Our sermon series is all about the fight that goes on between humans and temptation.
Fighting temptation is something that we all are familiar with in some shape or form…
Fighting temptation is something that we all struggle with in some shape or form.

I have every confidence that this will be a good series for you to be a part of.

To start our study of temptation, we’re going to watch a film.
If you’ve ever been in a sport before, maybe you’ve done that. You’ve watched films of those who are good at the sport in hopes that you’ll learn how to be better at the sport.

And if you wanted to be a better fighter, there is no shortage of epic fights that you could watch.
 
Muhammad Ali against Joe Frazier in the Thrilla at Manilla.
The Immortal Hulk Hogan versus Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania III.
Holly Holm defying the odds and taking out Ronda Rousey at UFC 193.  
 
If you want to learn to be a fighter, it is valuable to watch the best fighters battle against some of their most feared opponents.

Today we’ll do that. We’ll examine a one-on-one battle between the Undefeated Against Temptation, Jesus, and the Master of Temptation, Satan, the devil himself. Before we do, a prayer: Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.

I. The Stakes
 
The battle we’ll look at today is recorded in Luke 4:1-13. But before we get into the specifics of the fight, I think it’s important to look at how high the stakes were.

Because epic fights, usually have high stakes:

A championship belt.
A gold medal.
Even a $100,000,000 purse.

What were the stakes in Luke 4?

1. Title of “Most Powerful”
 
The devil is powerful.

He has been winning temptation battle after temptation battle since way back in the Garden of Eden! Back then, in the first temptation battle ever – Satan did not really break a sweat in getting Adam and Eve, two people who had never sinned, to…sin.
 
Since then, the devil had been on a rampage causing person after person after person to fall to temptation.

Hundreds of millions of people…
All people in all of history up to the point of Luke 4…
All losers to the devil.  

He’s powerful.

Along came Jesus.
He was supposed to be the Savior…
Could he be the One to break the devil’s power?  

2. Unblemished Record
 
Up to this point, Jesus hasn’t sinned. The reason takes a bit of explanation:
 
Jesus, unlike any other human ever, was born differently.
He was born of a virgin and God.
As a result, he didn’t have a naturally sinful heart like all other humans do.
And was not tempted by his own sinful heart like all other humans are.

In short, he had no sin.

But in Luke 4, the devil gets a chance to go at Jesus in a one-on-one attack out in the desert, away from other people, in a desert wasteland. All with the goal of taking Jesus’ perfect record and adding one blemish to it. 
 
If he can only do that, he can do more than ruin Jesus’ perfect record against temptation, he can also ruin…

3. Your Salvation
 
The Bible teaches that “the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23) We have sinned; we deserve death; even eternal death in hell. The Bible also teaches that Jesus came to be our substitute. He would pay the wage of our sins for us by dying on the cross.

In order for Jesus to be able able to pay for our sins, Jesus needed to live his own life without any sin.
Otherwise, when he went to the cross to pay for our sins, the Father would look down at Jesus’ record, see his own sinful blemish, and say, “The wages of sin is death.”

It’d be similar to me having one dollar and wanting to pay for your Dollar Menu Item at McDonalds and the cashier at the register says, “Sir, before you can pay for your friend’s McChicken, I’m going to need you to pay for your own Dollar Fries.”

Sorry, dude. No McChicken for you.

If Jesus sinned – even once, he would have to give his life to pay for it.
And then he couldn’t pay for ours.
And then we wouldn’t be saved.

II. The Fight
 
The stakes are high. Let’s look at what happens:
 
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.  (Lk. 4:1-3)
 
Right away, did you notice that the deck is stacked against Jesus?

He’s Alone. No one else is around. No one to encourage him not to sin. No one to tell him, “Hey, don’t do that.” Sometimes the harshest temptations hit us when we’re alone. That’s not a good start.
In the Wilderness. There aren’t any amenities around to get his mind off the temptation. He can’t relax in the hot tub. He can’t grab a drink from the minibar. He can’t just ignore the devil while watching HBO in the hotel room.
He’s hungry. Like…he hasn’t eaten in over 40 days. That’s crazy. Because…I have a hard time fighting off the temptation if I don’t eat every two hours!!! We call that hangry.

And the devil knows it.
This is the opportune time.
Hit ‘em, while he’s weak.

1. Round One
 
The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” (v.3)
 
It wouldn’t be hard for you. You control the elements. I know you changed water into wine not that long ago. This should be as easy as a snap of your fingers.

Because…yes…I know the Father promised to care for you but…. 40 days!?! Without food? That’s love!?!

He forgot about you.
He doesn’t love you.
And those pangs in your stomach?

Proof. 

Take matter into your own hands.
Love yourself.
Make that stone into some bread.

At first, does that even seem like it’d be sinful. Because Jesus absolutely had the power to change stones into bread.
He once turned five loaves of bread into food for 5,000.
He also turned 7 loaves of bread into food for 4,000.
It wouldn’t have been hard for Jesus to turn stones into a nice warm loaf of Subway herbs and cheese bread, smothered in butter!
 
But that’s not really the heart of the temptation.

Because Jesus had gone into the wilderness because the Spirit led him there.
He went into the wilderness because it was part of his Father’s plan.
He went into the wilderness trusting his Father loved him and would keep him alive.

The heart of the temptation isn’t: “Use your powers,” it’s, “Distrust God’s Love.”
 
That’s important to recognize.

Because specifically speaking this is a temptation that the devil could never bring to you or me. Because if the devil told me, “Change that stone into bread,” I would simply say, “I can’t.”
But categorically? He uses this all the time.
 
“If God loved you, you wouldn’t be so far behind on your rent. Better take it into your own hands. Commit a little fraud on your taxes.”
“If God really loved you, why would he let your relationship be so difficult? Go ahead. Start flirting with other women.”
“If God really loved you, your sister wouldn’t be so sick. Denounce him. Move on.”
 
The temptation to distrust God’s love is great.
I’ve failed at this plenty of times, too.
You?

But look at Jesus. He says, “It is written: (pay attention to that phrase, we’ll hear it again) ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’” (v.4)
 
In other words:

It isn’t bread that sustains. God does.
It isn’t bread that determines that God loves me, the fact that I’m alive does.
And I’m alive so…

Devil, you lie.
I trust God’s love; not your words…
 
Boom.
 
It’s like the devil came in with a few left jabs, Jesus blocked them and countered with a punch to the gut.
 
Round One. Jesus.

2. Round Two
 
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.  (This is a bit of a miracle. Don’t forget. The devil is powerful. Not all-powerful, but powerful. And in an instant he shows him the kingdom of Israel, the Roman Empire, parts of Asia, down into Africa and maybe the futuristic Kingdom of Raleigh NC in 2019.)

And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.”  (v.6-7)
 
Because Jesus… I know God’s plan.
I’ve read the Scriptures.
He said that once you’ve finished your work on earth, that you will sit at his right hand and rule over all things.

Once you’ve finished your work…
 
Doesn’t your work involve betrayal?
Doesn’t it involve being arrested?
Doesn’t it involve you being punched, beaten, whipped, crowned with thorns, nailed hand and foot to a cross, and dying by asphyxiation on two old, blood stained pieces of wood?

That sounds awful.
That sounds terrible.
That sounds…like a BAD plan.

Jesus, I’ve got a better plan.  
Bow down to me.
It’ll be quick.
It’ll be painless.
All of this will be yours.
And it will all be yours.
 
Never mind the fact that the devil doesn’t actually rule anything.
Never mind the fact that the devil’s promise was something he couldn’t deliver on.
Focus in on the temptation.

Because the heart of the temptation isn’t: “Bow down to me, but “Distrust God’s Plan.”
 
Specifically, this isn’t a temptation that could apply to us. God’s plan is not for you to suffer and die on a cross.
Categorically this temptation is something I am sure you have dealt with.
 
Is God’s plan really that you be kind to your enemies at work? That’s foolish. We need to go call them a few very specific names.
Is God’s plan really that you stay faithful to your spouse? You’re missing out. Check out this xxx website and you’ll feel instantly better.
Is God’s plan really that you sweat your way up the ladder? That’ll take too long. Go on Facebook and spread rumors about your coworkers. You’ll get the promotion faster…
Is God’s plan really that you share the Gospel? They’ll probably ridicule you. Just listen to my plan. Clam up. It’ll be a lot easier.
 
Avoid pain.
Avoid suffering.
Wow. That’s a good temptation.
I’ve failed at it too many times to count!

But Jesus responds his way, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only’” (v.8)
 
In other words:

It isn’t you who is all-knowing, God is.
It isn’t you who is all-loving, God is. 
It isn’t you who is all-powerful, God is!

Devil, you lie.
I trust the Father’s plan, not yours…
 
And WHAM!
 
The devil tried to come back with sideswipe, but Jesus stepped out of the way and clocked him in the back of the head. 
 
Round Two. Jesus.
 
But the devil hasn’t given up. He slugs some water, spits out some blood and heads to the final round.

3. Round Three
 
The devil led Jesus to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here.” (v.9)
Because, I get it. I misjudged you, Jesus. I really did.
You trust the Father implicitly!

You trust His love.
You trust His Plans.
You trust His Word.

Let’s do something to show that trust. Just jump. The southern most part of the temple is only about 450 feet about the ground. It’s scary. But…you’re so good at trusting. Look at what God promised:
 
For it is written: (“I know you’ll like that Jesus. It’s the Scriptures.”)  “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
You won’t strike your foot.
And you won’t splat.

Trust your Father, Jesus.

Wow. Talk about tricky.
The devil makes jumping off the Wells Fargo Building in downtown Raleigh sound like it should be our next church outing.
Something like that would be sinning if we didn’t do it!

But it isn’t.
Because God never told us to.

This temptation is tricky.
It isn’t a temptation to MISTRUST, but to TRUST.
Specifically:  It’s a temptation to Trust Presumptuously.
To trust beyond what God promised.
To let your trust lead you into a realm that God has clearly forbidden!
To be fair – you’ve dealt with similar temptations:
It’s good to trust God. He promised to always protect you. So, go ahead: Drink and drive.
It’s good to trust God. He promises to hold you in faith. So, go ahead: Stop going to worship.
It’s good to trust God. He promises to always forgive you. So, go ahead: Sin as much as you want. In fact, if you don’t go on sinning, you aren’t very good in trusting God’s forgiveness.
 
If you are a long-time Christian, be especially careful of this one. Because the devil plays on our desire to feel like a good Christian at the expense of being a good Christian!
He only tells half the story.
He only brings up half the truth.
He’s lying!

And Jesus knew that: Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (v.12)
Because the Father is the one who sets limits.
And the Father is the one who determines when those limits are broken.

Devil. You’re wrong. God is the one testing, not the one to be tested.

Get.
Away.
From me.
 
And the devil unleashes a barrage of jabs to Jesus’ stomach,
But Jesus just stands there, absorbing the blows.
And then…
Winds up….
And delivers a killer upper cut to knock the devil out. 
 
Winner.
The Most Powerful of All.
The Unblemished by Sin.
Your Salvation-Winning-Savior – Jesus Christ.

III. WHAT NOW?

 1. Celebrate His Victory!
 
Because you may have fallen to temptation.
You might have lost to the devil.
You might have lost to the devil so often that you feel like your record is 0 - 76,845.

You might feel like a loser.
But you aren’t.
Because Jesus won.

He defeated the devil.
He didn’t sin.
When he died, he paid the price for your sins!

And then – three days later…He rose triumphantly defeating the devil’s counterpart known as death!

Jesus is victorious!
And as a result…
You are victorious.

You are forgiven.
For all the times you have mistrusted God’s love, you are forgiven.
For all the times you have mistrusted God’s plans, you are forgiven.
For all the times you have trusted God presumptuously, you are forgiven.
 
Take a moment.
Celebrate that.
When the devil tries to get you to think about all the times that you have lost to him…
Remind him about how he lost to Jesus!

2. Fight with your Greatest Weapon

A phrase that Jesus uses time and again throughout this entire fight is “It is written.” It’s a reference to Old Testament Scripture. And it’s Jesus’ favorite way of fighting temptation.

I think that’s incredible!
Because if I was predicting how this battle would go, I would imagine that Jesus would have sent lighting bolts to turn the devil to a crisp.
Or maybe called down a bunch of flying monkeys to toss him off the top of the 450-foot temple point.
Or even imprisoned him inside of a heavenly cage where he isn’t allowed to eat bread for 40 some odd days!
 
Nope.

Jesus doesn’t use his miraculous power.
He simply uses God’s Word.

A weapon – that you and I have access, too.
 
Hebrews 4:12 says this, “The word of God is living and active sharper than any double-edged sword.”

Friends, use God’s Word to battle temptation.
I don’t mean pick it up and swing at the devil.
Nope.
I mean use God’s Word.

It’s powerful.
It’s effective.
It tends to knock the devil out.

When he tempts you to lust, tell him, “It is written: Don’t lust.”
When he temps you to hate, tell him, “It is written: Don’t hate.”
When he tempts you to doubt God, tell him, “It is written – that Jesus kicked you in a one-on-one temptation battle. Then he died and rose again. Tell me again…Why should I doubt God?”

3. Fight Alongside Jesus
 
You don’t need to fight on your own.
You don’t need to take on temptation by yourself.
You have the Savior on your side.
 
And what happens when Jesus fights the devil?
Well…
Check out the last verse.

When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left… (v.13)
 
Did you catch that?
He retreated.
He gave up.
He submitted at the hands of Jesus.

That is what Satan will do when you fight along Jesus.
And as a believer in Jesus, you fight along Jesus.
May God give you confidence to fight temptation this week and always. Amen.

I. The Worst Kind of Fear

The doors were locked. 

A deadbolt. Another deadbolt.. A few boxes stacked in front of the door. One of those giant wooden planks that sits atop two metal supports on both sides. There was no way anyone was getting in.

It was evening on the very first Easter Sunday. The disciples were gathered together and talking in hushed voices:  

“Do you think the Pharisees will come after us?”
“Do you think they’ll want us dead? Or was Jesus enough?”
“Do you think they know who I am? I can’t remember if they saw my face when we were running away last Thursday night!”
“Do you think crucifixion will be as bad as it sounds?”

Then, their hushed panic was interrupted by a knock on the door. A few of them jumped. Quietly Matthew peeped through the tiny hole in the door.

It was Mary Magdalene. They let her in, they told her not to scare them like that. But she wasn’t listening. She was a sobbing mess. “They’ve stolen his body!” She sobbed. “I couldn’t even see him.”  

Peter and John put their arms around her. They lifted up their hoods so that they wouldn’t be seen. They ran with her to investigate.

As the other disciples waited, they heard another knock. Their breaths were short again. Slowly they opened the door to reveal the group of women that Mary had abandoned. They weren’t nearly stressed. In fact, they seemed joyful.

“Shhh!” Nathanael tried to quiet them down. “You’re making too much noise. They’ll hear us.”  
“What of it!?!” Today is too great not to shout HALLELUJAH!” They began talking about angels – and resurrection – and how they had seen Jesus. 

Okay. That was impossible. Jesus was dead. 

Maybe, they needed to lay down. Maybe their emotions were getting the best of them. 
 
But then, Peter and John returned. Yep. The tomb was empty alright. There wasn’t a trace of a body in there. And if you didn’t trust John, you could trust Peter. He was thorough like that.

Then, a third knock. “It’s Clopas!” said a voice. As they opened the door Philip exclaimed, “I thought you were heading to Emmaus today!”

“We were, but then…we saw Him….Jesus….He’s alive.”

As all of these stories marinated, the mood of the room changed. There was a buzz. Could it be? Could he really…? Could Jesus be...alive?

Then, someone else joined them.

Someone else who didn’t knock.
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them.  

And at first, the disciples were shocked. Was this a hallucination? No, the others saw it too. Was it a ghost? No…the floor creaked when he walked. Was it a look alike? No…they had spent three years with the Lord, they knew his unmistakeable face.

Suddenly, a dread fell over the disciples. Jesus wasn’t a hallucination. Jesus wasn’t a ghost. Jesus wasn’t a vision. It was much worse than that.

Jesus was alive.

 (1) They Had Wronged Him! 

You might be thinking. Why? Why would that be bad news to them? Jesus was alive!

Tell me -- Have you ever had a bad morning? You’re on the way to work and you kind of brush past some guy to get into the elevator – you force him to take the next one – and about fifteen minutes later as your boss is leading the morning meeting for work – you see the elevator guy again – turns out; he’s the C.E.O.

Or maybe you’re at the edge of Falls of Neuse. You’re waiting…and waiting…and waiting to turn left onto it. Finally, you pull out just a tad close to a car that looks like its pretty far away, but as soon as the car turns on it’s flashing blues and reds, you realize that cop car was a lot closer than I thought.

This is exactly how the disciples felt!

Jesus was alive, sure. But he was also the guy they had just abandoned. He was also the guy some of them had just denied knowing. He was the guy they had let die on that cross.

(2) They Couldn’t Hide from Him!

Remember: The doors were locked. And that locked door was meant for the Romans. But when they looked behind Jesus, the doors were still locked. They couldn’t hide from Jesus.

That meant when Matthew tried to slip behind Simeon – “Maybe he can’t see me.” Or Andrew pretended to be asleep. And Philip sat in back thinking – “If I don’t move, maybe he won’t see me.”

Jesus still saw them. They couldn’t hide from Jesus.

(3) He was God!

Here’s the scariest part of all. It wasn’t like they had sinned against one another. It wasn’t as if one of them was yelling at the other one for stealing his favorite tunic without asking. It wasn’t as if they had sinned against another human.

If Jesus was really standing before him, it meant He had really risen from the dead. If he had really risen from the dead, it meant he really was God!

The God of heaven. The God of hellfire and brimstone. The God who when he got sick of storms told them to buzz off. The God who when he was angry with demons sent them away from this earth. The God who spoke to terrible disease and sent them packing with his burning anger.

What was to stop him from doing just that. To them. Right now.

Do you understand the disciple’s fear? Maybe you’ve wronged God. Maybe you’ve done some pretty bad sins. Maybe you came here today troubled by something awful that you did just last night. In fact, maybe that’s why it was hard to get here today. (Or maybe it's why you are only reading this online.)

But here's the problem...

Have you ever played hide & seek with some kids before? Kids have pretty good hiding spots. They can get into a lot better hiding places than dad. Dad gets to hide behind the shower curtain and behind the door and that’s about it. (And now I just gave away my two best hiding spots.) Kids can get into really good spots though. Behind the washing machine, inside the cupboard, under the bed.

But what happens when you find them. What do kids do? They cover their eyes. They cover their eyes because they figure that somehow you can’t see them, if they can’t see you.

Do you ever get so scared of God that you think like that? That you figure – as long as I don’t approach God – as long as I don’t go to church – as long as I don’t read that one part in the Bible – then, I’m good.

That doesn’t work. You can’t hide from God.
He sees your sins. He sees all your sins.

Even the sins that you think he doesn’t see – He sees.
The pornography at night?
The flirting with the guy that’s not your husband?
The cheating on the test when the teachers isn’t looking?
Stealing that money from your friend's purse?

Others might not see it. God does. God hates sin. He hates it with a hellfire vengeance.

II. The Best Kind of Antidote

Do you feel that? I do. It’s fear. Fear because we’ve sinned. Fear because God knows it. Fear because that sin was against God.

That’s the kind of fear the disciples were experiencing. They trembled. Each hoping that Jesus would make it quick and painless. Then, Jesus moved. His mouth opened. The disciples braced themselves. He spoke:

“Peace be with you!” As in…It worked. As in…You have been saved. As in…You’re forgiven.

Can you imagine that collective breath that was let out in that room? Jesus wasn’t there to get revenge. He was there to give them assurance. He was there to tell them of their salvation. He was there to tell them that his sacrifice had worked. He was there to tell them that He was victorious and they were at peace with God!
​
Because that’s what the resurrection means. Jesus’ resurrection means that he defeated sin, death, and hell. It means that those who believe in him are forgiven. It means that you are forgiven!

Pastor, I know all that. But I still get scared. Life is tough. Finances are difficult. Relationships are hard. My job is in the air. The devil…the devil loves to make me doubt this peace I have with God. What do I do when I’m scared?

A couple things.
 
 1)      Don’t Hide.
 We already said that doesn’t work. God sees all things. God is there for all things. It’s like when you see your kid do something he isn’t supposed to. He might as well come clean. You saw him do it.

God’s already seen it. Don’t lie. Don’t hide it. Bring it to him.

Secondly, bring it to him, because he wants PEACE with you. Even though He isn’t the one who wronged your relationship – that’s on you – God still wants peace with you. That’s why he came to this earth. That’s why he died on the cross. That’s why he rose from the dead and spoke to the disciples and had the disciples write it down so that you would hear His desire. PEACE.

Scripture says this, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just. He will forgive us all our sins.”

Confess your sins to God. Confess the ones that are public. Confess the ones that are obvious. Confess the ones that are private, hidden, known only to you and God. Confess your sins – and hear his promise of forgiveness.

2)      Come Back to Reality
 
I remember the very first haunted house I ever went to. It was a gym at our local grade school – with a few spooky cobwebs hanging from the basketball hoops. But there was one part that was creepy. They made me put on a blindfold and reach my hand into a bowl. I grasped what I thought was earthworms and eyeballs!

I was bawling. I threw them on the ground. I was panicking as we left – so badly that my dad took me back inside to show me that I hadn’t touched worms and eyeballs but spaghetti and meatballs.

Oh. Thanks for that reality check.
 
That’s what Jesus helped the disciples do. A smile. Kindness. Words of promise. The reality was that Jesus wasn’t dead. He wasn’t dead and he wasn’t mad at them. He had died for their sins and there was no reason to be afraid.

When you’re dealing with fear, come back to reality.

When you think you’re all alone, come back to reality – Jesus is with you.
When you think everyone is against you, come back to reality – Jesus has your back.
When you think God can’t handle this, come back to reality – Jesus died and came back to life!

3)       Examine His Wounds

That’s one of the things Jesus did for his disciples. He showcased that it was really him. He let them run their hands on the nail marks in his hands and place their hands into the spear mark in his side.  

When they touched his wounds, they didn’t just see some kind of really cool scars.
 
Nope.
​
They saw his love. “He did this for me?” 
They saw his power. “These scars defeated death?”
They saw his resurrection. “They are moving; he is still alive; praise God!”

Pastor – how can I do that? I don’t get the privilege of seeing the resurrected Lord Jesus with my physical eyes like the disciples.

I’m gonna tell you the same thing we said last week. If you want to examine his wounds, examine the Scriptures. Read his Word. It’s not overkill that God’s telling us to do it a second time. In his Word we see the pain God went through. We see the pangs that his heart goes through as we sin against him. We see the pain he suffers at his betrayal. We see the awful suffering of his crucifixion. You’ll see that he did this for you. Because he loves you that much.

4)      Understand this Phrase: “Peace be With You.”

That’s God talking! There is no one higher. It isn’t me talking. It isn’t an angel talking. This is a message of peace, straight from the top!

If you’ve got peace with him…

Romans 8 says just that. Take a look. It says this, “31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things…35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?" Can money troubles? Bill collectors? Cancer or AIDS? Drugs or alcohol? Divorce or loneliness? Terrorists, explosion and attacks? NO!

"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!"

May these words keep us from fear now and always. Amen.

Breathing is kind of important. Agreed? 

(Who knew we’d all be on the same page within 10 seconds of the start to a sermon?)

Breathing is important, but …some breaths are more meaningful than others:

The deep breath as you ask your first crush on a date.
A gasp when your significant other gets down on one knee.
The final Lamaze breath as your child enters the world.
Your first breath as you enter the world.
 
But…what if I told you the most important breath of your lifetime didn’t even take place in your lifetime?

​********************************************************************************************************
MAIN BIBLE PASSAGES: 

Matthew 27:45, 50-55
45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and[e] went into the holy city and appeared to many people. 54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” 55 Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph,[f] and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

Matthew 28:1-7
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

********************************************************************************************************

I. The Most Important Exhale

It was Friday afternoon. Almost 2000 years ago. The people were doing one of the things they did for fun back then. No, they weren’t checking Instagram. No, they weren’t sampling their favorite sushi. No, they weren’t leaving work early to get on I—440 before it got hectic.

They were watching a crucifixion.

It was a larger commotion than normal. Three men were being executed. Two of them were fairly routine culprits — everyday thieves. But the third was of intrigue:

His name was Jesus. He was famous in the land of Israel. He had had quite a following and it was reported that he had done many miracles. And he wasn’t being killed for any of those. He was being crucified because he claimed to be the Son of God.

Now that is a strange claim, agreed? We’re getting used to strange claims though. Politicians make them all the time. “I’ll save you billions.” “You’ll never have to pay taxes again.” “I’ll fix America in a few months.”

But as outlandish as some of their claims are, I don’t think any of them have claimed to be the Son of God. If they did, we could go on Factchecker.com just to confirm, it ain’t true.

Here’s what’s interesting though – the fact surrounding Jesus seemed to point to the fact that it was true! He was reported as making the blind to see, the lame to walk, the deaf to hear. He walked on water, stopped storms and changed water into wine. He healed the sick, drove out demons, and raised the dead.

Even his death had some strange, significant events surrounding it.

Around the 6th hour (which in Jewish time was about noon. 6 am was the first light and was therefore the first hour…making the 6th hour, 6 + 6 = 12 noon)…around the 6th hour darkness covered the earth. (Matthew 27:45)  That word “darkness” there doesn’t refer to slightly overcast day. It’s a word used to describe the much thicker darkness of nighttime.  

Nighttime darkness at noon? Strange.

Still the crucifixion continued as planned. In the darkness each one of the condemned slowly crept closer to death. Until in a loud voice, Jesus cried out “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”  Then, he exhaled.

And His followers watched.
They held their breath.
They waited.

Nothing.  His chest didn’t move. His mouth made no sound. His breath didn’t return.  

Nothing.

But then, something.

Matthew 27:51 says, “The Curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”  Notes on that curtain.  (Cause if we don’t talk about it, it isn’t that impressive.) It wasn’t made from silk. It wasn’t made from Kleenex. It wasn’t made from those hippie beads that you can hang from the ceiling and tear in half with a wave of your hand. It was a long, woven veil. 60 feet long, 30 feet wide and 1 inch thick. It was heavy. In fact, it was so massive that it the Israelites used hundreds of priests to manipulate it. That’s not something that’s torn easily. Probably not torn without heavy machinery.

The fact that it was torn, completely half at the time of Jesus’ death? Strange.

But that’s not it. Matthew continues, “At that moment…the earth shook and the rocks split and the tombs broke open.” This wasn’t just a tremor. It was large enough on the Richter scale to split through large rocks that were used to mark the graves of the people. Also strange.
 
Now maybe if one of those three things happened the day Jesus died – the darkness at noon, the earthquake, or the curtain ripped in half, I’d say: It’s a coincidence. Even two? I can understand. Three…that might be pushing it, but not impossible.

But then a fourth thing happened that would be impossible if it happened all alone. Let alone in conjunction with the other things we have already mentioned. “The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the city and appeared to many people.”

Pastor, you don’t believe that! That’s impossible! It could never happen. Dead people don’t come back to life. That would be a miracle!

Um…isn’t that the point?

And notice that these resurrected people appeared to many people. It wasn’t just one guy saying, “I think I saw Aunt Edna last night.” It was a whole city that awoke to unexplained sightings. It wasn’t just the crazy guy down on the corner of Fayetteville St. It was real, everyday, respectable people. They all had seen these incredible thing!
 
Understand what the Bible is. It’s a record of some fairly incredible things. True. But it was written down at the same time that the people who saw these things had lived. It was written down, shared, made public, and approved by hundreds of people who saw the very things that Matthew wrote down happened.

That means that these incredible things aren’t a myth. 
They weren’t an accident.
They weren’t a coincidence.

They were signs.

And just like you can head to the mall after church and find signs everywhere that say, “Meet Easter Bunny Here!” “1/2 OFF Easter dresses there” “Egg Hunt POSTPONED." These incredible signs were telling the people that something incredible just happened. Today these incredible signs are telling you – when Jesus breathed his last – something incredible happened.

What incredible thing happened? Take a look at Romans 4:25, “He was delivered over to death for our sins,” “on behalf of our sins,” or "because of our sins.”

Why? Because...God hates sin. 

Like drunk driving. Does drunk driving make you angry? If you’ve ever been affected by it or lost a loved one, I bet it does. In fact, that message has gotten out there enough that – I imagine almost all of us – Republicans and Democrats are Independents – are against drunk driving. Mothers can belong to a group dedicated to prosecuting offenders (MADD). Even Budweiser ran a Super Bowl ad against it. So…when someone is caught drunk driving – there is punishment. We get it.  We are ok with punishing that sin because that sin makes us angry.

Get this: That sin makes God angry, too. Actually, all sin makes God angry. Not just big sins like murder, theft, and adultery, but smallers sins: like a  grabbing a few dollars from your co-worker's wallet, taking a quick peek down the secretary’s shirt, or making a tiny racist remark about your friend from another culture. 

God hates those things. He hates it because they hurt others. These things hurt his children.

So he prosecutes sin.
He threatens to punish all sinners.
If you’re a sinner, he threatens to punish you. If you don’t like to hear that, tough. God will not be stopped.

But if you’re hearing me, if you’re convicted, if you know your sin and you know you deserve punishment, hear this: God doesn’t want to punish you. He never did. That’s why he died.

He  was delivered over to death for your sins. To save you from sin’s consequence!

Which is a nice thought. But, how do you we know this worked? He died. How do we know this whole thing isn’t just one big made up, pretend thing that we celebrate at Easter to make the day a little sweeter?  

II. The Most Important Inhale
 
Enter the inhale.

Same week. Three days later. Early in the morning a group of women were on their way to the graveyard. They brought with them some spices and special herbs. Traditionally these were things they would use to honor their dead – kinda like grabbing a bouquet of flowers to take and place on Grandpa’s tomb.

And as the crisp morning air awakened their senses, the tears started flowing. They missed him. He was their dear friend. He had shown them love when no other man had. He had rescued them from dark places. He had given them hope…and a future.

When he died, that hope had been ripped away. It felt like her heart was gone. They had killed him. They had killed her hope.

But their sadness was interrupted.

2 There was a violent earthquake. And an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.

Have you seen pictures of these stones? Jesus had been buried in a standing tomb. It was a rich person's tomb. And rich people won’t be buried in the ground with a tiny little grave marker. No. They had these big, cut out of a cliff walk-in tombs – with enough space for a small dinner party – if you wanted to have a small dinner party in a tomb.

For a door? They would use giant rocks to withstand grave robbers. I don’t know the exact size and weight of these rocks. But…I think it’s safe to say that rocks the size of a door are pretty heavy. I could probably do about a dozen bicep curls with these. And it isn’t even close to door sized.

Tomb door rocks were so big that they needed to be moved in place by a soiree of heavy duty Roman soldiers. In fact, this was such a problem that the women were even discussing amongst themselves whether they had made a mistake in coming out there in the first place. Who was gonna move the stone? There were guards in front of the tomb, but were there enough?

Turns out…they didn’t need to worry. An angel moved it out of place like Arnold Schwarzenegger moving a pair of 2&1/2 pound ankle weights.

If the earthquake and opened tomb wasn’t enough to stir up some excitement, the angel did! 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. In other words – he was glowing. Long before the days of face paint and special effects. There isn’t a pyro guy off in the corner trying to trick the women. It isn’t David Copperfield using the illusion of the camera to throw the ladies off guard.

In fact, the women weren’t the only ones to see the angels. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The big, tough, I’ll get killed if I screw up my job, Roman guards – fainted!

5 The angel held up a hand. He calmed them. He spoke gently to them. “Don’t be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.”

Process that for a moment. Jesus – the guy who died in front of hundreds – whose death was confirmed by the Roman soldiers at the cross, the Roman soldiers who took him down, his followers who left with tears, his buriers who took his body, the Roman governor who allowed them to take his body, and the Roman soldiers who had closed the rock door over Jesus’ dead body – that Jesus – who had really died….

…was alive again.

And just in case the women didn’t believe the angel, he let them see it for themselves. Go ahead. Look! He’s gone. He should be here; he died. But he’s not here. Miraculous? Yes! Impossible? Not with God.

This brings us back to Romans 4. He was delivered over to death for our sins, but raised to life for our justification. Justification is a courtroom term. It’s the opposite of condemnation. If we are guilty we are condemned; if we are innocent, we are justified. Condemnation bad. Justification good.

Jesus’ resurrection is proof that we are justified! It was God’s almighty, Divine declaration about you and your life. Listen to it: Hear the rumbling of the earthquake, listen to the cracking of the rocks, and the shrieks of the guards and the voice of your LORD:

You are justified.
You have been declared innocent.
By faith in Jesus Christ, you are saved. 

This is why the inhale is so important. If Jesus doesn’t take that breath in the grave on Easter Sunday morning, then you and I are still in our sins. Jesus’ death didn’t work. His promise of forgiveness didn’t mean a thing. You and I have to face God standing in the filthy, disgusting cesspool of all our awful sins.

In fact, 1 Corinthians 15:14 takes it a step farther.  “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” In other words, if Jesus doesn’t take that breath in that tomb, then the Christian faith, is one big useless, irrelevant, irreverent, cruel joke! And I’m a big old fool for teaching it to you.

But…if Christ does take that breath, if his lungs do move again, if blood starts to circulate in his veins and brain activity returns to his nervous system. Then…there is no moment more important.
 
That breath means you are forgiven.
That breath means you are at peace.
That breath means that all will be well.
That breath means that God did what he said he’d do.
That breath means that God was victorious.
That breath means that you are victorious.
That breath means that God rose from the dead.
That breath means that you will rise from the dead.

Treasure it. Celebrate it. Take a breath…breathe out with joy! Jesus has inhaled. He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen!

Christmas is over. I am filled with all kinds of preservatives and saturated fats. I have a few more PEZ dispensers to add to my collection. I’ve seen my fair share of sappy Christmas movies.

I’m feeling quiet, meditative and reflective. So muse with me…WHY?

Not WHY did I eat that whole bag of Chex Mix in one sitting, but why?

Why Christmas in the first place?
Why did Jesus come to earth and become a man?
Why didn’t God come up with some other plan for our salvation? Why the incarnation?

This morning we’re going to let God answer that question in his Word according to Hebrews 2. (It’s kind of a follow up to Hebrews 1 – which went through on Christmas Day. If you haven’t heard that sermon yet, check it out online after this.) Page to Hebrews 2 in your Bibles and let’s get ready to come up with 5 answers from Hebrews chapter 2 alone as to WHY Christmas.

1) To Call you Brother/Sister
 
Check out verse 11 and 14. “Both the one who makes men holy, that’d be Jesus, and those who are made holy, believers in him, are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers…Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity.”  

If you have been getting any Christmas cards or been on Facebook these past days, then you’ve probably noticed how families look alike. They might share in the same color hair. The same eyes. The same jawline. The same love for Duke basketball!

I saw a Facebook post from my seventh grade teacher (yes, I’m Facebook friends with my seventh grade teacher) and he’s about 7 feet tall. Now his kids are all grown up and in his family’s Christmas picture, all five of his kids are just about as tall too.

For Jesus and us to be a family, we needed to share in some traits too. For that to be the case, he needed to have something in common with us. He needed to become human.

Because it doesn’t work the other way. In spite of what the Mormon church teaches, human beings cannot become God.

Proof?

Did you do any miracles this Christmas?
Did you snap your fingers and clean up all the Christmas wrapping paper like that? 
Did you heal your kids’ runny nose with a wave of your hand?
Were you able to make it a white Christmas just by walking outside and saying, “SNOW.”

We can’t become God.
 
Or to think of it another way, we can’t become perfect. Have you ever tried that? Have you tried to be perfect? Were you even perfect over Christmas Day? Honestly the only way you will have succeeded in being perfect is if you are lying….which is a sin…and means you’re imperfect.

We can’t become like God; so God became like us.

2) To Destroy the Devil.  
 
"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 over death, that is, the devil.”

This goes back to the Garden of Eden. It was the devil who walked away from God. It was the devil who dressed up as a snake. It was the devil who tempted Adam and Eve to sin. It was the devil who got them to take a bite of forbidden fruit. It was the devil who brought sin into the world. It was the devil who brought death into the world.

He still has that power today.

It’s kind of like how someone might tempts you with some leftover fruitcake OR a nice sausage. “C’mon. Have a bite. Don’t you like it? Do you think I’m a bad cook? Prove it by eating twenty pieces.” Their temptation causes you to put on calories. In a sense, they have power over the calories you eat. 
 
Same thing with the devil. He tempts. He causes to sin. Sin causes death. He has the power over death.

That’s a sobering reality. Thought about that lately? Death doesn’t come from cancer. It doesn’t come from terrorism. It doesn’t come from drunk driving, smoking, overeating, or icy roads.

It comes from sin. Sin comes from the devil.

But here’s the good news in the above verse. Jesus came to earth to destroy the devil. NOT to beat him. Not to rough him up a bit. Not even to put him in a full nelson for awhile.

Jesus came to destroy the devil. To annihilate him. To completely wipe him out forever! To take him out of power.

Did you watch the Poinsettia Bowl? Boise State 55 Northern Illinois 7. It wasn’t even close.

It wasn’t even close with Jesus and the devil. It was a route. Jesus blanked him.

3) To Free Us from Fear  

He shared in their humanity so that by his death…he might free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

It’s interesting how that’s stated. All their lives held in slavery by their fear of death. It’s true, isn’t it? Death casts a looming shadow over all of us – from childhood to adulthood to seniorhood.

When you’re young and grandpa passes away, "Why is he in the casket? Why can’t his body move?”
When you’re a teen  and see your first rated R movie with a scary murder scene that keeps repeating as you drift to sleep.
When you’re an adult and see another terror attack reported on the nightly news.
When you’re at your Doctor’s appointment and he says “This is more serious than we thought.”
When you’re at the hospital – surrounding by the sanitized smell of death – will this be my last night alive?

Death is scary. Maybe this is why we treasure times like Christmas so much. It might be our last time together as a family. It might be our last time to enjoy each other. It might be our last time in merriment, because…you never know.

But what if you did know?
What if you always knew there would be another day?
What if death wasn’t really a threat?
What if someone made it so that you would always be? 

Understand this: That’s exactly why Jesus came. So you…wouldn’t have to fear. So you…would always be.
 
How did he do it? Why did he have to be human to do it? (I told you we would come back to this.)

4) To Sacrifice…Himself.

Check out verse 17 He had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
 
A high priests. High priests were an integral part of Old Testament Israelite life. They were Old Testament pastors. They were go between between the people and God. They would sacrifice for the people’s sins.

Day after day this happened.

A man comes in tears because of the sin he has committed. The priest sharpens his knife. Grab the rope. Leads he goat, lamb or cow by the rope. Walks through the eerily quiet hall ways of the temple. Stop at the steps of the altar. Grabs the knife. Sharpens the knife. Take a deep breath and kills the animals.

It’s kind of disgusting to think about.

But it illustrated a very important, eternal truth: The wages of sin is death. Death is the only payment that God will accept to allow a sinner back into his family.

Enter Jesus. Jesus came to earth to be a high priest. He came to make atonement for the sins of the people. But nowhere in Scripture do you ever hear of Jesus offering a sacrifice. Not a bull. Not a calf. Not a goat or even a lamb.

What did he sacrifice?

Himself.

This is key in answering why he needed to become human. Because God is eternal. God doesn’t die. God can’t die. God is unending.

But the moment, Jesus became a one celled little organism within the body of his mother Mary, Jesus could die. In fact, he would die. He did die to make atonement for the sins of the people.

To make atonement for the sins of you.

It’s amazing too. We struggle to sacrifice for the sake of reconciliation. The holidays teach us that.

• It’s hard to sacrifice some pride and apologize to an uncle who harmed you just as much as you harmed him.
• It’s hard to sacrifice some money and give your wife a gift that truly makes up for the argument you had last week.
• It’s hard to sacrifice some time that might not be all that fun in order to patch things up with your son.

Jesus sacrificed his pride, his wealth, his time…and even his own life in order to bring you back to God. Now God says this, “By faith in Jesus Christ, you are at peace with God.” 

 5) To Help You BEAT Temptation
 
This last one is kind of a BONUS result. Because number 4 was key. Being a sacrifice of atonement was definitely Christ’s number one goal in becoming man. But number 5 is a pretty neat byproduct.

Verse 18,  “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” Because that’s what happens when you are a human on this earth – you are tempted. The same was true for Jesus.

Case in point:

Jesus is 12 years old. He is in Jerusalem – the big city. He came with his mom and dad, his aunts and uncles, his cousins and all his family. They were to stay for a few days, do some religious things, and then return home to Nazareth.

But when the family left for home, Jesus wasn’t with them.

What should a 12 year old boy do when his parents aren’t there?

There certainly are plenty of temptations: 

• Go get some booze from the shady looking guy in the ally.  
• Look for a peep hole into the women’s bathroom.  
• Climb high up to the temple balcony and  toss rocks at unsuspecting worshippers

I wonder if Mary and Joseph’s minds did think about any and all of these behaviors as they rushed back to Jerusalem frantically searching for him.

But they found him in the temple.
With the religious teachers.
Telling them about the Bible.

What?

That’d be like discovering your kid's light on way past their bed time, rushing in to see the iPad on, expecting to find Subway Surfer being played, but instead seeing Biblegateway.com up on the screen.

Same with Jesus. This time. Every time. He beat temptation every time. It’s why the whole sacrifice thing worked. If He had had sinned, then ”The wages of sin is death.”

But he didn’t. He took on our sins. He beat them for us.

AND he knows exactly what you’re going through.

It’s easy to feel like no one does. If you are struggling against a sin, it’s easy to feel like no one understands – addition to drugs, homosexual attraction, not sleeping with your boyfriend, not being so greedy, doubting God’s Word at every turn.
 
True or false: It’s easy to feel like no one will get you? 

Still. That statement is dead wrong. When no one else gets you, Jesus does. He gets it. He gets you. He gets your temptation.

AND he beat your temptation.  
 
This isn’t like like trying to get advice from a drunkard on how to stop drinking OR how to stop looking at porn from a porn director. This isn’t like trying to get advice from me on how to eat less Doritos. I have no idea. I haven’t mastered it.

Jesus wins every time. He’s on your side. He’s got your back. Whatever you’re struggling with, he has set you free from sin’s consequences and he will set you free from temptation’s power!

CONCLUSION:
 
This leads us back to where we were Christmas Eve night. Because all these reasons for Jesus becoming a baby on that first Christmas – lead back to you. To be your brother. To destroy the devil’s power over you. To set you free from fear. To make atonement for you. To help you beat temptation.

These are all a result of Jesus’ work.
Jesus’ work is all a result of Christmas.
Christmas is a result of you. It happened because of you.

Keep that in your heart. Meditate on it the rest of the week. That’s how much God loves you.

Why Christmas? Because…you. Amen. 

Christmas is supposed to be loving, right?

The Christmas crooning of Bing Crosby mellows us out. The rich chocolate of the Christmas fudge calms our stomachs. The gentle glow of the Christmas tree – all work to give us that gentle, loving feeling. We do all we can – even putting mistletoe in the middle of the home to try and make love a part of Christmas.

We’ve set the stage for love to be shown. Why then is showing love so complicated?

1. Complicated Human Love

I was checking out Facebook today. On Christmas Eve, I was hoping to see in the trending stories things like “Merry Christmas” or “Christ is born.”

Nope. Instead, people who hate Donald Trump have been spending Christmas Eve talking about how much they hate Donald Trump. People who love Donald Trump have been talking about how much they hate Hillary Clinton and people who hate Donald Trump. There was an article or two discussing how the warm weather is removing all the Merry from Christmas. Another article about how Christmas is just a big scam. And no shortage of ads aimed at making you feel guilty for not buying enough for your kids tonight.

And that’s just on the computer.

• Arguing on the phone with your ex over who gets to keep the kids for how long this Christmas.
• Wishing a Merry Christmas to people at the store – except for that guy with the turban, he probably doesn’t deserve it.
• Upset with your teen because they’d rather watch Rihanna’s Christmas special on YouTube than talk with you.
• Tweeting back & forth with your coworkers about how awful your boss is – because he didn’t give you a very big Christmas bonus this year.
• Preparing to awkwardly avoid Uncle Charlie – because you’re still mad at him for what he said last year.

Why is showing love so complicated?

The Bible has one simple answer: Sin. 

Sin is the reason that love is so hard. Sin is selfish. Sin is proud. Sin is hateful. Sin is vengeful. Sin is everything that love is not.

That's why when we are looking for real love, we have to look to God. Look at what God did for us. “God sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live thorugh him.”
 
Parents – think about this. What would it be like to send your child away for Christmas? If they are in college, we usually spend top dollar just to get them back home for a day or two – who would willingly send their child away?

God did. He sent his Son – his perfect Son – the only Son that showed Him absolute, incredible unfailing love – away!

Look where he sent him, “into the world.”

Have you ever been invited to a Rizty party before? Those are real easy to click “yes” to on the evite. There might be fancy cheeses whose names you can’t pronounce, a professional string quartet playing in the background, delicious holiday smells coming from the hors d’oeuvres that are tinier than your pinky finger. There’s even a guy in the bathroom to hand you a paper towel and squirt lotion onto your hands for you.

Then, there are those other Christmas parties. Bachelor Pad Christmas parties. Where the one room studio apartment smells like a combination of must and spam. The only entertainment is a $1 Looney Tune Christmas special from the Walmart DVD bin and the menu consists of Hungry Man TV dinners.

It's’ easy to say YES to a nice place; and hard to say YES to a not so nice place.

Picture Jesus then. He had it all. He dwelt amongst the beautiful rays of sunshine in heaven. He had glorious views of the Cosmos. He walked amongst the gold plated, silver cobblestone path to his lush, divine covered throne with angels trumpeting on key to his every movement.

He gave that up.

He went to a barn.
He smelled animals smells.
He heard animal sounds.
He lay his head on a feeding trough.

That’s just the beginning. Because now he had entered a world filled with hatred – a world filled with violence – a world filled with grief and lust and anger and selfishness and jealousy and adultery and idolatry.

A world with all those things – and not much love.

So why did Jesus do it? “That we might live through him.” He did it to defeat your sin. He did it to defeat your pain. He did it to defeat the gloom of this world and to defeat death.
 
Isn’t that something? Organic food is all the rage right now, so there might be a shift in the Christmas goodies you get. You might get some that are hard pressed, chemical free, oatmeal treats. You may get some essential oils aiming to extend your life. You might get the new Insanity workout in order to start the New Year with a New you.

These things might extend your life…for a bit.

Jesus does extends your life…forever.

How did he do it? Well, he isn’t just an example. He isn’t – as some churches say – an example of how to live so that as long as you live like Jesus – you might make it to heaven eventually.

Then, suddenly we’d be here bragging about the religiosity of our Christmas. “Did you know I’ve been at church since 9am today? Did you know that I went to all of the services Gethsemane had to offer? Did you know that I’ve been singing "Joy to the World" in the shower…Man, do I love God."

That’s not the point. In fact, "This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

Look at that phrase atoning sacrifice. Atoning means to “make one,” or “to bring peace.” It’d be like paying off a credit card and now you don’t owe them any more. You paid for it. You’re at peace. They better stop calling you.

But look at what it takes to make peace with God for your sins – it takes a sacrifice. Someone giving up their life for yours. Someone being in pain. Someone suffering.

Someone died.

That’s what Jesus did. In the darker side of Christmas, understand this: Jesus came to die for you. That’s true love. He didn’t just give up all his money – he didn’t just give up his spot in heaven – he didn’t just give up his perfect throne – he gave up his life for you!

Notice the past tense! We aren’t awaiting this Christmas to come. We aren’t in the process to see if it works. It is done. The manger. The cross. The tomb. They are all done. Jesus was born. Jesus was killed. Jesus was brought back to life – as proof that in Him you will have eternal life.

Yes. You. Believe it.

Because – think about this with me – Christmas is really about you. That’s what we just read, isn’t it? Christmas exists because God loved you that much. He sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for you.

And it doesn’t matter what you’ve done. It doesn’t matter what you look like. It doesn’t matter what your culture is or what your Christmas traditions are.  It doesn’t matter if you’ve been stuck in sin for ages. It doesn’t matter if Christmas feels pretty dark for you right now.

Jesus came because of you. Christmas happened because of you.

Believe it.

And now? God says love others. “Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

At the end of this Christmas Eve service, we have a candlelight song. What happens is I head over to the big white candle in the middle of the Advent wreath. I light my candle on that candle. Then, the ushers come up and I light their candles with my candle. Then, they take their candles and light the first candles in each row. The first candles in each row pass the flame down to the end of the row until everyone has a candle that’s lit. Each having been lit by the flame from the tall white candle.

That candle’s name? The Christ candle.

May his love warm our hearts and touch us so that we share it with others this Christmas season and always. Amen. 

Who’s the Boss? Do you remember that show? It was a light hearted sitcom starring Tony Danza. The implication was simple. He was a single dad. His daughter was a teenage girl. His mom lived with him too. It was his house. He was supposed to be the boss – but oftentimes he wasn’t.

I think you could ask the same question about our country right now. Yes. President Obama is the president. He is the leader. But it almost seems that the real ruler of America is more ethereal. (And much more sinister).

Immorality rules – Do whatever you want; whenever you want; who cares who you are hurting!
Violence rules – Attacks in the news every night, Paris, but then Mali and China.
Death Rules – Each night WRAL and RNC report for the first 20 minutes about how it’s been claiming the lives of many more that day.
Fear rules –  Should we let in Syrian refugees or not? They might kill us all!

How did this happen? How did we get like this?

Today we are continuing our series called SOLA. Our Latin phrase for today is Christ Alone. Our goal is threefold: (1) How did it get that these terrifying things came to rule our world; (2) How did/does Jesus defeat their rule; (3) What is it like living under the rule of Christ.

I. How Sin and Death Got into Control.

We’re heading into Romans 5 to learn more about how exactly these terrible things got into power. Specifically we’re starting at verse 12. “Sin entered the world through one man.” To understand what exactly this is talking about – we need to head back to the very first days of this planet’s existence.

God had created a perfect place – a world without suicide bombers, crooked cops, internet trolls, and racism. In fact, this world wasn’t even host to some ‘lesser evils’ like mean words, pencil stealing, and the occasional sneaking a two seconds longer than necessary look at someone you aren’t married to.

In this perfect world, God in his infinite wisdom thought it necessary to allow his people a way to show love to him. So he created one very special tree. He placed it in the middle of the garden. He told the man (named Adam – which roughly translated in Hebrew means: “The man”); he told the man to not eat of the tree out of love for him!

Simple enough right?

It isn’t long before Adam and his wife get to looking at the tree. They examine its fruit. They smell it’s smells. They wonder about it.

Then, the devil – in the form of a talking snake – says to them, “Go ahead. Eat it. It’ll be awesome. Don’t listen to the Almighty, all loving God who created you, gave you life, gave you this 70 degree, perfect climate with all the tangerines and cucumbers you want to eat – ready to go at a moment’s notice. Don’t listen to him. Listen to me – a talking snake.”

And they did. They ate.

When they did. Look at what happened. Sin entered the world through one man. 

Think of Adam like a door. Beforehand, sin wasn’t there. God didn’t create sin and add it to this world. But when Adam disobeyed God, he opened up that door and he let them right in. Suddenly, sin was all over the place. Disobedience was Adam’s next door neighbor. Selfishness made up its residence down the block. Pride, anger, and rebellion got an apartment together. Lust bought a townhome. Murder got a permanent job.

Suddenly – sin ruled the world!

But sin didn’t come in alone. Look at what Scripture says next, “Sin entered the world through one man…and death through sin.”

It’s not like God didn’t warn Adam. He told him, “If you eat of it, you will die.” God knew what sin would bring with it. He knew that evil being a part of this world would force His Almighty Hand to destroy it. He knew that a good God cannot let evil slide. He must wipe it out. Even when it’s permanently linked itself to his beloved creation, God knew that he would have to act. So he warned Adam!

But Adam didn’t listen.

Picture sin coming through that door, but not alone. With its grisly, pale arms wrapped around sin’s neck, death comes in with him. It begins wreaking havoc immediately. Adam and Eve’s first son kills their second son over an offering to God!

Death is still ruling isn’t it? Cancer. AIDS. Drunk driving. Fires. School shootings. Racist shootings.  Terrorism. War. Old Age.
                                                                                                                                                                     
Don’t you wish you could slap Adam sometimes? “Look at what you did! Was the fruit really worth it? Was the shot of Vitamin C really that incredible? You ruined it!” But Adam isn’t the only one to blame.

“Death came to all, because all sinned.”

Do you see it? Death isn’t just Adam’s fault.
It’s yours.
It’s mine.
This world is like this because of us! We are the ones who let sin and death have control.
We are the ones who say, “God I hear what you’re saying, but I’d prefer to do this.”
We are the ones who say, “God, leave me alone. Stop being so controlling. Can’t you see that my sin is what I want to live my life by?”
We are the ones who say, “God, get out of my life. I’m with my sin right now.  Don’t bother coming back. I’ve given him control.”

Lord, forgive us. Death and sin are in control – and we let them!

II. How Death & Sin were Overthrown

What now? How do we defeat sin and death?

Shall we stage a revolution? #OverthrowSinAndDeath? Shall we start a social movement to vote them out of office? Are we hear to start a Mockingjay-esque revolution?

Nope. I don’t mean to be a downer, but it won’t work. How can enslaved, chained, and as good as dead people, fight back and win? 

Look at who came to save us. The gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
 
Did you catch it? “Grace came by Jesus Christ.” “The gift of God…brought justification.” “We will reign in life…though the one man Jesus, Christ.”

Somebody’s name got repeated there. Last I checked he doesn’t go to this congregation. It isn’t you. It isn’t me. It isn’t some other pastor at some other church.

Nope.

The one who overthrew sin and death was SOLUS CHRISTUS. Christ alone!

Jesus did it by himself. He fought sin & death in a handicap match…and won!

And no, it wasn’t like a UFC fight. It wasn’t Rhonda Rousey and Holly Holm – (Although that would be quiet the billing: Jesus v. Death!) In actuality, it didn’t look like much of a fight at all.

Jesus was beaten. He was handcuffed. He was betrayed by his friends. He was led to a false trial. He was deceptively sentenced. He was spat upon, slapped, and scourged. He had a crown of thorns placed into his head and a rod repeatedly striking him in the face. He carried a heavy “T” of wood outside the city and there he was nailed with large spikes – hand and foot to the cross.

Honestly – it looked like he had lost. He died!

But – hidden behind the this grim death scene –invisible to the naked eye -- our Jesus had already won. He had taken our sins and choked the life out of them. He put the devil in a strangle hold and weakened him into a frail shadow of himself. He looked death square in the face and knocked the “death” out of him!

And soon…this was apparent. Because three days later, he walked the earth again. He was alive – death was dead. He was in the winners circle (shaking hands and giving hugs) – sin was nowhere to be found! He was victorious – the devil was defeated.

III. Under Jesus’ Reign
Brothers and sisters, it’s nice to be under Jesus’ reign.

Did you ever notice that it matters who is in charge? If you’ve ever had a change of boss at work, then you know that. You might be used to a boss that let’s you play on Facebook and take afternoons off. Then, that guy might get fired and be replaced by a tyrant who sends you home with work to do on your iPad at home – so you never get a break. Maybe your company struggled, but then you replaced the CEO and things began to take off.

What’s it like under Jesus’ reign? How do things change when you go from sin and death – to Jesus?

1. Grace Overflows

Verse 15 says it succinctly. If the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to many. Because when we were under the rule of death, all death had to offer was death. Your assignment for this week? Death. Your quarterly review? Death. Your wages? Death. Your health care package? Death.

But with Jesus as ruler, our lives are overflowing with grace. It’s like taking a bathtub of water and trying to fill up a little Dixie cup – with a picture of Dora the Explorer imprinted on the side. You have way more than you need.

Jesus has gifted us way more than we need!

• We need God to tolerate us – Jesus restores us to perfect peace with God.
• We would be happy if God didn’t hate us – Jesus made it so that we are his Treasured possession.
• We might be just happy to be alive – Jesus empowers us to live and to thrive in his incredible grace!

 
2. Jesus Calls us "Innocent"

Verse 16 says this, “The gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: the judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation" – Because that’s what sin deserves. Condemnation. But here’s where it gets interesting. “The gift followed many trespasses" – which we might expect to lead to “Many condemnations.” But that’s not what followed it. Scripture says, “the gift…brought justification.”

That’s literally the exact opposite of condemnation. Justification is a courtroom term that means “not guilty,” “innocent;” “free from punishment.” This phrase is proof that sin has been defeated for you. Because they no longer bring the condemnation that they hoped to bring! Because of Jesus, you are forgiven!

That’s who you are.

We don’t have to live each day like we got called into the principal’s office – who has a tendency to get so angry with our sins that he pounds the desk, shakes the earth, and fire comes out of his eyes!

No. instead. We – you – live each day “FORGIVEN.” Free from sin. God’s dear child. A powerless victim of sin – no longer!

3. We Reign in LIFE. 

But sin isn’t all that was defeated. There’s still that death thing. Does it still have power over us?

Read verse 17 “By the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace (that’s the overflowing love that we talked about) and of the gift of righteousness (that’s the declaration of “not guilty” we just talked about – both of which you have received , so this is talking about you!) How much more… will you reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ."

An ironic twist, Jesus turned death, who had turned Adam into a doorway for death, into a door itself. Jesus turned death into a doorway for life.

Not just any life either. Eternal life. Peaceful life. Perfect life in heaven with Jesus.

So don’t be scared. No matter what it looks like out there in the world – don’t be scared. No matter what your friends tell you and your Facebook feed suggests – don’t be scared.

Jesus reigns. Christ alone Rules. To Him be glory and honor and praise now and forever. Amen!

Is God dead?

It certainly looks like it, doesn’t it?

Immorality is increasing at an incredible rate. New science studies “prove” that it was a Big Bang and not God. “And the article had 10,000 likes on Facebook so the conclusions must be true!”  Random acts of nature – mudslides, disappearing planes, capsized boats. “If God were here, he wouldn’t let that happen.”

Then, there are our personal struggles – barely able to pay rent, job on the chopping block, strained marriages, struggles in school, life threatening illnesses. They all tempt us to one sad conclusion --  

God is dead.    

That’s a pretty scary conclusion isn’t it? It’s the exact same scary situation that a few women followers of Jesus found themselves in early the first Easter morning.

Their leader. Their God. Was certainly dead. And there’s plenty of reason to believe this to be truth nearly 2000 years later. Just look at the witnesses:

1) The crowd at the crucifixion. They had seen Jesus’ body go through a brutal beating. Punches, slaps, and kicks on Thursday evening. A barbaric scourging at the hands of professional Roman torturers Friday morning. A crown of thorns to rest his head, then, stakes through the hands and the feet all by lunchtime!  Then, they watched for three hours until his body wore out, unable to push up at the bottom of the cross, Jesus took his last breath. Then knew he was dead.

2) But so did the soldiers. They were professionals at torture AND killing. If they didn’t get it right, they might die! So they were extra careful. Even though they were positive Jesus was dead, one soldier took a spear and stuck it into his side -- aiming for the heart. Now they knew he was dead.  

3) The two men who had prepared Jesus’ body for burial knew he was dead, too. So they began traditional preparations for the dead. They covered Jesus’ hands, his feet, and his wrists with linens. They never saw his chest move. They felt no pulse. They didn't see his eyelids flicker. They knew he was dead.  

4) His enemies even knew it! As the body was prepared, they came to Pilate and asked that armed guards watch over the tomb. Jesus had promised that he would rise again, but since they knew him to be dead, they were nervous that the disciples would steal his body. They asked for the guards to prevent a hoax.  

5) The man in charge of the crucifixion allowed it. Because he knew Jesus was dead too. Likely, he had ordered plenty of crucifixions. No one came through them! Jesus was no different. His guards said he was dead. He was dead. They could have a guard if it made them feel better.

6) The grave workers then took their places. They helped ensure the body made its way into the tomb. They pushed a boulder in front of it. They sealed it with wax. They probably worked in shifts. One group Friday night. Another Saturday morning, Another Saturday evening. A final set early Sunday morning. None of these soldiers heard movement in the tomb. Because Jesus was dead.

7) Which is why the women early that Easter morning were so certain. They carried spices towards his tomb – not to repair him to health, but because that's how you honored the dead. 

And Jesus was dead.

Even modern medicine agrees. Some people have this idea that Jesus went into a coma. "Maybe, he didn't really die. Maybe, the blood thirsty beatings, the extreme blood loss and the slow death on a cross didn't kill him. Just put him a coma." Modern medicine scoffs at such an idea. Dr. Robert Stein, one of the world's foremost pathologists wrote, "Jesus couldn't possibly have faked his death, because you can't fake the inability to breathe for all that long. Besides the spear thrust into his heart would have settled the issue once and for all...And EVEN if in some kind of miracle, he had only been in a coma, what would he have done? When he awoke in the tomb, he would have been so pathetically weak that he would have simply lay there unable to move the giant boulder that sealed him in!"

This is key then to understanding the Easter story. Jesus was certainly dead.

Was.

II. Certainly Alive.

As the women came to the  tomb any fear they had from their leader having been killed must have intensified. There was an earthquake. The stone had been rolled away!!! The soldiers were passed out with shock! They appeared into the tomb.

IT WAS EMPTY! What had happened!?!

Then, they met their first witness.

His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.  An angel. “He’s not here; he has risen…come and see the place where he lay! Then, go quickly and tell his disciples.”

So they hurried away from the tomb! Excited, but nervous. Who would believe them? Is an angel to be trusted?

Then, they saw someone they knew could be trusted. The women saw Jesus!  “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet. At that time, I'm sure they saw the wounds on both his feet -- right where the nails had been. As he clasped their shoulders to comfort them, they saw the holes in his hands. This was no imposter. This wasn't some groggy, just out of a coma Jesus...and since they all saw Him...it wasn't a hallucination.

Who was not dead, but alive!

But those women weren’t the only witnesses.  

Jesus showed himself to Mary Magdalene. A woman who could have no doubts it was him. She would never forget the face of the man who would heal her and changed her life.

Jesus showed himself to two disciples walking to Emmaus. His knowledge of scripture was unmistakable. It was him!

He showed himself to the Eleven. Well, actually, ten of them first. Thomas was missing. But when Thomas complaind that he wouldn’t believe in the resurrection until he saw it, Jesus reappeared. He showed him his hands. His feet. He ate food in front of him. He allowed Thomas to stick his hand in his side! And even doubting Thomas was convinced – this isn’t Peter trying to play a trick on me. This is "My Lord and God!"

In fact, there is no shortage of witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection. over 500 people in many different places, in different times and different places. Different people. All of them were convinced it was him!

Even one of Jesus' greatest enemies – Saul --  who was convinced that Jesus was dead and that this was all a lie...so much so that he imprisoned, beat, and killed anyone who confessed to following Jesus...Saul saw Jesus. He believed he was alive. He became a follower. He went on four missionary journeys, started over 20 churches, and wrote 13 books in the Bible! Why did he make such a change? Why did it happen over night?

Because he saw that Jesus was alive!

But Paul isn't even the greatest witness. The greatest witness lie in that empty tomb.

I like Chocolate Easter bunnies. But, at our house, you aren’t supposed to eat them until Easter Sunday. So, if Julianna finds a little bit of chocolate on the corner of my mouth and accuses me of eating the bunny, all I have to do is produce the chocolate bunny—whole, in package, and untouched.

If Jesus was still dead, all the Pharisees would have to do would be to produce the dead body.

They couldn’t!

"But the disciples probably stole it!" Right! An accountant and a few fisherman overpowered the first century equivalent of heavily, armored Navy seals, and threw open the sealed rock all before the soldiers knew what hit ‘em.

There’s another problem. Why would the disciples have perpetuated the lie even to their own deaths?

What happens on crime dramas when the perpetrator is confronted with absolute evidence that he is guilty? He stops lying. He gives the truth – no matter what it convict him of.

The disciples NEVER did this. Why? Because it was the truth! They had seen Jesus die and they had seen him alive! He was their God and God was not dead!

Brothers and sisters, no explanation fits the empty tomb except for the fact that he only thing that does fit and explain the empty tomb is a historical. Very real. Resurrection.

III. What it means for Us


What interesting is that there isn’t an Empire Strikes Back to the Easter Story. The Pharisees never find Jesus and try to kill him all over again.   

The truth is this: God couldn't be killed then and listen to this God can't be killed now!

Now what we normally don’t try to do is kill God with a nuclear bomb or biological warfare. No, we use reason! "I don't think God could exist and it's not reasonable that Jesus could rise from the dead, so this is nothing more than a fairy tale." We use science. "I read an article that said science still can't find scientific proof for a God that created the universe. We use emotions, "I hate that God tells us that the way I want to live my life is a sin! Therefore, he must not exist."

But God didn’t stay dead at the hands of one of the most violent deaths in the history of the world. No amount of unbelief, no amount of scientific evidence, no amount of immorality, no amount of bad circumstances, no amount of hatred can kill God!  

 In fact, if you still insist that Jesus is not God and definitely not alive or even real, - especially in the face of today’s testimony - I’m very nervous for you. It’s not God's who's dead…it's you.

And it happens so easily. Guilt over past sins smothers any hope in a God who forgives. Pride stamps out any obedience to a divine authority. Reason. Sinful, human reason loves to attack and destroy faith. And fear of what it might mean that God is real and Easter is true...kills your desire to find out. 

But even if we are spiritually dead, there’s still hope. Because God’s not dead! In fact, he can’t be held down by death. That’s mortal stuff.

Why then did God die in the first place?

Scripture says, "He was put to death for our sins"-- the very Jesus who proved his authority to say things with his unmistakable death and resurrection – He taught all human beings are morally corrupt individuals who have done wrong against God and, as a result, die – and, when they die apart from God – die eternally!

Scripture says, "He was raised to life for our justification!" In other words, his death was the punishment for your sins. God’s wrath has been wiped away! Now, through faith in Jesus,  you are forgiven and God declares you innocent of wrongdoing. In fact, he no longer threatens hell, but promises the eternal life of heaven.

3) This leads to the final truth:  With faith in the God-Who’s-Not-Dead, you’re not dead! A more eloquent way of saying it this: With faith the God who Lives, you will Live! On high. With the Lord. In heaven.

This is huge!

I wish you could have met my Grandpa Dave. He was a wonderful man. I used to sit on his lap and eat Easter candy with him. I’d also try to keep the Easter candy away from the tattooed panther he had on his bicep. It didn’t like bunnies – he told me.

I haven’t celebrated an Easter with Grandpa Dave in years.

But I will. Because God lives. Through faith in him, you will too. 

Dear friends. May this same ever living God be your hope this Easter and always. Amen.

It’s one of the strangest parts of the creed.

Growing up I felt so bad for Jesus whenever we said this. “How awful! How terrible! To be put under the awful influence of the devil and his demons in the fiery place of hell. How humiliating that he would have to suffer that for us.”

Undoubtedly, I understood the devil’s power. He, at such a young age, had already overpowered me and caused me to fight with my sister, disobey my mother, and ignore my Sunday School teachers. 

Perhaps you are just as aware of his power.

But my six year old interpretation was a bit off.

For on the cross Jesus cried out, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) Meaning there was no suffering left to do. 

And in Colossians 2:15 “He made a public spectacle of the (evil) powers and authorities by triumphing over them on the cross.”Meaning his victory over the devil came at the cross.

So why to hell? 

1 Peter 3:18-19, “Jesus was put to death in the body, but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison.” 

Preached to the spirits in prison? Like tell the Gospel to the demons and unbelievers in hell? That doesn’t make sense. The Bible clearly teaches that there is no “second chance” to believe. 

So what was Jesus doing in hell? What was he preaching?

 “He made a public spectacle of them.” “Triumphing over them.” “It is finished.”

This is Jesus’ divine victory parade. He goes to hell to tell the devil, “I told you so!” To make it very clear that the LORD of majesty reigns supreme and the lord of the flies will be the one suffering in hell. Good won. Evil failed. 

Sound a little like taunting? 

So, what?

He’s taunting the devil. The very one whom we have no power over on our own. The very one who has defeated us in the past. The very one who wants nothing more than our own demise in hell.  

I’m ok with Jesus mocking him.

Because with Jesus victory parade comes His victory. And with His victory comes our victory. And with our victory comes Jesus and His power to win battle after battle against temptation in our day to day lives. 

It also means that through faith in Jesus, we will never have any idea what hell looks like. 

I'm fine with that. 

"I believe in Jesus Christ...descended into hell." What a beautiful article declaring Jesus' victory over the ancient tempter.  

So do you know what I do when I hear that in church now? 
 
Smile. 

PRAYER:  Dear Lord, forgive me for all of the times that I have lost to the devil and given into his temptations. Forgive me for the sake of your Son, who defeated him on the cross and proclaimed his victory to the devil in hell. Lord, let me taste this victory through faith in your Son, my victorious Savior. When I am tempted, help me to turn to Jesus, the one who has already displayed his supreme dominance over the tempter. Keep me safe from his jaws with your strong arms. Amen.