| Redeemer Lutheran Church 1084 W. Bullard Ave. Fresno, CA 93711 Phone: (559) 439-8500 Fax: (559) 439-8585 office@redeemerfresno.com The Reverend Clarence Eisberg Phone: (209) 725-9082 Cell: (209) 631-3108 pastor@redeemerfresno.com Worship ~ 8:30 a.m. & 10:00 a.m. Family Ministries ~ 10:00 a.m. Holy Communion ~ 2nd & 4th Sundays |
| Connecting People to Jesus and to One Another! www.lcms.org |
The Reverend Clarence Eisberg |
April 10, 2011 |
“The Final Triumph Over Evil" |
| Anger.” She wrote: “Is God angry over sin? Yes.” Was He angry over the behavior of find even 10 righteous people who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah. Judgment day came. Only at the cross do we see “His holy wrath under the perfect control of His limitless love. Try to imagine it! The innocent Son of God, mocked, tortured and murdered while God the Father, His Father watches.” Jesus is absorbing the “holy wrath” of God for our sin. The Apostle Paul wrote that Jesus was obedient unto death, death on a Roman cross. He could have called 10,000 angels to rescue Him from the cross. He did not. Why? Because He was the Old Testament Yahweh in flesh and bone. That’s what He had promised Adam and Eve. Who else could walk on water, but God alone. Who else could still a raging storm with two words: “Be Still”. Only God. Who else could give sight to a man born blind? Only God. Who else could offer forgiveness to a paralyzed man and then tell him to get up and walk? Only God. Who else could raise the dead? Only God. When Jesus was on the cross, the sky turned black. The earth rumbled. He said, “Father forgive them.” Jesus uses his final breath to underscore His vicarious substitution for sinful humanity. “It is finished.” The debt has been paid. Innocent blood purchased our salvation. Justification before the eternal Judge of the Universe is available to all who choose to place their faith in Jesus. The conquest of Satan and Evil began with the ministry of Jesus as He confronted Satan when dwelling on earth. Read Mark 1:21 The challenge of the demon Mark 5:1-13 The final conquest of Satan took place with the death of Jesus on the cross. Colossians 2: 13-15 & Hebrews 2:14 God the Father not only wiped clean the slate upon which our sins were recorded… He destroyed the slate …taking away Satan’s authority and power to accuse the believe of sin. On the cross Jesus totally resisted Satan’s temptations, just as He had numerous times before. Luke 4:5 The temptation to be King without the cross Matthew 16:21-23 to Peter … “Get behind me Satan….” John 6:15… refused to be made King by force. Satan’s plan did not work in the wilderness. It did not work on the green hillside of the shoreline of Sea of Galilee. Matthew 27:39-43… It did not work at the cross. In each of these events “Jesus was tempted to avoid the cross and death. Jesus persevered in the path of obedience and became “obedient to death… even death on a cross.” (Phil 2:8) His obedience was indispensable to his saving work. “For just as through the disobedience of one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” (Rom. 5:19) If Jesus had disobeyed, by deviating even on inch from the path of God’s will, the devil would have frustrated the plan of salvation. On the cross, provoked by the insults and tortures …. Jesus absolutely refused to retaliate. With the power of Rome and Jerusalem and the Demonic host of Hell swirling around the hill of Golgotha… Jesus could have met power with power. For Pilate did not have ultimate authority over Him. More than twelve legions of angels would have sped to His rescue if he had summoned them. He could have stepped down from the cross …as the Pharisees challenged Him to do. By His obedience, by His love, he remained uncontaminated, uncompromised. The devil had to concede defeat. The promise of God in the Garden of Eden to redeem humanity from eternal death began during the public ministry of Jesus and was decisively won at the cross. It was impossible for death to keep its hold on Jesus and he rose from death, just as he promised. The defeat of Satan and the conquest of evil is extended to the Church goes on its mission in the power of the Spirit to preach Christ crucified as Lord and call people to repent and believe in Jesus. Every Christian convert involves a power encounter in which the devil is obliged to relax his hold on somebody’s life and the power of Christ becomes visible. James Denney in his book “The Death of Christ” writes: “by the blood of Jesus God’s wrath against sin was propitiated and by the same blood shed on the cross we have been redeemed, justified and reconciled.” We now have peace with God. No where does the New Testament proclaim: “Christ rose for our sins.” No. Paul writes, and we confess in the creeds, “Christ died for our sins.” The death of Jesus destroyed him who holds the power of death, that is the devil. His resurrection declares with power and glory that He is the Living Son of God and publicly confirms that His death was effective for the forgiveness of sins. Now that we are forgiven… the fear of judgment after death is taken away. That is why Paul shouts: “Where, O death is your victory? Where of death is your sting? There is no reply…. So Paul shouts again… Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ. (I Cor. 15:55-57) What then should be the Christians attitude to death? It is still an enemy, unnatural, unpleasant and undignified… it is the “last enemy to be destroyed.” Death is defeated because Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will live forever….” His resurrection guarantees that we too shall rise from death with the same “glorified and resurrected body that Jesus has.” (Phil. 3:21-22) Earlier in the service I placed the song “Happy Day” right after the absolution…. “the greatest day in history Death is beaten… Jesus rescued me Sing out Jesus is alive The empty cross the empty grave Life eternal you have won the day Shout it out Jesus is alive. O happy day, Jesus washed away my sin I shall never be the same. Tony Campolo tells of the Sunday he visited an African American Church. He said… “for an hour and a half the pastor repeated these words over and over again. “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s a comin’.” Tony said, “I’ve never heard anything like it. He just kept saying it. The congregation was spell bound by the power of those few words. “It’s Friday. Pilate shows the crowd a bloodied Jesus. He has a crown of thrones and a purple robe. But it’s only Friday. Sunday’s a comin. On the streets of Jerusalem Jesus stumbles. The burden of the cross. Roman Soldiers grab a man from the crowd to carry the cross. But it’s only Friday. Sunday’s a coming. It’s Friday. Mary, Jesus’ mother is crying her eyes out. That’s her son up there on the cross. He’s dying the agonizing death of crucifixion as a criminal. But it’s only Friday,” the preacher said. “Sunday’s a comin.” “the apostles were really down and out. They were hiding. Jesus, their leader was being killed by evil men. But it was only Friday. Sunday is a comin.”\ “The Devil thought he had won. ‘You thought you could out wit me.’ he said. But I’ve got you on the cross. But it was only Friday. Sunday is a comin.” “It’s Friday and evil has triumphed over good. Jesus is dying up there on the cross. The world is turned upside down. This shouldn’t happen. But it’s only Friday. Sunday is a comin.” “Mary Magdalene was out of her mind with grief. Her Lord was being killed. Jesus had turned her life from sin and grace. Now he is dead. But it’s only Friday. Sunday is a comin.” The preacher went on like this for 30 minutes, 40 minutes, an hour. Tony Campolo said. “I was exhausted. But I never forgot the message. The sky was black. The earth rumbled. The soldier pierced the heart of Jesus. But it’s only Friday. Sunday’s a comin. Nicodemus took the body of Jesus down from the cross. But it is only Friday. Sunday’s a comin.” Joseph of Arimathea offered his tomb. The body of Jesus was placed on the stone. But it is only Friday. Sunday is comin.” Friends. We are here under the cross. We remember the death of Jesus. But it is only Friday. Sunday is comin. |