Chaos is Conquered

Open with prayer:

For world situations…

For our nation…

For our church/sick/unity…

For the lost…

For Alpha…

For forgiveness…

Connection/Tension

Christ is risen!

Last week we celebrated the most important event in human history - the resurrection of Jesus from the dead - on the THIRD day. The resurrection changes everything. It changed Jesus’ band of burned-out, fear-filled disciples into bold witnesses who spoke truth to power. According to church history, every single apostle except John died as a martyr for their faith. This is how sure they were that Jesus rose again. That third day changed everything.

Jesus’ resurrection changes everything for us as well. So for the next few weeks we’re going to look at some of the things that are now true for us. We’re starting a new series today called Third Day People. We will see that the victory of Jesus on the third day is the victory that we can live out of today.

Today I want to look at a Third Day person named Mary Magdalene. We don’t know a lot of Mary’s story, but here’s what we do know:

She was from Magdalene

She was one of the earliest followers of Jesus

She was part of a group of women who traveled with him and helped fund his ministry

She had a past. We know from the gospel of Mark that Jesus had cast seven demons out of her

We don’t know what caused her to have demons, but her life must have been filled with chaos. Maybe the people who should have loved her didn’t. Maybe the people that could have loved her were gone. Maybe she had been lured into an immoral lifestyle - or maybe by necessity. Maybe she’d been abused. Any of those things would open doors to demons to invade her life, making it a chaotic hell.

Have you ever experienced moments of chaos in your life?

Different kinds of chaos we might experience… funny pictures (holiday, family, trying to plug in new router)

Funny story about chaos…getting stuck in T,G&Y turnstile

When I say chaos, most of us probably think about when your life is especially busy or hectic. But from a biblical perspective, chaos doesn’t happen because your busy, Chaos happens when things are disordered. When things aren’t as they should be, as God intended them to be. It’s when life begins to spin out of control. And sometimes the chaos that threatens us is a lot darker than relatives that stay too long at Christmas.

Mary had lived in chaos. We live in chaos sometimes. What brings chaos into our lives? Fear, loneliness, betrayal, abuse, anger, lust, anxiety, greed. But like Mary, we all experience these same moments of chaos, when things are disordered and out of control. When things are not as they should be, or how you’d like them to be. In moments like this, chaos begins to feel like a living entity that’s trying to eat you. It’s a chaos monster.

If life feels chaotic for you, the good news today is Jesus specializes in managing chaos. Of driving out the demons that threaten to consume us. Through the resurrection he has opened the gate of freedom and new life. What we will see today is that on the Third Day Chaos is Conquered.

Text and Context

Let’s look at another “third day”. The very beginning of the Bible describes the earth as being in chaos.

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT “The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters.”

It is disordered and unformed. Things are out of control. Everything is covered by water. What is interesting is how the opening of the Bible compares with the creation narrative that the people living in Mesopotamia believed. It’s recorded in a document called the Enuma Elish. It tells the story of Marduk and how he defeats the mother goddess Tiamat to bring order to creation. Tiamat was personified by the sea, a place of disorder and darkness and fear. Before she is defeated the earth is described as a watery chaos with no sky or land. In ancient mythology, she is the original chaos monster.

It appears that the writer of the Bible is leaning into this ancient mythology. The Bible is setting us up for a battle. Not between Marduk and Tiamat, but between Yahweh and the sea, this watery chaos that is covering the earth. God does something amazing on the third day.

First, Chaos yields to God’s command.

Genesis 1:9–10 “And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.”

How an ancient Israelite would have read this passage is as an epic battle. The Lord - Yahweh - is seen as a warrior God who drives back the chaos that threatens his creation. On the third day he begins to subdue chaos. To drive it back and to establish boundaries. It is God who decides how far the chaotic sea will advance - and no more. The chaos monster has been tamed by Yahweh. The powerful declaration of this passage is that God is way stronger than any chaos that threatens his creation. True then, true today. Our God is greater, our God is stronger...

And it really isn’t much of a fight. God just speaks a command - and it happens. This passage was the Hebrew way of saying [raspberry] to the Mesopotamian story. Chaos yields to God’s command. But God isn’t done yet.

We also see that Life thrives from God’s victory.

Genesis 1:11–13 “Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so... And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.”

There is nothing living on earth until AFTER chaos is driven back. THEN there is a proliferation of life. Abundant life in every respect. Life capable of supporting more life - and especially human life. This is one of the clearest pictures of God’s good purpose to have a thriving creation. On the third day chaos is conquered so that life can thrive. This is still God’s heart for people today.

This story of the third day is so important because it sets a pattern for what God is going to do on another third day.

Luke 24:1 “But on the first day of the week [how many days after the crucifixion?], at early dawn, they [includes Mary Magdalene] came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared.”

What was she thinking on her way to the tomb?

Like the other disciples, I imagine she feels like her world is coming unhinged. Everything is crashing down around her. All the hopes she had for the future seem to have gone up in smoke. The One who had driven the demons from her is dead, and it feels like the chaos monsters are threatening to consume her again.

Do you ever feel that way? Do you have demons that sometimes threaten to consume you? Addiction? I’ve experienced the controlling power of addiction. It’s chaos. Hopelessness? Depression? Fear? Anxiety? Financial burdens? Broken relationships? The chaos monster comes and whispers to you that these things are bigger than anything else. That you can’t win. That it will always be this way. You’re marriage will never get better. You will always be broke. You will always struggle with health. The demons come and threaten to devour you. But look what we read next:

Luke 24:2–7 “They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.”

The grave is not the end. Jesus is alive. And Mary becomes the first person to begin living in the reality of the Third Day.

God subdued the watery chaos on the third day. In Jesus he destroys chaos of death on the Third Day.

God created life on the third day. In Jesus he renews life through the Third Day.

In Genesis we see Creation. In Jesus we see new creation.

At this third day is when the final source of chaos - death - fully defeated. The early church fathers understood that Christ went into death so that he might conquer death. We read this in the closing chapters of Revelation:

Revelation 21:1 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.”

The writer isn’t telling us there won’t be oceans in the new creation; he’s telling us that all the forces of chaos that try to threaten God’s creation will be gone. They have been conquered by the Lamb of God.

Whatever chaos threatens you is overcome in Jesus. The weapons formed against you will not stand. They may win a battle here and there, but in Jesus you have already won the war. Jesus invites us now to live in the new creation where God is putting everything back the way it should be. The chaos that threatens to drown us will not have the final say. Its power is lost. The waters can roar, but they can’t wash us away.

You may not always have a perfect life, but you can have an abundant life. You may not always have a easy life, but you can have a joyful life. You may not always have a prosperous life, but you can have an abundant life. Through the victory of Jesus on the third day you can thrive in spite of your circumstances. In Jesus chaos is conquered!

Gospel/Response

Maybe you are like Mary and you have demons. Your life feels disordered and out of control. Let me give you a promise:

2 Corinthians 5:17 “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”

When you say “Yes” to Jesus, you start living as a Third Day person. Not later, now. The truest truth is that you have a new identity. You are not who you were. The battles you still struggle with don’t define you. You live on this side of the empty tomb and you share in Jesus’ victory on the third day.

Take a long flight overseas. Thing called jet lag. Your body feels like it’s still where you came from. But the reality is that you are somewhere new. And as you begin to live in that new reality, your body catches up. You find that the old is gone and the new is here ready to be enjoyed.

If you are a Christian, you ARE a new creation. And how you feel about it doesn’t matter. God has done something new in you. Become Jesus has overcome, you can overcome the chaos that threatens you. Embrace the third day.

And if you are not a Christian, this can be true for you too. Right now, Jesus can bring order out of the chaos in your life. Today I invite you to step into the Third Day, into the new creation.

If you’ve never done this, I’d like to lead you in a prayer of commitment. You need to understand that it isn’t the words of a prayer that saves you but rather it is by placing your trust in Jesus’ finished work on your behalf. But this prayer can be a way of expressing what is in your heart, and if you are ready to commit your life to Jesus, I invite you to pray this with me:

(Prayer of commitment slide) Heavenly Father, I admit that I have sinned against you by what I’ve thought, by what I’ve said, and by what I’ve done. [Take a moment to confess anything in particular that is troubling your conscience.] I’m sorry and I turn away from this old way of living. Please forgive me. Thank you, Jesus, for dying for my sins. I receive your forgiveness and give you my life. Fill me, Holy Spirit, so that I can learn to love and follow you for the rest of my days. Amen.

If you prayed that today for the first time, let me be the first to welcome you to God’s family! This is only the beginning. I’d love to meet with you and talk about next steps in your new life. (Next steps slide).

I’ll tell you the truth: God’s grace is greater than your guilt.