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I got a glimpse while we were praying and listening to the choir; I just got a glimpse that maybe every time we begin to pray, the angels step up and begin to say, “Show your power. Show your power.” What a sweet image that is and encouragement. Will you pray with me now?

 

Lord, as we come to Your word this morning, my prayer for those who

know You is that You would remind us of our deliverance, and for those who

don’t know You, that they would be delivered for the first time right here, right now.

In your name, Jesus, we pray.

Amen.

 

I was reflecting a bit on my childhood this week: on my favorite toys and shows and favorite books and movies. And I was struck by a common thread that was woven throughout.

 

My favorite cartoon as a little boy was Tom and Jerry. Every episode found Jerry in dire straights trying to survive the foreboding pounce of Tom the cat, and he always won, always making it back to that little hole that Tom cursed.

 

I graduated from that cartoon to the real American hero, G.I. Joe. Every episode was fraught with danger as Cobra commander and Destro unleashed their evil schemes to take over the world.

If it weren’t for the courageous compatriots of G.I. Joe, evil would have succeeded, but against all odds evil is turned back and peace is restored. Every episode ends with an exhale.

 

And then certainly there’s Superman and Spiderman and Batman, even, I guess, The Hulk—though honestly as a kid it was a little hard to understand how such a horribly frightening green monster could somehow be good and heroic. But in his own way, I guess he was.

 

Without fail, every episode was the same storyline. Things are good. Then something horrible happens to threaten the good—often with the introduction of a villain, and a battle must be fought in order to restore things to their original condition. And victory often only arrives on the scene at the last moment: a hero’s moment. And the day is saved, justice is served, order is restored, and everything is as it should be.

 

The more I’ve thought about it, the more I realize this is true of almost every story I’ve ever loved.

 

One of my favorites was Luke Skywalker fighting off the seduction of the dark side and leading the rebel forces to victory over the empire.

 

Imagine this. My family takes me to the opening of “Star Wars” when I had just turned three!

 

When Vader came on the screen, I literally hopped out of my mom’s lap, ran up the aisle screaming, “Get me out of here!”

 

Isn’t it interesting how even at age three we’re able to discern this is wrong, this is evil, this is a threat? Run away! How is that?

 

And why do all of our stories tell the same story? For the most part, we don’t like villains and we don’t like danger and we don’t like the threat of death and yet stories are almost uninteresting if they don’t have them.

 

I don’t think Little Red-riding Hood would get the press it does without the big bad wolf, right?

Dorothy and her ruby slippers without tornadoes and the wicked witch, and, of course, what would 24 be without a little threat of terror that Jack Bauer can save the world from?

 

The Dark Lord of Sauron and his Orcs and Black Riders: they’re why we watch the Lord of the Rings. We look and cheer for that little Frodo Baggins. Not because we like these characters, though often they have some seductive appeal, but because something deep down inside of us tells us that every good story must have some representation of evil vanquished by some representation of good.

 

It’s why, actually, most in this region recently found joy in the Giants defeating the Patriots. Even as a Cowboys fan, I cheered for the Giants.

 

If you think about it, much of sport is built upon the exact same premise: the good guys threatened by the bad guys. And so we watch! Whether it’s Cubs/Cardinals, Dungy/Belicheat, Boilers/Who’s that other team in Indiana? And we watch specifically waiting to see if a hero will rise up and send one deep in the bottom of the 9th, or make the catch, or sink the shot that will make life even better than it was before the game began! Right?

 

Which, of course, begs the question: why, why is that story-line so at home within us? Why do we write them; why do we read them; why do we watch?

 

Everything’s okay. Then okay gets threatened by a force that seems invincible, and then—just in the nick of time—good intervenes with greater power and triumphs over evil forever. And everyone lives happily ever after!

 

These are our stories. From childhood to adulthood, the basic plot line remains the same.

 

Why?

 

I think it’s because, perhaps unawares, we’re trying to make sense of the Great Story, the Cosmic Drama within which all of us are living. Our stories are mere miniature versions of this larger story that began before time was even counted, that includes us even now as characters with meaningful parts to play: a drama that promises to find satisfying completion that will never end.

 

It’s the Epic, the truest story of them all. The story of the very best of good there ever was  threatened by the worst of evil there ever was, yet recovered and restored to better than there ever was by the most powerful and most loving Hero there ever was!

 

I am convinced we love stories, we live in them for a time, because we’re trying to make sense of the Real Story that’s playing out all around us and, if we’re honest, even playing out within us.

 

Because this story-line really is the story of each of our lives, isn’t  it? We all begin in the womb protected and nurtured. And yet not too long out of the gate, shalom becomes elusive—others wound us and we learn how to wound back—and we long for life to be whole again!

 

Certainly the world needs a hero to save it, but honestly, so do we, so does Stephen. How ‘bout you?

 

This morning we’re continuing our Lenten series considering what God accomplished through the cross of Christ, considering what makes Good Friday so good!

 

Today we’re reflecting on perhaps the most ironic accomplishment of them all: that through the death of our Hero, our enemy is defeated and we are delivered!

 

Our primary text this morning is found in Hebrews Chapter 2. This is 1864 in your pew Bibles. Hebrews Chapter 2 verse 14. I’ll read it, but we’ll draw on a number of texts to unpack it. Hebrews Chapter 2, page 1864, verse 14:

 

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 of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

 

You know every good story has a villain, because ours does.

 

Jesus came and died to destroy the Devil.

 

Think of how it all began for a moment. Adam and Eve they lived this “unopposed” life. God was for them; they were for God, and they were for one another. But then “against” was written into the story. We don’t have a lot of detail, but an Angelic creature rose up against the Creator and was cast down into this world where he made his way into Eden seeking to woo that first couple—the crown of creation—into his rebellion.

 

Everything was great in Eden. Provision was abundant; joy was present; life was satisfying until the Serpent began to call the goodness of God into question. “Oh, Eve, God’s holding out on you! He doesn’t want you to be like Him. Did He really say that if you eat the fruit you would die? Do you really believe that? What’s the harm in a little piece of fruit?”

 

There are two words the Scriptures tend to employ to describe this villainous, seductive angel. One is the DEVIL which simply means adversary or opponent and the second is the SATAN—not a ghastly red-horned fool in tights with a pitchfork, but literally the Accuser—someone who is against, who levels charges for a living, and for kicks.

 

And right out of the gate in Eden, the Satan, the accuser, is leveling charges against God Himself. He’s opposed to God and God’s purposes and his primary weapon is deceit. He tries to twist the truth about God so that other created beings—namely men and women and children like us—might find God unworthy of trust and rebel against Him just as Satan had, probably thinking, “I can’t defeat God, but at least I can rob, kill, and destroy what He has created.”

 

And in one sense, he’s right, but he overestimates his own power.

 

One thing the Scriptures are unwilling to do is to present the Satan as an equal power to God. He is powerful. He is a formidable opponent to be sure, but he is a creature and as such—as we’ll see—no match at all for the One who created him.

 

But he certainly had an impact on that first couple. They were swept away by his persuasive words—away from life with God—by this scoundrel.

 

They join Satan in sin—in falling short of the glory that they were made for, and sadly, just as promised, death follows.

 

You know, if you think about it, “death” is really the natural consequence of sin. It’s the natural outworking because sin is a turning away from the living God. And if we walk away from life, if we cut ourselves off from Life Himself, then we inevitably choose death.

 

I don’t think death is God’s grumpy punishment for people who don’t give Him His due like He’s some self-indulgent, prideful dictator bent on vengeance. No, I think He’s a God who gives life as a gift, who is Life Himself, and intends to continue to give life to His creation.

 

Remember, before the Fall, there was only one tree that was off limits. The Tree of Life was available until they walked away from God. It was only then that He barred them from it.

 

You see, God doesn’t stick it to us. When we walk away from Him, we stick it to ourselves! We freely chose to become hostages of the Kingdom of Darkness and of death.

 

So, there in the Garden you have the introduction of these three great enemies that have haunted us and held us in bondage—held sway over the world ever since: the SATAN that lures us into SIN which brings DEATH!

 

And so we all enter the world separated from the One who made us and Loves us, living ever so briefly, trying desperately to hold death at bay as long as we can, but never quite able to overcome it! That’s the human experience, isn’t it? Vulnerable and largely discontent. And so at an increasingly frenetic pace, the world scrambles to get as much out of this life as they can because this is all there is and we fear it’s almost over!

 

This is what the writer of Hebrews alludes to here when he says, “All of life is enslaved by our fear of death.”

 

We’re helpless in overcoming these enemies. The Satan and his influence is too strong, sin is such a familiar reflex inside of us, and death: it is the most inevitable thing we know. That and taxes, right?

 

And so with the poet, George Herbert, we agree: “I cried when I was born, and every day shows why?”

 

In so many ways life is a far, far cry from the way it was supposed to be! Like the Titanic falling down into the depths or Coruscant falling into the hands of the Evil Empire or winter falling upon Narnia, the Great Epic that includes our lives today in its pages stumbles and falls right out of the gate and has all the makings of a terrible tragedy!

 

And left to ourselves it would be, but this Epic is a love story from start to finish! Just as every story has a villain because ours does, so every good story has a Hero, a Deliverer, because ours does!

 

Sure, God sends Adam and Eve away from Eden, but He graciously clothes them as they go as a sign of His continuing affection, and He promises even there in Genesis 3 that the days of Satan’s influence are numbered and that a day would come when a son of man would crush his head once and for all!

 

Friends, nearly 2000 years ago that Promised Hero—God Himself—arrived in the person of Jesus immediately drawing our enemy into His crosshairs!

 

Unawares, Jesus sneaks into his fallen creation in the form of a babe fully intending to take back what rightfully belongs to Him—eager to bind up our enemy and to set us free!

 

Oh, to be sure, Jesus does arrive gracious and kind and loving toward the sinner, but with regard to the Satan, Jesus comes armed for war.

 

I John 3:8 describes Jesus’ mission this way:

 

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the Devil.

 

Jesus himself explained it this way:

 

Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world is cast out!

 

You see Jesus doesn’t arrive with a sense that perhaps he might win, perhaps he might just have what it takes to vanquish our enemy. No, as Isaiah prophesied, Jesus is the Mighty God; he is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings and the Ruler of Heaven and earth.

 

He made this angelic rebel and he can do with him whatever He pleases! Amen?

 

We see it right from the outset of his ministry. We find him victorious in the wilderness temptation where unlike Adam and Israel frankly before Him, Jesus triumphs over the deceitful schemes of the Devil. He turns the tables on him even demanding at the end of the temptation, “Satan, get outta here!” And the text says, “He was gone.”

 

It’s why the gospels are replete with one healing after another. Jesus, show your power: even life from the dead, Jesus show your power. One offering of forgiveness after another: Jesus powerfully commanding the wind and the waves with his voice, profoundly displaying his power in exorcism—demons cowering at his approach begging him not to send them away.

 

Oh yes, even the demons—the Devil’s minions—they are aware of the unrivaled power and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ! He is the summation of all the Heroes we’ve ever thought of and so much more!

 

At one point in his ministry, ironically, Jesus is charged with demonic possession. People were just trying to make sense out of his powers, to which he simply said, “C’mon. Can Satan drive out Satan?” Obviously not. And then he explained that the only way a thief can plunder the house of a very strong man is if he sneaks in and ties up the strong man first. Once he does that, he can take anything he wants.

 

Kind of an interesting word-picture for Jesus to employ, isn’t it? What’s his point?

 

“Satan is a very strong enemy, but the reason you see me casting out demons at will is because I’ve snuck into the world he thinks he owns, tied him up, and now I’m taking back what rightfully belongs to me!”

 

Men and women and children like you and me set free!

 

Jesus is a champion on a mission of rescue!

 

But overcoming evil with evil would only promote evil. Jesus overcomes evil with good!

 

This is perhaps the greatest paradox of them all:

 

That in order to save flesh and blood, he who is from all eternity would share in our humanity.

And in order for our sin to be forgiven, he who knew no sin would become sin for us draining it of its power.

In order for death to be reversed, the Author of all of life would willingly embrace death himself. His last gasp would be death’s last as well.

And in order for the evil one to be defeated, rather than overpowering him as in a duel, the God of all goodness would absorb in His own flesh all of the evil this world has ever known and will ever know. Like a boxer that wins in the last round, not because he’s landed better punches, but because he’s absorbed all the punches his opponent can throw and he’s still standing there with his opponent collapsed and spent with nothing left to throw!

 

That’s Jesus! Mighty to save! Mighty to save! By his death destroying the devil, by his death delivering his people from the threat of death forever!

 

Of all the stories that have sought to capture this wonderful ironic victory, perhaps the most loved is C.S. Lewis’ “Narnia” and Aslan, the Great Lion.

 

Aslan volunteers his own life in place of a boy named Edmund, and he allows the evil Witch a moment of pleasure—apparent victory. As she ties him down on the stone table, she leans over and whispers into his ear taunting him before the kill, “And now, who has won? Fool! Did you think that by all this you would save the human traitor? You have given me Narnia forever, you have lost your own life, and you have not saved his!”

 

And then with all the force of evil gathered into one place, she plunges her weapon into his heart and he dies, and she glories with her minions in her triumph.

 

But it wouldn’t last! The cat is not the fool! His death was his victory!

 

Susan and Lucy experience this first hand! Take a look.

 

[Clip from the movie, “The Chronicles of Narnia,” shown]

 

Lewis captures it so well. What appeared to be a triumph for evil was actually the profound, eternal triumph for good. What appeared to be a foolish sacrifice proved to be the wisest moment of all. The greatest Power there ever was joins with the greatest Love there ever was at the cross: your sin and mine cleansed forever, death reversed forever, and the Evil One conquered forever!

 

I think the apostle Paul captures this ironic twist so well when he writes in Colossians. He says:

 

Jesus disarmed the powers and authorities, making a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

 

He got it. Triumph by the cross!

 

This is a direct allusion to the common practice of war in Roman times. The Conqueror would lead through the city streets a triumphal procession of the disarmed enemy soldiers that had been captured literally making a public spectacle of them, leaving the enemy leader to bring up the rear receiving the greatest shame.

 

Paul says, “That’s what Satan thought he was doing with Jesus on the cross when in reality he was making a fool of himself, sealing his own fate forever.”

 

Oh, the cross is the greatest irony where the victim disarms and triumphs over the executioner! Where evil is overcome with good.

 

So what does this mean for us? Honestly, it really depends. For those who refuse the saving grace of Jesus Christ, for those who refuse to bow their knee to Jesus as Lord, it means you are vulnerable beyond imagining. It means the Evil One can lure you and trap you by his schemes. It means your sin and guilt is yours to bear, and it means that death will have the last word.

 

That’s sobering. It’s sobering to say. But it needs to be said because it’s true.

 

But not so for those who are “in Christ!” And you know who you are because gratitude fills your heart in this very moment as you reflect on what Christ has accomplished for you!

 

Paul puts it this way in Colossians 1:

 

Give thanks to the Father…for He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son of His love in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

 

If you’re in Christ by grace through faith, the dominion of darkness is in the past tense. You are now redeemed. You are now forgiven. You are now fellow members of the Kingdom that will never end! Amen?

 

Now at present we don’t see everything subject to him. And so we do await the King’s return in all of his glory when he will wrap everything up! But he’s already done the hardest part! He’s already done what was necessary to secure eternity for those who love him.

 

And nothing, nothing, can ever separate us from his love! Nothing. Neither death nor life, nor angels nor demons, nor any powers, nor the present, nor the future, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all of creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord! Amen to that!

 

Oh, if God is for us, who can possibly be against us?

 

His love was powerful then. It remains just as powerful today. Receive it. Let it anchor your soul and bring joy to your heart! Amen!

 

Oh, Jesus, thank you for the cross. Thank you for the cross where power and love

were combined, where the power of your love found supreme expression. You

are the champion. Receive our worship this morning.

Amen.