Easter Sunday!

SERMON

Text: Romans 8:31b-39

PART 1

Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and our RISEN Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Text: Romans 8:31b-34

If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

In Christ Jesus, our Risen and Victorious Savior, dear fellow-winners:

"WE WON!" There is a definite thrill to winning. The bigger the contest is, the more thrilling the victory. With every victory there comes some kind of spoils or reward. The spoils of victory may not be anything more than being able to say, "we won" but even that is a product of victory.

In earthly contests, winning isn’t everything. Its fun to win…but in the bigger picture of things, winning a contest ultimately has very little lasting value. There are times when the greatest of defeats take place while winning the game, and the greatest victories in the face in defeat.

In our spiritual "contest" with the powers of sin, hell, and death winning IS EVERYTHING! We are engaged in something more than a game or a contest for some earthly reward and honor. We are in a battle—a war—for our lives, and not just for this life. In this battle, the difference between defeat and victory is the difference between a never-ending death in the fire of hell vs. a never-ending life in the presence of God.

In this battle WE ARE ALREADY WINNERS! The resurrection of Jesus assures us of this victory. Jesus’ death on the cross is necessary for our victory and He was buried in a tomb, but we ought not think of Him remaining on the cross or in the tomb—we ought not seek the LIVING among the dead. The empty cross (and empty tomb), in other words, Jesus Resurrection, MEANS VICTORY. In our meditations this Easter morning we will be using Paul’s words to the Romans to rejoice in I. The Spoils of Victory and II. The Security of Victory.

I.

What are the spoils of our victory with Christ? The short answer is that “God is for us, so who can be against us?" [v.31]. If we dig a little deeper, we learn that the benefits of this victory are that Christ died, rose again, sits at the right hand of God, and intercedes for us. [cf: v. 34] When we go deeper still and consider ALL that comes to us through this work of Christ… that is when the vastness of the spoils of victory can be seen.

If we want to rejoice in the benefits of victory we had better first be sure that we have indeed won the victory. In God’s plan of salvation, 1)the righteous requirements of the Law had to be fulfilled for all sinners, 2)the punishment of sin had to be paid for all sinners, and 3)death had to be conquered for all sinners. Jesus kept the law perfectly and He endured the punishment for all sins on the cross. We know that the debt was completely paid because of Jesus’ cry, "It is finished" before He died. At that point, 2 out of the 3 needs for victory were accomplished but death had not yet been conquered for Jesus’ dead body hung on the cross and then later was laid in the tomb.

Victory was completed when on Easter morning JESUS ROSE BACK TO LIFE JUST AS HE SAID He would do! Jesus had said all-along that He would rise on the third day. Had He not risen, His words of promise would not be true and we would have no assurances. When Jesus was suffering on the cross He was forsaken by God because of our sins for which He suffered. If God had not raised Jesus up and exalted Him in glory, we would have no reason to believe that Jesus’ sacrifice was accepted by God as a ransom for our sins. If our Savior from sin remained dead and His body decayed, then He would not have truly conquered sin because death is the product of sin. Paul wrote the Corinthians, “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty…if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile, you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:14,17) and that would be DEFEAT!

Jesus’ Resurrection is the GUARANTEE OF VICTORY. We need not doubt that Jesus is truly alive because there is in surmountable proof that He did rise from the dead. During the 40 days between Easter and His Ascension to heaven, Jesus appeared alive to disciples no fewer than eleven times, five of the times were on Easter Sunday alone! One of Jesus’ appearances was to 500 disciples at one time. Even unbelievers became witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection. The soldiers guarding Jesus’ tomb were witnesses and knew what had happened. It is the one sad part of the Easter story, that the money of Jesus’ enemies purchased the soldiers’ silence.

There is irrefutable evidence and testimony that Jesus who died for you also ROSE TO LIFE and LIVES and that means VICTORY.

To the victor belong the spoils. In Isaiah 53, after God showed all the suffering and death which His Son would endure, He also spoke of victory and its reward, “…He shall divide the spoil with the strong” (Isaiah 53:12).

The biggest and all-encompassing gift to come from the victory that is ours in Christ Jesus is the FORGIVENESS OF SINS. Paul told the Romans earlier in his letter, “[Righteousness] shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead who was delivered up because of our offenses (His death paid the price for our sins) and raised again because of our justification (His resurrection is the guarantee that God declares us "Not Guilty!" because of what Jesus has done) (Romans 4:24-25).

God assures us through His Word that through faith in Christ Jesus we receive the forgiveness of sins. That forgiveness is effective because Jesus rose from the dead and lives. Since the guilt of our sins is taken completely away from us we can look forward to life of glory forever in heaven. Sin is what brought death in the first place, sin is what blocks our way from entering heaven, so if our sins are forgiven then we just like Jesus we will be raised up from earthly death to live in glory and never die again. Recall Jesus’ words to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die (on earth), he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die (eternally).” (John 11:25-26).

Knowing that our sins are forgiven we will be raised to live eternally in heaven, gives the confidence that Paul shows when he says in our text: “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns?” [vv.33-34a] Confidence in salvation is another "spoil" of victory. Who in the whole world or in all of hell can charge you or any other believer with a sin and suggest that it excludes you from the family of God? NO ONE!!!!! God Himself vindicates you of your sins. He has declared you "Not Guilty" and has given you the proof of that vindication by raising Christ from the dead. If GOD has said you are SET FREE, there is NONE who can say otherwise. It comes back to Paul’s original question, If GOD is for us, who can be against us?!"

This doesn’t mean that there won’t be those who will try to bring a charge against you and other believers. The Devil and all of his servants—and that includes evil angels and Satan’s instruments in the world—will continually accuse you. Satan will do everything in his power to lead you to despair by reminding you of your sins and suggesting that you are not worthy of eternal life. He’s right, you do sin daily…he’s right, you aren’t worthy of eternal life, but if the Devil then tries to convince you that you can’t have eternal life he is WRONG! God says, not only can you have eternal life, you ALREADY HAVE IT through Christ Jesus; and the Devil and anyone else who may try to accuse you are DEFEATED! With God on our side and Christ’s victory ours we are equipped to say to enemies, “take counsel together…but it will come to nothing; Speak the word…but it will not stand, FOR GOD IS WITH US!” (Isaiah 8:10).

Paul also writes, “He who did not even spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things” [v.32] God so wants you to have the victory and all of its blessings that He spared no expense to accomplish that victory and those blessings for you. For us sinners, God gave His own Son. The Son of God has redeemed us out of His love for us. God showed that amazing love to us while we were unlovable, unredeemed sinners. Now that He has made us His own through faith in Christ that love continues to pour out in abundance (cf: Romans 5:6ff). If your God has that kind of love for you, is there anything He will withhold from you that would be beneficial to you? Not a thing!

If God is for us, what need won’t be supplied? … what problem can’t be solved? … what grief can’t be comforted? … what challenge can’t be met? … what danger can’t we escape? We are victors in every way and are given every needful blessing. Jesus is at the right hand of God ruling over heaven and earth for your benefit. He is controlling all things in order to bring more sinners to victory and to give you them the spoils of victory. It is as Jesus’ promised, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (we could paraphrase this, "when you have victory with Me") and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).

All the spoils of our victory with Christ are ongoing and daily because Jesus LIVES and RULES in our hearts and lives. Jesus did not go to battle for you, win the victory, give you the spoils, and then move onto bigger and better things leaving you to yourselves. Jesus LIVES and day by day gives you countless blessings, which all flow out of the VICTORY He sealed for you when He rose back to Life.

THANKS BE TO GOD WHO GIVES US THE SPOILS OF VICTORY THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST! AMEN!

—Pastor Wayne C. Eichstadt

PART 2

Text: Romans 8:35-39

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecutions, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

In Christ Jesus, our risen and living Savior, dear fellow redeemed:

As we have already heard—JESUS’ EMPTY CROSS AND TOMB MEANS VICTORY—victory for Jesus and victory also for believers in Jesus! We have received the "spoils" of victory—the forgiveness of sins, the righteousness of Christ, the gospel message, the confidence of being God’s redeemed children, and the hope of eternal life! With those "spoils" of victory also comes the security of victory! Our God wants us to know that wherever we are in life—whether successful or unsuccessful in the eyes of the world, and whatever circumstances we may be facing—whether good or bad, we remain secure through the victory of Jesus. Let us consider briefly why we still face so many trials and tribulations in life in spite of Jesus’ victory. Then, let us consider how, in spite of those trials and tribulations, we still possess the security of victory!

Paul tells us in our text, “As it is written, ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us!” In spite of Christ’s victory we still face trials and tribulations, because Satan and the world, while defeated, still war on against us out of a desperate hatred for Christ! They know that their final judgment is coming, but until that time they will oppose Christ and us in any way possible. Satan hates God and will do anything to snatch us away from Him! In a way the situation could be compared to the final year of World War II. There was no question by late 1944 who had won the war, yet individual battles continued before all conflict ceased with the unconditional surrender of both Germany and Japan in 1945. Even so Christ has won the war against Satan and this world. He is the victor, but the skirmishes of life will continue for us believers until the final overall victory on judgment day.

Yet, in spite of these trials and tribulations we still possess the security of victory! Why is that the case? It is the case, because “nothing can separate us from the love of Christ!” Jesus demonstrated His love for us by dying on the cross as our substitute. He said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:14). Jesus did that for us! However, unlike someone who heroically gives us his life for his friends and is then gone, Jesus gave up His life, but is now alive! In addition, He has promised, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). He, who possesses “all authority in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18), is always by our side. There is no tribulation we pass through, there is no distress we encounter, there is no persecution that we endure—that could ever separate us from the love of Christ, for He in love is by our side. What security that offers someone in the hospital! What security that offers someone facing a troubling family situation! What security that offers someone facing death for Jesus’ sake. Paul, who faced death for the sake of Jesus, said, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). Such a knowledge is security!

Beyond this, Paul points to the love God has for us in Christ Jesus. He says, “I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We are secure in the victory of Christ because of God’s love for us in Christ! How great that love? You already know, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). God gave His Son to die on the cross. God forsook His son—why? Because God in love decided never to forsake us! While people can and do forsake God, He never will forsake us!

Consider Paul’s thoughts—can death separate us from the love of God in Christ? No, for through the victory of Christ death has become our door to eternal life. Can Satan and his evil angels separate us from the love of God in Christ? No, for when we stay close to our Savior we can resist Satan and he will be forced to flee from us (cf. James 4:7)! Is there any created thing greater than God is? Of course not, for He is omnipotent! It there any thing that exists today or will exist tomorrow that can remove us from God’s love in Christ? No, Jesus says, “My Father…is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them (us His sheep) out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:29). Is there any height or any depth—physical, mental, emotional where the love of God in Christ cannot reach us? Absolutely not! We have absolute security in the victory won for us by Jesus on Easter. It was a victory manifested to the world by an angel who descended from heaven and rolled back a stone, so that all could see that a grave was empty! An empty cross, an empty tomb, but a message filled with the security of the inseparable love of our Savior God! Amen.

—Pastor Paul D. Nolting