claims, he performed miracles. The kingdom of God was bursting in upon the kingdom of darkness. Imagine the terror in Satan and his kingdom as the light of God’s love began to shine into the darkest places and darkest hearts on the planet. The blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, demons are cast out, the dead are raised in obedience to his command. Hell must have been in a panic at this point. And if that isn’t enough bad news for the devil, Jesus sends out 72 disciples to preach the gospel, heal the sick and cast out demons. They came back rejoicing that even the demons were subject to them in the name of Jesus. Imagine the anger of Satan when he hears Jesus say “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy.” Luke 10:18-20. Throughout the centuries the devil has been hearing the prophets tell of the Messiah that would come and now, he is here and he is authorizing others to trample on the devil as well. The showdown has come. Finally, it was time. No more predictions. No more time for talk. It was time for action. It was time for victory in Jesus. Victory Achieved. How does that happen? Where does that victory take place? Jesus’ victory over the devil happens at the cross! By dying on the cross, Jesus secured victory for each one of us. He became the sacrifice that atoned for our sins. If we will turn from our sin and turn to him in repentance, believing that he died for us and rose again, we can enter into the victory of the Lord. “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:57 Victory has been achieved. But what is the nature of that victory? What exactly did it secure for us? Turn to Hebrews 2:14-15. “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 - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Hebrews 2:14-15. Victory achieved. By his death on the cross he broke the power of the devil and the power of death. Notice it says “by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death.” The word translated “destroy” here does not mean to annihilate. It doesn’t mean that Jesus killed the devil and he no longer exists. It is the Greek word katargeo = to render useless, to make of no effect. It means to make something ineffective or inactive. It is used to describe unproductive land and unfruitful trees. The trees are still there, they haven’t been destroyed, but they are barren. The devil is still there but, his ultimate controlling power has been broken. Look at 2 Timothy 1:9-10 “[God] who has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” 2 Timothy 1:9-10 See that word “destroyed”? It is the Greek word katargeo again. He has destroyed death. Has death been destroyed? People are still dying. Death hasn’t been abolished, but it has been disarmed. For those of us left behind, death is sorrow and grief. But for the dying believer who knows Jesus Christ, death has lost its’ permanence and fear. For the believer death means we are immediately in the presence of the Lord! By his death on the cross, Jesus broke the power of the devil and death. But there is more about this victory and the cross! Look at Colossians 2:13-15 “...He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Colossians 2:13-15 What does this mean? What is the “written code with its regulations that was against us and stood opposed to us.” It’s not the whole law because Paul tells us the law is “holy, righteous and good.” But Paul is talking about the law that we broke - the law that we violated by our sins and our sinful nature. That law condemned us because we failed to keep it. The word Paul uses for this written code usually referred to a “hand written document, specifically a certificate of indebtedness or a signed confession of indebtedness.” It was as if we had this document that listed all of our sins, all of our violations of the law of God. And it stood in our way of ever coming to God. It was a debt we could never settle or repay, so it opposed us, it prevented us from coming to God. And by Jesus’ death on the cross, he canceled that debt! He took that document and wrote “Paid in full” across it. Account settled. In fact, the Greek word Paul uses here for “canceled” literally means “to wipe away or to blot out.” Jesus wiped the document clean. That’s why we can shout with the apostle Paul, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Hallelujah, we’ve been set free from the law of sin and death! Our sins have been blotted out! Now look at our verse again. Paul says he wiped it clean and then he gives us another word picture, as if that isn’t enough. He took it away and nailed it to the cross! Some think Paul was thinking of what was called the tablet - the sign that was nailed above the head of a crucified person. The person’s crimes were usually written on that tablet and then it was nailed above them. (Remember that Pilate had written “The King of the Jews” and put upon Jesus’ cross. The chief priests said, “write ‘this man claimed to be the king of the Jews.’” That was his crime.) But Paul is saying the tablet above Jesus’ head didn’t list the sins of Jesus, because we know he was sinless. Instead, it listed my sins and your sins. He bore our sins and that list of our sins was nailed to the cross. Our debt was paid in full, cancelled, the document upon which they were written was destroyed and we have victory in Jesus! He took our place. He bore our sins so we could be forgiven. But that isn’t all. Paul has given us these pictures of our sins being forgiven. But now he gives us this great image of the conquest of the devil. “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Jesus’ death on the cross was the culmination of his obedience to the redemptive plan of God. Paul tells us in Romans 5:19 that “...through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man [Jesus] the many will be made righteous.” Romans 5:19 John Stott wrote, “If Jesus had disobeyed, by deviating an inch from the path of God’s will, the devil would have gained a toehold and frustrated the plan of salvation. But Jesus obeyed; and the devil was routed.” Jesus refused to deviate even an inch from the plan of God. He refused to retaliate, he refused to call for the powers of Heaven to set him free. He freely laid down his life for us that through his obedience we could be made righteous. And through his obedience, the devil is defeated. Paul then gives us this picture of the devil’s defeat as a public spectacle. It is a picture of a conquering army. The victor strips the defeated foe of all his weapons, his ammunition, his armor, his uniform. He then parades him naked and ashamed through the streets as a defeated foe. He exposes the enemy for what he really is, a liar and deceiver. Stripping him naked so all the world can see the deceit and vileness of the enemy. Hear what I’m saying. Because of the cross of Jesus Christ, the devil is exposed and defeated and we have the victory! On the cross, Jesus: Broke the power of the devil Broke the power of death Forgave our sins by blotting them out and nailing them to the cross Made a public spectacle of the devil What does that mean for us? It means the devil no longer has the power to control you. He will defeat you if he can, if you allow him, but it doesn’t have to be that way. No longer can you use the excuse, “the devil made me do it.” Victory has been purchased for you! Live in that victory. Stop allowing the devil to bluff you into believing that you don’t have a choice, that you just have to act that way and live that way. We aren’t chained to the devil any longer. We are marching in a triumphant procession that Christ the conquering King is leading! We aren’t victims, we are victors through Christ. We aren’t slaves to sin. We aren’t debtors to sin any longer, we are debtors to Jesus and his amazing grace. Our sins are forgiven. We don’t live in condemnation, we’ve been set free. We are redeemed. We have victory in Jesus! If you are still carrying around the weight of guilt and sin come to Jesus today and find his victory! Victory in Jesus! If your life feels like you have been living in defeat, step into the victory that Jesus provided for us at the cross. There is victory in Jesus!