Sermon by Owen Rogers on Matthew 4:1-11 and Romans 5:12-19.
You probably can identify a number of superheroes but who is Christus Victor?
‘Christus Victor’ is actually another name/title for Jesus. Not a name that you hear very often these days, but when Jesus had just risen from the dead and people were beginning to follow him, the early Christians gave Jesus this name because it has a special meaning. It means Christ the conqueror.
What makes someone a hero? Superheroes are fantasy – more about how we’d like to be. Christchurch heroes are real. Bound to be many in Japan too.
A hero helps people in dire need.
To think about: How much did Jesus behave like a hero?
All heroes have their enemies – people, creatures, or forces of evil who want to sabotage or disrupt the hero’s good intentions. When the Bible talks about ‘our enemies’, it does not mean the people we don’t get on with or countries that we have been at war with! Rather it is referring to three things:
– Sin – human selfishness, which ignores God and wants what I want.
– The devil – God’s enemy, the source of all that is wrong in the world.
– Death – being separated from God forever, the result of human selfishness and sin, decay and destruction.
In the superhero literature, the heroes’ enemies often try to tempt the heroes away from accomplishing their mission in various ways. In Matthew 4:1-11 Jesus, who had a clear mission – to save the universe from death – was tested by his arch-enemy, the devil who attempted to sabotage Jesus’ mission by trying to undermine his confidence in God. Look at Matthew 4:1-11 and read what the devil said to try to undermine Jesus’ trust in God.
When these things didn’t work, the devil tried another tack – the offer of power if Jesus would form an alliance with him. Look at Matthew 4:1-11 and read what the devil said about power. Jesus fought his enemy not with his fists, nor with a sword, but with the truth about God.
Victory over sin
All of us experience what it is to be tempted to do things we know are wrong. Often we fail. It is therefore very encouraging for us to know that Jesus was tempted just as we are (see Hebrews 4:15) but that unlike us he won the victory over the devil and succeeded in not compromising in any way or giving in to pressure. His victory was due to his complete dedication to God and his determination as a human being to obey God, at any price. He recognised the source and the folly of the devil’s challenge, which could hardly be described as subtle. The devil even quoted scripture, to support his case, but Jesus recognised the strategy. It is not enough to know the words of scripture. It is their power and the God who ‘spoke’ them that make it possible to withstand temptation.
Living and dying like a hero
By helping people in dire need, Jesus was indeed a hero. But Romans 5:12-19 tells us that Jesus did more than live like a hero; he died like a hero too. He was put to death as a criminal. He could have called down the angels to rescue him but he chose not to. That was God’s plan.
He really and truly died but he came back to life in a new way. He was the victor. Satan could not put a stop to him! So us being on Jesus’ side means that ultimately we are on the winning side. So we can, like Jesus, have victory over temptation. It is as though we are in an army, protected by what Jesus has done on the cross, as we race into battle.
Of course, Jesus’ greatest and final victory over Satan was on the cross. In Romans 5, the apostle Paul teaches that where Adam failed, Jesus succeeded. With a succession of contrasts focusing on the respective results of Adam’s disobedience of God’s command, and Christ’s act of obedience, Paul brings home the significance of their acts. Whereas through Adam’s sin, death reigned (verse 17), through Christ’s obedience, believers in him may ‘reign in life’ (verse 17). This is because they have been justified (verse 16) – made right with God through the death of his Son on their behalf. Having received ‘God’s abundant provision of grace’ and ‘the gift of righteousness’ they do not fear Satan’s accusations and have power to resist his temptations. Already they are experiencing eternal life (verse 21), which is the ultimate fruit of Christ’s obedience. Verse 17 is a good verse to memorise to remind ourselves of these wonderful truths!
Victory over death
The Bible explains death as far more than the end of bodily life. Rather, it is a state of decay and destruction where there is no evidence of God or of his goodness. Jesus ultimately has conquered the power of death that brings havoc to this world but we wait for his final victory. People still die, and decay is still all around us. As things are now we win when we go to heaven where we are free from death and decay and destruction.
Lent
All of this is appropriate for the current season of Lent. Lent is a time to focus on God and our following or discipleship and we do this particularly through prayer, fasting and giving. And all with a view to winning the conflict with evil – both our own tendencies and the devil’s promptings. We each have a mission, which is part of Jesus’ mission to restore the world to God. Lent is time for doing what’s needed inside in order to do what’s needed outwardly in obedience to God.