The Nightmare Before Christ

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Isaiah 61:1–3 NLT

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. 2 He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies. 3 To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.

Introduction

This week we launch a new sermon series entitled “The Hot Topic”.

IN the midst of the Halloween season, there is a lot of focus on the dark side of the spiritual/supernatural realm.

This seemingly innocent holiday so quickly becomes a glorification of the kingdom of darkness, and an oversimplification of the truth.

The truth is there is a real spiritual realm.

There is a real kingdom of darkness that is trying to mislead you and destroy you, and there is a real real kingdom of light.

When we are saved by god, we are called out of the kingdom of darkness ad al of the pain and condemnation that goes with it, and we are invited into all that God has for us.

Buy why is it that we still seem so taunted by the nightmare of our past?

We see in Genesis that Adam and Eve lived in paradise. Suddenly, however, one action of pride took their paradise away.

Adam and Eve walked into a nightmare:

Broken hearted

Captive and bound to sin

Taunted by the enemy

Mourning the loss of paradise

Shamed by their choices

Felling that maybe, they had no reason to live

Adam and Eve have stumbled into a nightmare.

Suddenly, they had need to fear death, because the bible says the wages of sin are death, and all fall short of the glory of God.

Talk about a nightmare you can’t wake up from!

Fast forward to the New Testament. God send his only Son to die on the cross.

The Bible says he took our sin, our shame, and became a curse for us. He took the nightmare upon himself.

Three days later, he rises again! This isn’t just a neat magic trick. God defeated death for all so we may have everlastingl ife.

Tonight I want us to take a look at Isaiah 61, Christ’s mission statement while he was here on the earth and now that he has sent us the Holy Spirit.

Transition

I want us to look at the six nightmares that Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection set us free from if only we chose him.

Six Nightmares Christ Frees Us From

Broken heartedness

Isaiah 61:1 ...He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted...

Psalm 147:3 “3 He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.”

We have all had our hearts broken before. Our soles have been crushed by grief and dispair.

Although this is a commonplace part of our lives, Jesus provided—and continues to provide—us freedom from our broken hearts.

He promises to give us peace

He sent his Holy Spirit (the Helper and Comforter) to bring us help and comfort.

This is not instantaneous, but is a part of what Christ did for us on the cross and through the Holy Spirit.

It is our for the asking.

Captivity to sin

Isaiah 61:1 ...To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound...

The Bible tells us that we are all born sinful.

We all fall short of the glory of God.

It began with the great fall and continues today.

The central miracle of Christ’s work on the cross is that he took our sin upon himself so that all who believe and call on him would be saved.

The Bible tells us that if we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, then we will be saved.

But more than that:

Christ brings freedom to the enslaves, the bound, and the confined.

Jesus can deliver us from the nightmare of our sin habits and slavery to addictions and afflictions.

The enemy

Isaiah 61:2 ...To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God...

We all face real attacks fro the enemy.

This isn’t bad luck or bad circumstance.

There is a real enemy who sees you ass a threat and wants to do everything he can to distract you and to destroy you.

Jesus paved the way for God to have his vengeance!

You may struggled with the attack but:

Christ has defeated death

Christ has defeated the enemy

The battle may wage on, it may be an invisible enemy, it may get tough.

But our God has already own:

He will protect us

He will save us

The nightmare of the enemy is all but gone, we just have to accept it.

Mourning

Isaiah 61:2-3 ...To comfort all who mourn... To console those who mourn in Zion... To give them... The oil of joy for mourning...

We may mourn and grieve our losses:

Friends

Family

Possessions

We do not mourn as those who have no hope.

We have been bought with a price so we can have everlasting life

Our inheritance is eternity.

Every temporal think and being around us may pass way, but our God stands forever

We have our eternity with him

So he brings us comfort and peace when we mourn because our inheritance is so much more.

As with all these items, it’s ours for the asking.

We ask in faith, and we receive it in faith.

Shame

Isaiah 61:3 ...To give them beauty for ashes...

Ashes are Old Testament imagery for shame

We may have shame or regrets from our past

This nightmare from the enemy can taunt us, but God says he will give us beauty in place of our shame.

He says he will crown us when we are humbled and humiliated.

Purposeless living

Isaiah 61:3 ...To give them... The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

WE are created to glorify God and have a relationship with him.

In the Old Testament the law laid down such a heaviness on some that it became legalism vs relationship.

Jesus did what no one else could do.

He took everything away so we could be righteous in his sight

Have a relationship with him

Glorify Him

Garment of praise vs. heaviness

We must choose to put the garment on.