The Good News

This is a sermon I preached on 11/28/2021. 

In the beginning God, perfect, almighty, and triune created the cosmos. The universe was a place of beauty and growth, conceived in wisdom and accomplished by divine power. The crown of this new realm was none other than God’s own image, human beings. Given authority to rule as vassals in God’s Kingdom we humans had the responsibility and joy of faithfully cultivating the earth in the name of God.

Alas, such perfection did not last. There was a rebellion against the Kingdom of God led by dark, spiritual powers that we human beings, through deception and our own greed, joined. The cosmos, the beautiful tapestry of God’s wisdom and love, was subjected to the futility and pain of Sin. The human race, once the pinnacle of creation, instead of finding some sort of independence from God instead were enslaved by foreign, hostile invaders.

            

You see, our rebellion resulted in our enslavement to three forces bent on our destruction: the Powers, Sin, and Death. The Powers are the dark spiritual forces described in Ephesians. It is the demonic, Satan, and the other cosmic forces that animate the evils of the world. Humanity, whilst rebelling against God for more authority and power, ended up handing over what authority we did have to the Powers. We went from vassals of a benevolent King, charged with cultivation and care, to slaves of cruel invaders who want nothing more than for us to tear each other apart.

            

The second of these invaders is Sin, with a capital S. There is, of course, sin in the sense of the wrong we commit. What we often don’t discuss is Sin in the cosmic sense, the great force of corruption that indeed traps us in our wrongdoings. Sin is a corruption of our very nature, crippling our ability to know God and trapping us in enslavement to evil. Because of Sin we cannot successfully rebel against the dark Powers and reduced to broken images.

            

The result then of enslavement to the Powers and Sin is Death. In the Old Testament there is no conception of paradise or going to heaven. There is only one fate awaiting both the righteous and the unrighteous, Sheol, sometimes translated as “the pit” or “the grave.” In the ancient mind it was a place deep beneath the earth, the farthest you could be from God and his throne. There all who died would remain, separated from God forever.

            

So, to recap, we have a threefold enemy. The Powers which enslave us, Sin which corrupts us, and Death which imprisons us. We who were given authority and dominion over the planet willingly gave it up to foreign powers. We are utterly incapable of fighting against this enslavement. We have only one hope, the one we betrayed, God.

            

So, what does God do? He launches an invasion with two primary objectives: to take back the cosmos from the invaders that enslave it, and to redeem and liberate the human race. The tricky part is doing both at the same time. It would be easy for God to wipe out the enemy, but in so doing God would annihilate those who are enslaved. God has always been after our willing cooperation, something that we could not give whilst enslaved. The way God chooses to do this is shocking, unpredictable, and totally in line with character of God.

            

First God establishes a foothold in the world. Instead of choosing a nation that already exists, entrenched in the corruption of Sin and enslaved by the Powers, God created for himself a new nation. Choosing Abraham and his descendants, God brought forth this new nation out of slavery in Egypt, a picture of what he intended to do with the whole cosmos. This new nation, Israel, was to be the staging ground for the invasion of the Kingdom of God into the world once more.

            

Israel, though still made up of sinful people, was given the Law and Prophets and temple to refine them into a righteous people. Through and to Israel God began announcing that one would come who would put an end to the enslavement, that a new Exodus would commence. The point of the Law, the Prophets, the temple sacrifices, and kings was not salvation. If it was then, given how Israel acted, it was a failure. No, the point was to refine Israel down to a remnant through which God’s invasion could be launched led by the promised Messiah. Then, in the fullness of time, that one person was ready.

            

Mary was approached by an angel and was told that the most extraordinary thing was going to happen through her. In her womb a child would be conceived not by the flesh but under the power of the Holy Spirit. This child would be the Son of God, the heir of to the promises of Abraham and David, and the long-awaited Messiah. God himself would become human.

            

In Mary’s womb God the Son, the Word who was with God and was God, joined to himself a human nature just like ours without mingling or mixing. In the person of Jesus God’s nature and human nature came together, and what do you think happened to the corruption present in human nature? It was healed. The invasion had begun.

            

Jesus of Nazareth, he who is truly God and truly human, was born in humble surroundings and grew up in a backwater province of the Roman Empire. He was like us in every way, yet without Sin. Upon the commencement of his public ministry, inaugurated at his baptism with a pronouncement from the Father and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon him, the enemies immediately began their attack.

            

Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness but resisted and proved victorious. The Powers repeatedly tried to trap and entice Jesus, usually under the guise of the Pharisees or Sadducees, in order to corrupt him with Sin and render him powerless. It never worked.

            

Everywhere Jesus went he proclaimed that the Kingdom of God was at hand. He taught people how to live as true human beings made in God’s image, selflessly and with love for our neighbors. He reversed the signs of corruption brought on by sin. The blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, and lepers are made whole by the touch and word of Jesus. Instead of rubbing elbows with the powerful and mighty, those animated by the Powers, Jesus associated with the outcast, the poor, and the downtrodden. Jesus even raised people from Death.

            

The enemy knew that something had to be done about Jesus. If he would not submit to the Powers or be corrupted by Sin, there was only one final option: Death, the Powers’ and Sin’s ultimate weapon. So, they began to move against Jesus with all of their might in order to kill him.

            

The Powers mustered all their strength against Jesus: the state/cultural leaders, the mob, and betrayal of a friend. Jesus was betrayed by his friend and follower Judas. He was turned on by the mob. He was beaten and sentenced to execution by the state. Not just any execution, but execution via crucifixion.

            

We normally focus on the physical pain endured by those who were crucified, and with good reason. Crucifixion was the most brutal and horrific form of punishment the Romans had reserved only for the most heinous criminals and rebels. Citizens were not allowed to be crucified. Still, when reading the Gospels, the physical pain is not the focus. It’s there, but the focus is on the shame and humiliation.

            

The point of a crucifixion wasn’t to inflict pain, though it did that. The point was to humiliate, shame, and dehumanize the victim. They were stripped down, hung out at population centers and crossroads for all to see, and gruesomely displayed so that they would be utterly humiliated. The message was clear; this person hanging on the cross was not a human being, but something pathetic and less than human.

            

This was the great weapon of Sin. When humanity first sinned the very first consequence is shame. They are ashamed of themselves and hide. Jesus may not have sinned, but he was going to bear the full weight of the shame, humiliation, and degradation of Sin. So, under the full weight of Sin and having taken the full force of the Powers, Jesus died.

            

Normally this would be the end of the story. The hero lived valiantly and morally, but in the end was overwhelmed and killed by the forces of evil. However, there is one thing the Powers, Sin, Death, and even Jesus’ own followers weren’t counting on; the gruesome death of Jesus had always been the plan.

            

On the third day Jesus’ tomb was discovered to be empty. He appeared to the women at the tomb and later on to his disciples. He was alive: really, truly, and actually alive! To some of his followers on the road to Emmaus Jesus explained that this had always been the plan. The enemies were not defeated by overwhelming power or force of arms, but by the character and nature of God, self-giving love.

            

Jesus took the full force of the Powers, but never submitted or betrayed his allegiance to God. Victory. Jesus bore the full weight of sin, as our sacrificial lamb, but never sinned against God. Victory. Jesus entered into Death, but by virtue of the fact that he had never sinned Death could not hold him. The enemy had been dealt a decisive blow the way God had always intended, through God and humanity working together.

            

Jesus, after a time, ascended into heaven to assume command of the cosmos. Now a human being had dominion and ruled alongside the Father at his right hand, just as God always intended. With authority restored and the enemy dealt a decisive blow, the invasion of the Kingdom of God began in earnest.

            

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out like a roaring flood. Those who pledged allegiance to King Jesus were filled with the Spirit and united with him. Then, as God had always intended, these new human beings were sent to spread the Kingdom of God throughout the whole world. They are called to live in special communities of love, peace, and hope, proclaim the Good News that Jesus is King everywhere they go.

            

While the decisive battle has been won the war is not over yet. We see the Powers still wield influence on our world. The corruption of Sin still lingers in the human race (hence why we are united with Christ). Death is still a fear and powerful taskmaster for many.

            

The Good News, however, has something to say about this too. Jesus is coming back to finish the war. We are now currently engaged in a Kingdom building project that is under assault by all the forces of darkness. They are going to lose the war, and they know it. Their aim is to destroy anything they can before Jesus returns and wipes them out.

            

This is the Good News. That Jesus of Nazareth, God become human, has defeated the powers of sin and death in his life, death, and resurrection and that he is coming back to complete this victory. It is Good News whether you believe it or not, because it is true whether you believe it or not.