The World conquered by Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

March 20, 2016 in Bible - NT - John, Easter, Good Friday, Meditations, Politics
John 16:32–33 (NKJV)
32 Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
For the first three Sundays in Lent, we addressed our three chief enemies as Christians: the world, the flesh, and the devil. Having identified each of these enemies, we have been highlighting the way that Jesus, through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave, has conquered each of them. Already we have seen that He conquered the flesh and the devil; today we see that He has conquered the world. “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
Jesus’ words remind us that when we speak of the “world” as our enemy, we are not speaking of the created order. Creation itself is good, created by Almighty God as the inheritance of His people. Blessed are the meek, our Lord Jesus declared, for they shall inherit the earth. If the earth were evil then it wouldn’t make for much of an inheritance!
When we speak of the “world”, therefore, we do not mean the created order or mere physicality; the “world” is the collection of assumptions, practices, and desires embraced by our broader community or culture that run contrary to the Word of God. It is the assortment of unbiblical values that strive to have preeminence over God’s values. It consists of ideas, institutions, and vocations that marginalize God and His law. Those who embrace such ideas are part of “the world”, part of the kingdom of darkness that wages war against God and His people.
Jesus reminds us that in that “world”, among those who marginalize God and extol ungodly values, we will inevitably have tribulation. “If the world hates you,” Jesus says in John 15:18-19, “you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” We will be called “old-fashioned”, “out of date”, “homophobic”, “judgmental”, “harsh”, “traitors”, etc.
This opposition of the world could be a cause for great alarm. Jesus says elsewhere, “Behold I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves” (Mt 10:16a). This is hardly encouraging; the interaction of sheep and wolves typically ends with a bloody mess – and it’s a mess of sheep not of wolves! As we reflect on this danger we could be led to anxiety and fear. But Jesus says something quite remarkable in our text. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
By His death and resurrection Jesus has not only broken the power of Satan, not only freed us from the guilt and power of sin, but He has overcome the world. The kingdom of darkness shall not stand; the world shall not prevail; Jesus has triumphed. Through His death and resurrection He has broken the power of the world and guarantees that those who fear and worship the Living God shall triumph – and the way we shall triumph is following Christ in the path of suffering and vindication. So when we suffer at the hands of the world, what are we to do? We are to be of good cheer.
So what of you? When you have faced opposition, insults, or threats; when you have been fired for standing for Christ; when you have lost your business; when you have lost your friend; when you have become estranged from family; when you have lost a child; when you have endured imprisonment – have you been of good cheer? Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

Reminded of our calling to be of good cheer and our tendency to need cheering, let us confess our sin to the Lord. And let us kneel as we confess.

The Devil conquered by Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

March 13, 2016 in Bible - NT - 1 John, Bible - NT - Hebrews, Bible - NT - Revelation, Easter, Good Friday, Meditations, Postmillennialism, Satan
1 John 3:8 (NKJV)
8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
For the first three Sundays in Lent, we addressed our three chief enemies as Christians: the world, the flesh, and the devil. When we are outside of Christ, these forces dominate our lives and compel us to sin; they drive us away from our Creator. So having identified each of these enemies, we have begun to highlight the way that Jesus, through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave, has conquered each of them. Last week we heard John’s announcement that Jesus was manifested to take away our sins. He died and rose again to free us from the guilt and power of sin. This week John reminds us that not only did Jesus die and rise again to conquer our sinful nature, he also died and rose again to conquer the devil. Listen again to John’s words: He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
John’s words remind us that though Satan is alive on planet earth, he is far from well. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection Satan’s power over the world has been fundamentally broken. He can no longer enslave the nations as he once did. Momentary victories he may have but his ultimate defeat is sure for his power is broken.
Consider, for example, the power he once had over death. Paul writes in Hebrews 2:14-15 – Inasmuch then as the children [we] have partaken of flesh and blood, [Jesus] Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Jesus broke Satan’s power. He did, in John’s picturesque imagery in Revelation 20, chain Satan that “he no longer deceive the nations.”
This is why, therefore, our due sense of caution in the presence of the devil and his minions must always be tempered by a robust and profound scorn of his weakness – not his weakness in relation to us but his weakness in relation to God, the God who has promised to protect us and who has entrusted all authority in heaven and on earth to the Lord Jesus Christ. He holds the keys of death and hades. So we can remind one another, when fearing the devil, “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” Even as John writes in 1 John 2:14 – I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.

So as we enter into the presence of our Lord today, let us confess that at times we have failed to fill our hearts with the fear of God in our fight against the Wicked One and have instead fallen prey to his schemes and stratagems and intimidation. And as we confess, let us kneel.

The Flesh conquered by Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

March 6, 2016 in Bible - NT - 1 John, Church Calendar, Easter, Good Friday, Meditations, Sin
1 John 3:4–6 (NKJV)
4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
For the first three Sundays in Lent, we addressed our three chief enemies as Christians: the world, the flesh, and the devil. When we are outside of Christ, these forces dominate our lives and compel us to sin; they drive us away from our Creator. So having identified each of these enemies, let us, in the next couple weeks, highlight the way that Jesus, through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave, has conquered each of these enemies. Lent, recall, is a time of preparation – a time to prepare for Good Friday and Easter, to remind ourselves anew of the glorious Good News that Christ has died and risen again to free us from our slavery to sin, to the devil, and to the world.
So notice that our text today emphasizes one reason Jesus was manifested. John writes, “And you know that He was manifested” – He was revealed, He took on human flesh – “to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.” Jesus appeared to take away our sins. How did He do this?
First, Jesus died on the cross to take away the guilt of sin. Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And even as the lambs under the old covenant had to be perfect, without blemish, so Jesus was without blemish, “in Him,” John writes, “there is no sin.” So as the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus offered Himself as our substitute. He died in our place. We are sinners, enslaved to the world, the flesh, and the devil; we deserve God’s wrath and curse. But Jesus, the one who was free of the world, free of the flesh (the sinful nature), and free of the devil, offered His own life in place of ours. Consequently, through Jesus’ death on the cross we can be forgiven – glory be to God! Jesus appeared to “take away our sins.” No matter how heinous your sin, Christ died to take it away, died that you might stand before God holy and blameless – not because of Your goodness but because of His. By His death Jesus frees us from the guilt of sin.
But not only did Jesus “take away our sins” by dying on the cross, He also “takes away our sins” by His resurrection from the dead. Jesus rose from the dead that we sinful and rebellious human beings might have new life; that the resurrection power of Jesus might transform our fallen nature that we might live lives that honor and please our Creator. So, John tells us, “Whoever abides in him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.” Jesus did not come simply to forgive you; He came to transform you. All those whom He forgives through the cross He transforms through His resurrection from the dead. By His Spirit, He dwells in us and we dwell in Him and He frees us from the power of sin.
Good Friday and Easter, therefore, are the foundation of our deliverance from sin – our deliverance from the flesh, from our sinful nature. Jesus frees us from the guilt and power of sin. And, praise be to God, one day Jesus shall return in glory to free us and all creation from the presence of sin. Truly He was manifested to take away our sins.
So have you praised God for the blessing of forgiveness through Jesus’ sacrifice? Have you praised God for the blessing of new life through Jesus’ resurrection? Or have you been making light of your sin instead? Perhaps claiming that you don’t need to be forgiven? Or claiming that you’re really a pretty good person on your own?

If so, the Word of God comes to you today, reminding you of your sin and the impossibility of taking away your sin by yourself. There is only one who can take away your sin – Jesus Christ. So reminded that it is Jesus’ death and resurrection that frees us from sin, let us confess our sin and praise the Lord for providing for our forgiveness and new life.

Christ, the Center of Time

December 14, 2014 in Ascension Sunday, Bible - NT - Colossians, Christmas, Church Calendar, Easter, Ecclesiology, Good Friday, King Jesus, Liturgy, Meditations, Pentecost
Colossians 3:17 (NKJV)
17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
If you’ve been at Trinity long, you’ve no doubt discovered that we utilize the Church calendar to organize our year. Our songs, our Scripture readings, our confessions, our meditation, and even sometimes our sermons are geared to the Church Calendar. Given that following the Church Calendar is not a matter of necessity, why have our elders decided to do so? What’s the point?
As we consider that question, consider what each phase of the church year does: it places Christ and His life and work at the center of all reality. It orients the entire year around the life of Christ: Advent – awaiting His birth; Christmas – celebrating His birth; Epiphany – celebrating His revelation as Messiah to the Magi and in his baptism; Lent – remembering His suffering on our behalf; Passion week – remembering His final week of challenge, betrayal, death, burial, and glorious resurrection; Ascension – celebrating His enthronement at God’s right hand as King of kings and Lord of lords; Pentecost – celebrating the outpouring of the Spirit by our Risen and Exalted Lord. Between Pentecost and Advent? Celebrating the work of Christ by the power of His Spirit throughout the course of history. The Church Calendar put Jesus at the center of our lives.
So why is this valuable? Well note Paul’s command today: So whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Whatever you do – whether eating or drinking or sleeping or waking; whether living in the winter or summer; in the fall or the spring. Do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus. The Church Calendar helps us fulfill this command by putting Jesus exactly where He belongs – at the center of our Church life. And this, of course, reminds each of us to put Jesus at the center of our own life.
But often we are consumed with other things. We want to push Jesus to the margins of our lives; oh, we’ll give Him a bit of attention on Sunday but the rest of the week? That’s ours. But Jesus demands all our time – each day, each hour, each minute, each second. He is the Sovereign Lord and all we are and do is to be offered up in praise to Him.
So what of you? Has Christ been at the center of your life this week? Fathers, have you led your family to Christ this week, worshiping and praying and speaking together of Christ’s work in your home? Christians, have you displayed Christ this week, manifesting His character in your life and speaking His praises with your lips? Or have you put your own self at the center of your calendar?

Reminded this morning that whatever we do, in word or in deed, is to be done in the Name of Christ to the glory and praise of God, let us confess that we often do things and speak things in our own name. And as we confess, let us kneel before the Lord.

King Jesus in His Glory

April 5, 2010 in Good Friday, King Jesus

Mark 10:32-45 (NKJV)
32 Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him: 33 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; 34 and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.” 35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask.” 36 And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” 37 They said to Him, “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” 39 They said to Him, “We are able.” So Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; 40 but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John. 42 But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. 44 And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

There are times in every teacher’s life when he wonders if the people in whom he has been investing his energy are even listening. No doubt this was one of those times in Jesus’ life. Here he has just told the disciples for the third and final time that his mission in going to Jerusalem is one of suffering and death, and immediately James and John sidle up to Him and ask Him, “Lord, when you enter into your glory, grant that we might sit one at your right hand and the other at your left.” Grant that we might be your most influential counselors when you finally take charge in Jerusalem. We can imagine Jesus’ furrowed brow.

What lies behind James’ and John’s request is a distinct notion of kingship, a notion shared in common with the scribes and the Pharisees, with the chief priests and the elders, with the Herodians and the Zealots, with Rome and with Egypt. Kingship, they believed, is a display of power, a show of force, an exhibition of authority. True glory, therefore, lies in making others do one’s bidding, in being served by others.

As James and John are heading to Jerusalem with Jesus, therefore, certain that now is the moment when Jesus will enter upon his glory and take power, they ask him this very pointed request – we want to sit with you, one on your right hand and the other on your left, in your glory.

The interesting thing our text reveals, by the way, is that this radical misunderstanding was not unique to James and John. For when the other disciples hear what James and John have requested they do not laugh the request off – My goodness, how could James and John have so misunderstood what Jesus has been teaching us? No, instead, we are told, the ten are indignant. They are incensed that James and John asked the question that all of them have been yearning to ask but afraid to raise. All the disciples share this same mixed up notion of kingship. And so Jesus takes the time to instruct and correct them once again, to teach them.

Jesus’ response to James’ and John’s request is disbelief. “You do not know what you ask,” he declares. “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink and to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” Don’t you remember what I’ve been telling you? I’m heading to Jerusalem to suffer, to die, to be rejected – is this really what you want a share in? But James and John miss the rebuke; they persist in their request – “Oh, yes, we are able. We can do it. we’re going to suffer right alongside you, have no fear. We will fight with you and make sure you get your seat in glory. All we ask is that you let us sit beside you, on your right and your left, once you are there. You know our loyalty.”

And so Jesus, ever the patient teacher, knowing that soon James and John along with the others will receive the rude awakening that will enable them to see their ignorance, replies – “You will indeed drink the cup that I drink and with the baptism that I am baptized with you will be baptized” – you will be made to suffer, James and John – “but,” he continues, “to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared.”

So James and John, and the other disciples, are left wondering, wrestling with themselves – who will it be? Who will get to sit on his right and his left hand in glory? When he is revealed as the radiant and resplendent king, the long-awaited Son of David, who will be beside him?

So the question for now, in Mark’s Gospel, is left hanging. Who will sit at Jesus’ right hand and his left in his glory? The question has been asked but no answer has been given. Yet.

For Mark does give us the answer to the question. Mark does reveal those for whom it was prepared to sit on Jesus’ right hand and on his left in his glory. When Jesus’ glory as the King of Israel was most fully displayed, Mark tells us who was honored to be on his right hand and on his left.

“Now it was the third hour,” Mark tells us in chapter 15, verse 25, “and they crucified Jesus. And the inscription of His accusation was written above: THE KING OF THE JEWS. With Him they also crucified two revolutionaries, one on His right and the other on His left.”

So here’s the question we pose this evening: where is the glory of Jesus as our King most fully displayed? Mark tells us that Jesus’ glory was on display in the cross.

And it is this very lesson that Jesus endeavors to teach the disciples once again in our text. Your notions of kingship are all messed up. “You know that those who are appointed leaders among the Gentiles lord it over them and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Jesus’ true glory as King is that He gave His life for His people. And it is this that we celebrate on Good Friday. So let us thank God for our glorious King.

Let us pray:

You are worthy, O Lamb, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and nation; you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God. we adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us a kingdom of priest to stand and serve before our God; to him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor, glory and might, forever and ever. Amen.

Good Friday Homily

March 26, 2008 in Good Friday, Postmillennialism

Colossians 1:19-20 (NKJV)19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

This evening we celebrate Good Friday, the day on which our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified nearly two thousand years ago. A frequent question asked and answered on this day is, “Why call it Good Friday?” We often answer this question in terms of why the cross was good for us. In the cross, we are forgiven, we are cleansed, we are restored. And of course these things are very true and biblical. This day is good because it was and is good for us.

Paul, however, in the text before us today encourages us to consider another reason Good Friday should be called Good. And the reason proceeds from God’s attitude toward this particular event. Good Friday should be reckoned Good because it pleased God to orchestrate the event. God calls this day Good and so we should too. Notice that Paul says “it pleased the Father” – it gave Him delight, satisfaction, fulfillment.

What exactly is it that pleased the Father? What is the “it” of which Paul speaks? Paul draws attention to two things. First, it pleased the Father for all the fullness of deity to dwell in our Lord Jesus Christ. It was no accident that the Second Person of the Trinity assumed human flesh for us. He did so because it pleased the Father. Before the foundation of the world, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in eternal communication and fellowship with one another planned our redemption, planned the Incarnation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, planned His death on the cross, planned His resurrection to new life. Our redemption was not some afterthought; no plan B; no accidental insurance plan. It was the very plan that delighted the Father before the foundation of the world and that continued to delight Him when our Lord Jesus Christ took on human flesh.

But Paul doesn’t stop here. Not only was the Incarnation of our Lord pleasing to the Father, so too is the effect of that Incarnation on the world. This second point is directly connected with Good Friday. Paul says that it pleased the Father through the death of Jesus on the cross to reconcile all things to Himself.

Recall that at the beginning of human history things went awry at a tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan triumphed over man at the foot of a tree and ever since man was subject to slavery and death. But not only was man subject to slavery and death, the creation too was subject to decay and destruction. All things were put out of joint. The whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. The original vision for creation was warped and marred by the evil one through Adam’s failure at the tree.

And so, Paul tells us, the great delight of the Father was to reconcile all things to Himself through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ – all things. Jesus didn’t simply come to reclaim sinners; he came to reclaim the world. To reconcile all things to himself – whether things in heaven or on earth or under the earth. All has been reconciled and eagerly awaits the full revelation of the sons of God. On the cross, the new tree of life, our Lord Jesus Christ put to death the devil and overthrew his works, dealing the mortal blow to death and slavery. In the garden we perished at a tree; in Christ we live through the tree.

So why is Good Friday Good? Because on this day, our Lord Jesus Christ went voluntarily to the cross, humbled Himself, that He might rescue the creation and demonstrate the full glory of our Triune God – the very God who planned our redemption before the foundation of the world.