Since the
beginning of the world, the devil has tried to destroy hope and every good
thing that God created. God knew what
the devil was plotting so as He formed the world and all that is in it, He was
also planning a way to restore the hope He knew the devil was scheming to steal
away from mankind.
God
created a beautiful garden then He created Adam and placed him in it. It was a beautiful peaceful place where God
and Adam walked and talked together. It was a perfect and loving relationship. The devil was jealous of this relationship
between Adam and God. He began to plot
and scheme trying to figure out how he could destroy it. Finally, he found a way. The
devil destroyed that perfect relationship when he tempted Eve and caused her to
sin and then, in turn, Adam also sinned.
But that wasn’t the greatest defeat.
Down
through time, God sent many prophets to speak to His people. They were God’s mouthpiece. The devil riled the people up against the
prophets so they would not listen to what the prophets said. Many of the prophets were killed for what
they said. Despite all this atrocity,
this still wasn’t the greatest defeat.
Then
there was 400 years of silence. This was
a time when there were no prophets – the heavens were silent. During that time, it was as if God was no longer speaking to
His people. Oh, satan was rejoicing. He thought he’d finally defeated God and he
was having a party.
“Haha! It’s been 100 years and God hasn’t spoken to
anyone on earth.” 200 years and still
nothing” then 300 then 400…. “400 years and no one has heard from God”…..until
one night a baby was born in Bethlehem.
There was bright light and a host of angels appeared in the heavens
saying “Glory to God in the highest and on earth Peace, good will to men.” Something
special was happening but exactly what he did not know. Satan knew there was a Messiah coming who
would crush his head…could this be the Promised One? The Christ?
Jesus
grew up and began to perform many miracles.
He healed the sick, he raised the dead, cast out devils…even the sea and
the wind obeyed him. This had to be the
Messiah! So, again, satan began to plot
and scheme how he could destroy and defeat God’s plan. He had to get rid of Jesus before Jesus got
rid of him.
He began
to rile the people up against Jesus – the people who once loved Jesus and
followed Him everywhere were now bringing false accusations and yelling
“Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Satan watched in jubilation as they marched
Jesus up Calvary’s hill, nailed spikes through His hands and feet, and then
hung him up on a cross to die. As Jesus
was writhing in pain and drawing His last breath, satan heard Him say “It is
finished!” and he thought it truly was.
He
thought he had brought the greatest defeat to God. He had just killed the Messiah and was
grinning from ear to ear. What he didn’t
realize was this was all part of God’s plan.
Rev 13:8 says Jesus was the lamb slain from the foundation of the
world. This means that as God was
forming the world and all in it, He was also preparing the cross of Calvary to
redeem us.
The
greatest defeat wasn’t THAT they
killed Jesus and laid Him in a tomb.
The
greatest defeat happened WHEN they
killed Jesus and laid Him in a tomb….because it was then that Jesus conquered
death, hell, and the grave. It was then
that Jesus crushed satan’s head – it was satan’s greatest defeat and our
greatest victory!
We no
longer have to fear death. We no longer
have to fear hell because God has made a way for us to escape it. When we repent of our sins, are baptized in
Jesus’ name, and God fills us with His Spirit the devil loses his hold on
us. The sin that once separated us from
God is now gone and the gap is bridged by the cross of Calvary.
This
weekend we are celebrating the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus
Christ! There is no greater love than
this ~ Jesus laid down His life for us.
But He didn’t stay in the tomb ~ He is risen! He’s alive!
And He lives within us through the Holy Ghost.
Resurrection
Sunday is just a few days away… It’s a time of celebration and rejoicing. The Cross of Calvary was not the greatest
defeat – it was the greatest victory for the Church! Because Jesus lives we also have a chance to
receive eternal life. Through Jesus’
sacrifice, hope has been restored.
So
celebrate that our Savior is risen and alive forevermore and that because He lives,
we have HOPE beyond this life, beyond the grave, and beyond every disease and sickness.
Let a
shout of victory come from the lips of God’s people this weekend – JESUS IS ALIVE! And because He lives, we have hope!
