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"The Victory of the Cross" 1 Corinthians 15:57
Part 3 in the series, "The Centrality of the Cross"
by Clancy Nixon
February 27, 2005
Church of the Holy Spirit, Ashburn, Virginia
You remember Eeyore? He's the discouraged donkey in the Winnie the Pooh
stories. Some Christians I know remind me of Eeyore they seem to walk around with a
cloud over their heads, and their glass is always "half empty." Thanks goodness that the
New Testament knows nothing of that kind of Christianity. The early church had a joyful
confidence about them. The Apostle Paul, who endured the 39 lashes more than once;
who was imprisoned, stoned, shipwrecked, starved, and despised; Paul said this about his
sufferings: `Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Let's say that together. Start with the address: First Corinthians 15:57 "Thanks be to
God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." First Corinthians 15:57.
In our house, when we memorize a Scripture, we recite what we call "the address" both
before and after the Scripture, because that is the part that is hardest to remember. We all
learn through repetition. Let's learn this scripture today and this coming week. Write it
down, and practice it with your family. I know you can do it; God will give you the
victory!
We have the victory in Christ, but victory often looks different to God than it does
to us. It's easy to think that victory means getting what we want. When I was a Curate at
Truro, a young mother came to see me. She said she was upset because she wasn't able
to "get the victory" in her life. She had an effective volunteer ministry in the church, but
the demands of children, husband and home left her feeling like she was doing a lot, but
that her ministry suffered. I encouraged her to look at what "victory" would look like for
a young mother. It would not look the same as victory would look like for a single
woman in full-time ministry. For Paul, victory in getting the gospel out meant a great
deal of suffering. Think of Jesus: The cross demonstrates for us that the place of
apparent defeat can be the place of greatest victory.
In Romans 8:28, Paul says, "We are more than conquerors through him who
loved us." Defeatism is out of place in the Kingdom of God. The cross demonstrates for
us that the place of apparent defeat can be the place of greatest victory. Make no
mistake, on the Cross, Christ won a decisive victory. He won this victory not only over
sin and guilt, but also over the Devil and his minions. We may not think very often of
Christ as Victor. We are familiar with calling Christ our Savior, our Lord, and our
Teacher. Most of us don't hear much about Christ as Victor, but the Bible uses this
imagery frequently.
You may ask, "If Christ has already won the victory, why doesn't it look that
way?" I grant you, it looks like Satan has been running rampant for some time. The
history of the 20th Century is a chronicle of man's inhumanity to man. Stalin killed 40
million people in the Soviet Union through both the forced collectivization of agriculture
and political terror. Mao Tse-Tung killed his 60 million in communist China, mostly
murders in the class struggle. It boggles the mind. How is Christ victorious over that?
Remember, the cross demonstrates that the place of apparent defeat can be the place of
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greatest victory. The Soviet Gulag produced Alexander Solzhenitsyn, a writer who
influenced millions toward Christ and the Russian Orthodox Church. The ongoing
persecution of believers in China has produced the most courageous Christian movement
on the planet in the underground Church. Read Brother Yun's book, The Heavenly Man.
Chinese believers have set a goal to evangelize all the Muslims between China and
Jerusalem. Let's thank God for our Chinese brothers and sisters by reciting our memory
verse. First Corinthians 15:57: "Thanks be to God, He has given us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ." First Corinthians 15:57. I'll say more later on why it doesn't
always look like we have the victory in Christ.
The Bible says Jesus Christ has conquered Satan. Why is it that so many believers
fail to act like that's true? Because we're deceived. Some believers are afraid of
demons. Others don't believe that they exist. Many of us ignore the spiritual battle that
rages around us. Still others know full well about the battle, but they are A.W.O.L., away
without leave, leaving too few to fight. The Men's Retreat last weekend was a powerful
time of ministry, teaching by Clay McLean, and great fellowship with the guys in
Harper's Ferry. Some men were set free, others were healed, and others renewed their
spiritual commitments. Clay encouraged each of us to get on our knees and fight like a
man!
John Stott's book The Cross of Christ is a great resource for our series theme,
"The Centrality of the Cross," and I highly recommend it. Copies are for sale in the
hallway. Stott lays out how the victory of the cross works.
You can look at the entire biblical narrative as the story of God's victory over
Satan. It began in the Garden of Eden. Look with me at Genesis 3:15, found on page 3
of your blue pew Bibles. Here, God is passing judgment on the serpent for his part in the
fall of humanity. God says, "The woman's offspring will crush your head, and you will
strike his heel." The offspring of the woman who would crush the serpent's head is the
Messiah, the Christ. This is the first messianic prophecy in Scripture. Every Old
Testament prophecy of Messiah can be read as a prophecy of the ultimate crushing of
Satan.
The conquest began in earnest through the earthly ministry of Christ. Jesus brings
in the Kingdom of God; he advances, the devil retreats before him, and sicknesses are
healed. Christ achieved the conquest by his sacrifice on the cross. Colossians 2:15 says
this: "Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them,
triumphing over them by the cross." The cross is the place of victory. The resurrection
was the confirmation of the conquest, not the conquest itself. It was at the cross that
Jesus took our sin debt, and broke the power of Satan over us.
Stott says that every Christian conversion is a power encounter, in which the devil
is obliged to relax his hold on someone and the superior power of Christ is demonstrated.
Jesus says this at Luke 11:21 and 22: "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own
house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him,
he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils." The strong
man is the devil, the stronger one is Christ, and the spoils to be divided are the souls of
the captives held in the devil's thrall. Friends, every time any sinner repents, anywhere in
the world, you and I participate in the victory of Christ! This victory is our victory.
Today, twenty-five thousand people will be saved. Today and tomorrow, too! Let's say
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our verse: First Corinthians 15:57 "Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ." First Corinthians 15:57.
Christ's conquest will be brought to completion at his Second Coming. The devil
is bound with chains for 1,000 years, and then finally thrown into the lake of fire. The
final victory is yet to come.
To return to our earlier question, it does not always look like Christ is the victor
because the Kingdom of God has a dual character: The Kingdom is already here, but it's
not yet here in its fullness. The devil has been defeated, but he has not yet conceded
defeat. Though he has been overthrown, he has not yet been eliminated. That is why
Ephesians 6 tells us to put on the full armor of God, so that we can stand against the
devil's schemes, which can ensnare and harm us. First Peter 5:8 tells us that the devil
prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. That is very true. I
learned something about lions this week while I was in Florida on vacation with Ginger.
When you are in a car or truck, a lion will not attack you. That is because lions are peri-
visual; that means that they see the truck and you as one. The truck is big, makes strong
noises, and so the lion backs off. Now the devil is much smarter than a lion, but when a
demon sees you, he also sees the Holy Spirit in you. Christ in you makes you more
powerful than Satan could ever hope to be. Without God with us, we would be toast.
When we are in Christ, Christ gives us the victory. As Luther wrote, "one little word
shall fell him." What is the word? When my boys were little, we taught them James
4:7: "Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will run away!" They know how to say, "In
Jesus' name, go away!" And the devil flees.
We know that the devil is a deceiver. He twists the truth in ways that make sin
seem attractive. But there is always a hook in it. The devil can hook you in several
ways. The main way is through deception and lies. That is why good teaching is so
important. It's one reason why sound doctrine is so important in the church because bad
doctrine leads people to bondage to sin and death. The Samaritan woman at the well was
in bondage both through her doctrine and through her life of unmarried serial monogamy.
When she learned who God really is the Lord Jesus she became an evangelist for him,
and she was freed. Some of the most detrimental lies we could ever believe concern the
character of God. If we don't get that right, nothing else will be right.
Our friend Bob and his wife treated Ginger and me to lunch at Paulo's in Reston a
couple weeks ago. Bob was reading a book by Mike Bickel called After God's Own
Heart. Bickel says that he has asked many Christian believers to guess how God feels
about them most of the time. He has heard more than any other answers, these two: they
say, "I think God is mostly angry with me;" or, "I think He is mostly disappointed with
me." In both cases, they think it's their fault. Bob told us his story. He said: "When I
was growing up, I experienced my father as feeling mostly disappointed in me. For a
long time, that is how I experienced God, as well. Bickel's book made me look at how
God really feels about me, based on what the Bible says, instead of what I imagine.
Zephaniah 3:17 says, "He will take great delight in you; he will quiet you with his love
and rejoice over you with singing." King David knew that the closer you get to God, the
more gladness you experience. Psalm 16:11 says, "In Your presence is fullness of joy; at
your right hand are pleasures forevermore!" Friends: do you see how easy it is to be
deceived into misreading the character of God? When God sees a believer in his son, he
is peri-visual: he no longer sees our sin. When God looks at you, he sees the shed blood
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of his Son, and the righteousness of Christ is imputed to your account. God is not mad or
sad with those who trust in the shed blood of Jesus. God is mostly glad when he thinks of
you.
Bob continued: "Now I realize that when God thinks about me, he feels mostly
delight in me and love for me. God is really not like my earthly father in that way. Even
when I blow it, God's love for me is steadfast. Now I am finally having a daily hour
alone with God, because I want to be with such a loving God. I want to be with God now
because I know that God feels mostly glad when he thinks of me - he's not mostly mad or
sad with me. Now it's not a solemn duty to have a quiet time, but rather a pleasure. I
run to Him every morning." Friends, that is victory for God.
Ginger and I were transfixed by Bob's story. It's so easy to get a wrong picture of
God. While we may define ourselves by our failures, God defines us through His grace.
When we "get it" that God sees us through eyes of grace, through the victory of his Son,
we can see other believers that way as well. What freedom there is in seeing God aright.
Freedom from the deception of the evil one who keeps us from the pleasures of God.
Let's say our memory verse one more time: First Corinthians 15:57: "Thanks be
to God, He has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." First Corinthians
15:57.
God wants the victory this morning. Jesus wants his truth known; he wants his
people back. His victory can be manifest through healing. By his stripes, we are healed.
He wants to heal people in body, mind and spirit. I believe that he wants to heal some
people how have been AWOL form the spiritual battle. He wants to heal others who have
been deceived into thinking that God is mostly mad or sad with them. Whatever your
need, God wants to heal you.
Now we are going to move to our time of prayer. Before we do that, we are going
to wait on the Lord to speak words of knowledge or insight into what He wants to do
among us. We believe that God gives that gift to some people in the body of Christ, so
that the body may be built up. Let's just wait in silence for a time. If the Lord should
give a word to you, please come forward to the microphone and share your discernment.
[PAUSE] I'd like to ask you to come forward row by row, much like we do at
communion, to receive a brief healing prayer from one of our healing prayer ministers. If
you have a request, please share it very, very briefly with a prayer minister, and they will
pray for you. If you don't have a request, he or she will pray a brief general prayer of
healing and blessing over you. I invite you to sing along with our music team as people
receive prayer. I'd like the Healing Prayer Team to come forward first to receive prayer.
Please stand.
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