Christ Memorial Church

Like A Tree

Week 65

The crying need of our day is for good, godly leaders.  Where are the men and women who lead by serving others?  Where are the leaders who live by a high moral code?  Where are the leaders who are willing to defer their rights and privileges?  Where are the leaders who are finishing strong?  And where are the leaders who are healthy role models for our young people?

Well, have I got a leader for you!  I can’t say that he ever hit .350 during a baseball season or painted a masterpiece.  I can’t tell you that he brought peace everywhere he went or discovered a cure for your disease.  But I can tell you that this leader is the cure for everything that is wrong with planet earth.

Zechariah 14:9 says, “And the LORD will become king over all the earth.”  Here we read about a grand coronation ceremony of a world-wide king.  Here we read of the far-reaching scope of his authority.  In fact, here we read of a king who is taking over the earth.

Who is this king?  Why is this king worth following?  On this third Sunday of Advent I would like to encourage you – no challenge you – to follow the leader who is taking over the earth.

“And the LORD will become king over all the earth.”  Who is taking over the earth?  Jesus Christ is taking over the earth.  The Old Testament says in Isaiah 9:6-7:

For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests on his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom.

The New Testament identifies this king as Jesus Christ.  “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews” asked the wise men (See Matthew 2:1-6).  We also read in the last book of the Bible, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).

Jesus Christ is taking over the earth!  Jesus is taking over diseases like cancer and HIV-Aids.  Jesus is taking over physical and mental limitations like paralysis and bi-polar illness.  Jesus is taking over poverty and injustice.  Jesus is taking over business, government, art, music, education and all the nations of the earth.  And Jesus is taking over relationships like marriage and family gatherings at Christmas time.  Jesus is taking over all things in all places of the earth.  He is doing this bit by bit, one soul at a time.  He is doing this through love, grace, and mercy.

Jesus’ takeover is a hostile takeover, spiritually speaking.  “From the days of John the Baptist until now” Jesus says, “the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12).  Matthew Henry writes,

This violence denotes a strength, and vigor, and earnestness of desire and endeavor… It show us also what fervency and zeal are required of all those who intend to gain heaven through their (Christian) religion. The kingdom suffers a holy violence; we must run, and wrestle, and fight, and be in agony…to win such a prize… They who will have an interest in the great salvation are carried out towards it with a strong desire, will have it on any terms, and not think them hard, nor release their hold without a blessing (Genesis 32:26).  The kingdom of heaven was never intended to indulge the ease of triflers, but to be the rest of those who labor.

Upon hearing that the king of the Jews had been born, Herod “sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under…” (Matthew 2:16).  At the end of forty days of fasting and praying in the wilderness, Jesus was tempted by Satan to distrust God.  Throughout His ministry Jesus’ kingdom of light pushed back the kingdom of darkness as He cast out demons, freed sinners from their sins and healed many from their diseases.  In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus sweat drops of blood as He asked God if there was any other way to take over the world other than the cross.  When he died on the cross, the prince of this world, Satan, was defeated.  And then through His resurrection and ascension Jesus proclaimed that His takeover of the earth had begun:  He had wrestled the strong man and won (Matthew 12:29).  Sin and death would no longer rule the world.

When we say that Jesus is taking over the earth, we don’t mean that He is doing so through weapons of warfare of some kind of Western imperialism.  What we mean, what the Bible means, is that Jesus Christ defeated sin and death on the cross and is now proclaiming and extending His victory around the world through the preaching of the gospel and the living of the gospel life.

Friends, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to take over everything.  He came to win the lost and to rescue us from the kingdom of darkness and transfer us into His kingdom of light (See Colossians 1:13). 

Do you believe this?  I know, sometimes it’s very hard to believe that Jesus Christ is taking over the earth.  Sometimes is almost seems as though Satan is stronger than Jesus.

But I am here to tell you this morning, on the authority of God’s Word, that He is filling the earth with hope, and that He is calling you to follow this Jesus, the leader who is taking over the earth. 

And you are to follow Him even though you experience setbacks along the way.

Setbacks, temporary defeats, and disappointments will accompany our journey to heaven.  Maybe you are experiencing a personal setback right now.  Maybe your son or daughter is going through a teenage setback and it’s breaking your heart.  Perhaps your friend is losing their battle with alcohol, marital fidelity, or depression.  Just watching the news on a regular basis is enough to make me crawl under the covers and cry.

Listen again to our memory verse.  “And the LORD will become king over all the earth.”  Jesus may be taking over the earth, but often it doesn’t seem like it.  In recent days I have walked with people through the setbacks of an attempted suicide, the death of loved ones, financial loss, an abusive spouse, divorce, and alcoholism.  Tell me the world doesn’t seem out of control at times.

“If Jesus is taking over the earth as you say, then why do these things happen?”  In a moment I’ll share a couple of responses to this question, but for now let me say that Christians are not immune from suffering and hard question about their faith.  We will experience great disappointments and heartbreaking losses in life, along with daily frustrations.

And all of this conspires to undermine our faith in a good and righteous God who is taking over the earth through His Son Jesus Christ.  It’s very tempting to lose heart, grow faint, and give up on God when the roof of life is caving in on us.

But there is a better way.  What are we to do?  Let me share two responses that spring to my attention from our text.

First, to follow the leader who is taking over the earth we have to look for glimpses of the Jesus takeover.  “And the LORD will become king over all the earth.”  The Jesus takeover is a process.  In one sense, the Jesus takeover was accomplished by His life, death, resurrection and ascension.   Jesus finished the work of paying for the sins of the world and removing the curse of God from earth.  But in another sense, Jesus’ victory over sin and death is being worked out over time.

And if we have eyes to see and ears to hear, we will notice that His takeover is happening everywhere.  I often pray for God to show people glimpses of His presence and takeover movement in their lives.

The Jesus takeover is very spiritual.  Not exclusively, of course, but it begins there.  Whenever you see the renewal of someone’s life, there you catch of glimpse of the takeover.   Whenever you see God redeem someone’s past mistakes or losses, there you glimpse the takeover.  Whenever you worship on Sunday morning with pain in your heart, there you glimpse the takeover.  Whenever you sing, “Great is Thy Faithfulness” at a funeral, there you are witnessing firsthand the Jesus takeover breaking into our world of sadness.  New church plants, more Christian bookstores, atheist conversions, Christmas carols in malls, nations allowing more religious freedom, prayer before sessions of Congress, new medical advances and doctors praying before surgery, a young girl deciding not to walk into an abortion clinic because of her pastor’s sermon last Sunday – there you see the Jesus takeover underway.

We have to look for glimpses of the Jesus takeover in order to encourage our hearts.  Where do you see such glimpses today?

Second, to follow the leader who is taking over the earth you and I have to live the takeover life.  “And the LORD will become king over all the earth.”  And what does this king want from you?  Jesus Christ wants you to become a sign of His takeover movement.

How?  Let Jesus take over your life!  Christ wants to take over every private area of your life and every public arena of your life.  You can come to church and be one person, then go home for six days and be another person.  This is not what the takeover movement is all about.  Christ wants all of you – your heart, your soul, your volition, your feelings, your mind, your emotions, your past, your present, your future and your obedience.  He wants your secrets and your secret secrets.  Jesus Christ wants to take over all of you, not just a part of you.

You fashion yourself a Christian by coming to church on Sunday morning.  Good.  But is that all your Christianity is to you?  You care more about what people think of you than you do about what God thinks of you.  Some of you today are resisting the Jesus takeover.  You’ve let Him take over part but not all of you.  Why?  What are you frightened of?  What scares you about letting Him have everything?

Live as a child of God who has been caught up and swept away by His love and grace revealed in Jesus Christ.  Live such changed and committed lives that the world knows you are part of the Jesus takeover movement.  There are many things that would take over your life if you let them.  Don’t let greed take over your life.  Don’t let bitterness and an unforgiving spirit take over your life.  Don’t let lust or lying or cheating or stealing or anger or alcohol or drugs take over your life.

In your own strength you can’t resist sin; it will always take over your life.  But in the strength of Jesus Christ, you can resist these sinful takeover con-artists and join the true world-wide takeover movement led by Jesus Christ.

Live as a missionary actively engaged in the Jesus takeover.  I recently heard someone say that the one thing we won’t do for Jesus in heaven is be on mission.  This is your only opportunity to share Christ and the gospel with the world.  Once Jesus comes or you die, all such opportunity to be part of the Jesus takeover stops.

And live in trust.  “HIV-Aids you will not win, God is stronger than you” the Courage Movement of South Africa proclaims to the world.  This is a word of trust.  HIV-Aids may appear to be winning, but it won’t win.  It won’t win because Jesus Christ has come to take over all such diseases. 

Trust God, my friend, until the day arrives when there is no more confusion over whom the true God is and who rules this world.

When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flock, the work of Christmas begins:  To find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among brothers, to make music in the heart” (The Work of Christmas by Howard Thurman).

Follow the leader who is taking over the earth, and this can be your best Christmas ever.

Until next week, 

Pastor Mike