Sermon Tone Analysis

Victory Belongs To Jesus

Text

John 19

We’re about to give the devil a black eye!

Introduction

Victory

We live in a competition-based society.

Sports are as competitive as they have ever been.

(ILLUSTRATION: Posts that say “W”)

Our economy in America is what is called a “capitalist” economy.

That basically means competition, competition, competition...

You may have noticed that within the last five years, our entertainment industry has took a sharp turn toward competitions.

(Singing, cooking, creating…)

Even political news shows us a great big competition.

Recently we’ve heard of this “government shutdown” and sides were blaming each other for all of it.

And it became a great big stare-down to see who would become the victor.

And this is exactly what a competition is: a test to see who can come out with the victory.

We admire the victor.

We adore the victor!

We IDOLIZE the victor!

It gives us satisfaction to see a winner win.

We crave that moment when we see the athlete or the competitor crush the opposition and win it all!

(Particularly when the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs!)

It’s our nature to be drawn to competition.

And to be drawn to someone who is victorious.

Who Is The Ultimate Victor?

But, if you will, I want you to jump into a time machine with me today and let’s go to the future.

At the end of days, when all the score has been settled, and the dust is cleared, who then, on that day, will be the victorious one in your eyes?

For you, will the ultimate victor be… Lebron James?

Donald J. Trump?!

What I’m asking is this: who is it going to be that holds victory in their hands on that day?!

I’m going to tell you what the anointed Word of God has to say about it:

Philippians 2:9

When it’s all said and done, and the great competition has concluded, there’s only going to be one person standing in the glory and in the power in ultimate, final victory, AND HIS NAME IS JESUS!!!

And I want to tell somebody that even though we’re not standing on judgement day right now… Even on a Sunday Morning at New Life, when you’ve got problems that need answers, and you’ve got ailments that need healing, and you’ve got finances that need a miracle, HE’S JUST AS VICTORIOUS TODAY AS HE’LL BE ON JUDGEMENT DAY!

I didn’t come to preach today on behalf those who can afford to wait ‘til next Sunday to get a blessing… But I came to speak on behalf of those who can’t wait another day!!!

I have never understood those who say I have been deprived because of going to church so much… I have been deprived of this world!

Don’t tell me not to get excited!

YOU CAN FIND THE VICTORY IN JESUS THIS MORNING!

VICTORY BELONGS TO JESUS!!!!!

Body

Today we’re going to see in the Word of God just how victorious our God is!

Adam + Eve

From the very beginning, we have been sinful beings.

God created us and His motives were pretty simple: He wanted to love us, and He wanted us to love Him.

(That’s still what He desires today!)

But sin crept in.

As it has in all our lives at some point.

And that sin presents a problem because it cuts us off from our creator.

And this is essentially what happened with Adam and Eve.

There was a cutting off that was not supposed to happen because they disobeyed God.

So God has been presented with a challenge.

Between God and humanity stood sin and Satan.

The winners in the competition at this point were: sin and Satan.

Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit.

What did God do?

First, He had to give punishment to each party that was involved.

And He did.

But that was not God’s victory.

SIDE POINT: Punishment and Judgement is not God’s form of victory.

The victory of God came after the punishment, in verse 21

Genesis 3

When you picture it in the way that it actually happened, it’s grotesque.

It’s gruesome!

But what God wondrously did in that moment was create a sacrifice for their sins.

He covered them with the blood of a sacrifice!

And He saved them!

He made a way for salvation!

Ain’t you glad that the real victory of God isn’t in His wrath and judgement - it’s in His salvation!

Jesus On The Cross

Fast-forward several hundred years, and you’ll find another situation where sin and Satan had continued to separate God and His people.

And these people were so blinded to the fact that God manifested in flesh stood before them, that they proceeded to make plans to have Him killed on a cross.

ONCE AGAIN, as Jesus hung from a cross, bleeding out, it appears that the winners in this competition are sin and Satan… the victory would go to evil...

But hang on just a minute...

We just said that in the book of Genesis, from those sacrificed animals came bloody skins that covered Adam and Eve in their sin.

And that salvation was the victory of God!

Now we’re looking at a bunch of people, who are standing in the middle of their own sin and hatefulness!

But they don’t even understand that the blood that is flowing down the wood of that cross is the same blood that’s going to cover their sins!!!!!

In other words, God was saying there would come a day when a man named Jesus would get the victory over ALL SIN!

Can I tell you something, today, saint?! VICTORY BELONGS TO JESUS!

VICTORY BELONGS TO JESUS!

And if victory belongs to Jesus, it can belong to you, too!!!

“It Is Finished”

John 19:

He said, “It is finished.”

What was finished?

To some standing around it would appear that Jesus had just accepted death and defeat.

“I’m done!

I tried, but they finally got me, and now there’s no hope!”

No, that’s not what He meant!

When He said, “It is finished,” He meant that He had just completed the single, most important act in history!

He had finished the sacrifice for our sins!!!

And now victory was bigger than just over sins!

When He said, “It is finished,” He was saying...

That sickness you’ve dealt with for five years, by the help of me, IT IS FINISHED!

That addiction that you can’t seem to kick no matter how hard you try, by my help - IT IS FINISHED!

That past that you feel guilty about and can’t seem to get over, IT IS FINISHED!

Those spirits that torment you in the night and keep you from sleep, IT IS FINISHED!

That depression and worry, IT IS FINISHED!

Those cigarettes, IT IS FINISHED!