Sermon by Dr. Jeffrey Jeremiah
September 3, 2006

“The Defeat of Evil”
Colossians 2:13-15

One characteristic that stands out about life in the 21st century is the spread of evil, in some cases unspeakable evil, in our world.  Think of it: there’s the continuing threat of terror in our skies, a fragile cease fire in Lebanon, insurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan, genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, nuclear confrontation with Iran and North Korea, pornography that generates all kinds of sexual abuses, the list goes on and on.  What are we to make of these developments?  Should this increase in evil surprise us, discourage us, or do we put on our “best face” and hope for the best, hope that it doesn’t touch our lives?  But wait a second, it has touched our lives.  It does affect how we think and live each day, hasn’t it?  I’d like to look at this issue of evil and what Jesus said and did about it in three points today.

First, Jesus was not surprised or discouraged by the reality of evil.  And He warned us, prepared us for it.  In Luke 21 He said that there will be times when people faint “from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world” (Luke 21:26).  John Piper noted the relevance of John 16:2 in this day of religious terrorism.  There Jesus said, “A time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.”  Jesus acknowledged the reality of evil, and prepared us for it.  But He did more than that.  He confronted evil and He defeated it! 

That brings us to Colossians 2:13-15 and our second point.  Let me read that passage to you again: “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ.  He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.  And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”  By what He did on the cross, you have been made “alive in Jesus Christ.”  You were once dead, spiritually dead, but at the cross all your sins have been forgiven, they’ve been canceled, taken away.  And just as you know your forgiveness is certain, you know with certainty that at the cross you have been delivered from the “powers and authorities,” that is, the demonic powers amassed against Christ and His church, His people, you and me.  Verse 15 tells us that at the cross, Jesus defeated what John Stott called 25 years ago “the terrorists from hell” by stripping them of their weapons and disarming them of their dignity and power.  Jesus defeated the forces of evil by making “a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”  The Apostle is painting a word picture here that would be very familiar to his audience, to anyone living in the Roman Empire.  These words describe what was called a “Roman triumph.”  Let me try to provide a contemporary example of what a Roman triumph would look like.  Let’s fast forward to February 2007.  The Seattle Seahawks have won the Super Bowl.  When the team returns home, the city holds a big parade and rally for the champions.  A couple of million people turn out for the celebration.  I think you’d agree that it would be in really poor taste to have march at the front of the parade the members of the hapless team the Seahawks defeated in Miami.  We would not be good sports if we did that.  Well, 21 centuries ago the Romans were not “good sports.”  When a Roman army won a great victory, at the front of their parade as they returned to Rome would be the defeated army, with their surviving generals and rulers.  Once a powerful enemy, now shamed, ridiculed, and humiliated, everyone could see they no longer had anything to fear.  That is a Roman triumph.  That is what Jesus did on Calvary’s tree.  He defeated and publicly humiliated the greatest enemy, the evil one and all his allies.  First accomplished at the cross, we know Jesus’ conquest over evil will be completed at the end of time.  Jesus will come again.  And when He comes, the knee of everyone will bow and the tongue of everyone will acknowledge Him as Lord.  Revelation 20:10 promises that on that day the devil will be thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, and there he will be “tormented day and night forever and ever.”  All evil authorities and power have been defeated and will be destroyed. 

If that is the case, if the devil and if all evil authorities and power have been defeated and will be destroyed, how do we account for evil today?  How do we explain the spread of evil in our world?  Shouldn’t it be declining?  Our third point is the answer to these questions.  Satan is a defeated enemy.  However, he has not conceded defeat.  He won’t concede defeat until Jesus comes again, and He will have to bow his knee and confess Him as Lord.  Although he has been overthrown, he has not yet been eliminated (that won’t happen until he is thrown into the lake of fire).  In the meantime, the frustration, anger, and rage the evil one feels in the knowledge of his defeat and coming destruction leads him and his allies to redouble their efforts.  The forces of evil continue to wield power, great power.  We see that power demonstrated in our world today.  Victory over them has been won by Jesus at the cross, but painful conflict continues.  At that place we are wise to heed the warnings about evil, what Jesus and other New Testament writers said.  Peter wrote, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (I Peter 5:8).  Is the evil one devouring people today?  Absolutely!  Paul wrote to the Ephesian Christians, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).  He makes it clear in the rest of Ephesians chapter six that in our own power and ability we have no hope of repelling them, no hope of defeating them.  Evil is real; it still wields great power.  We are not immune from its attacks.  But Jesus has more for us than just warnings.  In Him and Him alone we need not fear the outcome of our battle with evil.  Indeed, there is no doubt, no discouragement, no defeatism in the New Testament in the face of that evil.  What is pervasive is joyful confidence and hope.  “Thanks be to God, he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 15:57).  In Romans chapter eight Paul wrote, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).  What are “all these things”?  They’re found in the preceding verse: trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and sword.  In all these things we are more than conquerors!  And finally, “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ” (II Corinthians 2:14).  Victory, conquest, triumph.  This is the vocabulary of believers in Jesus Christ.  This is the attitude of believers in Jesus Christ.  This is the life of believers in Jesus Christ, for His victory, His conquest, His triumph at the cross are yours as you claim Him, trust Him, follow Him as Savior and Lord of your life. 

That’s what we’re about as we come to this Table.  We remember and celebrate Christ’s work on the cross, and all that death and resurrection mean for our lives, our eternity.  At this Table we remember and celebrate the forgiveness of our sins, salvation, life abundant and eternal.  At this Table we remember, celebrate, and embrace the confidence, the faith, the hope that is Christ’s victory, our victory over sin and Satan, and all the forces of evil!