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Los Angeles, CA 90053   

Thank you, Connie.
Sixty years ago General Douglas MacArthur waded ashore Red Beach and proclaimed: “To the people of the Philippines: I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God . . .” It was one of the most memorable moments of modern military history.

Perhaps the most famous statement from a victorious general came from Julius Caesar half a century before Jesus Christ. After his dramatic victory at the battle of Zela, Caesar sent a pithy boast back to Rome: "Veni, vidi, vici." From Latin that’s translated: “I came, I saw, I conquered.”

The English statement “I saw” doesn’t adequately tell us what Caesar was saying. More than “I saw,” as if he had been sightseeing, he meant: “I experienced.” Caesar came and experienced a battle with its risks and consequences, emerging victorious. At the same place where 20 years earlier Rome suffered a devastating defeat, Julius Caesar came and experienced a battle that conquered the enemy and helped establish his empire.

Jesus Christ also ventured out to experience a battle and conquer an enemy. He came here to establish the kingdom of God. Born of a virgin with no human father, Christ was God in the flesh. The Bible calls Him the “Son of God,” heaven’s representative. He also was Son of Man, the representative of our fallen human race.

Christ did not come to this planet as a tourist going sightseeing. He fully immersed Himself in our situation, experiencing all our struggles and sorrows. The eternal destiny of every human being was packaged in His person. And, thank God, He conquered.

Conquered what? Sin and death and the devil. Satan’s evil empire had overcome the first father of humanity, Adam. That’s in the Bible, Romans 5:12: “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men.”

Somebody says, “That’s no fair. Why should I be born a sinner doomed to death because of what Father Adam did way back in the Garden of Eden?”

Good question. Let’s remember that children always suffer when parents behave selfishly and irresponsibly. That’s the way it is with us as sinners. Adam, father of humanity, decided that going his own way was somehow better than following God’s way. His rebellion plunged the whole human race into sin.

So all of us are born as sinners, doomed to death under the devil’s leadership. He tempts us to sin further, and we make things worse by our own bad choices. “We sin inevitably—but gleefully,” says theologian Stanley Grenz. The Bible puts it this way in Isaiah 53:6: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.” If we’re honest with ourselves, we can’t argue with that. But thank God for the good news of the gospel in the rest of that verse: “The Lord has laid on him [on Jesus!] the iniquity of us all.”

Praise God, we have a sin-conquering Savior! Verse 4 says: “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows.” In fact, we read in Hebrews 4:15 that Jesus was “tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.” The devil attacked Christ every day of His life here on earth. The Son of God experienced pain and suffering as the Son of Man. He even cried out in prayer with strong crying and tears, the Bible says.

Yet Christ never wavered in His mission. Every step of the way He conquered the powers of evil. As the new Adam, He succeeded at every point where the first Adam failed.

But how about when they killed Him on the cross? Wasn’t that a defeat for the kingdom of God? No way! Calvary was the climax of Christ’s victory. That’s where Jesus won His greatest battle against Satan.

Christ’s death was not a defeat. No, friend! It wasn’t like soldiers killed in battle for the sake of their country. Their death is a loss. But Christ’s death on the cross was God’s eternal victory for heaven and earth.

Don’t just take my word for it! The Bible says Christ triumphed on behalf of every human being till the end of time, “that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Hebrews 2:14/NAS. Many find it hard to believe this. They see Jesus merely as a teacher of morals or a social reformer—not as the conquering Savior. To them, He is just a very good man having a very bad day when He died on the cross. They say: “How can the death of a homeless Jewish carpenter 2,000 years ago bring salvation and purpose to anyone and everyone today? That plus eternal life too! Really, now.”

Yes, friend. Jesus is Lord! Both Son of God and Son of Man. He conquered as our representative—God’s sacrifice.

“Wait a minute,” you might be thinking: “If Jesus really liberated us from sin and death, somebody had better notify the devil.” Children are dying of AIDS. Nuclear bombs multiply in scary parts of the world. People murder one another in the name of God, in Iraq and other places.

Let’s use Iraq as an example. Shortly after the American army defeated Saddam Hussein, President Bush landed on an aircraft carrier with the proclamation: “Mission Accomplished.” Remember that? Yet thousands more soldiers and civilians have died since then. Saddam is defeated, yet his insurgency continues.

Maybe Saddam’s situation helps us understand what’s going on with Satan right now. He is defeated! Christ has conquered. But that victory has yet to be enforced. The Bible says that the whole creation groans in pain, yearning for the final realization of Christ’s victory over Satan.

How about you, personally? Are you willing to make Christ’s victorious death and resurrection the focus of your faith? Do you want to experience the power of His liberating presence? We’ll be discussing that all this week. Right now, first things first. Let’s talk about getting started with God.

Once you believe that Christ conquered sin and Satan on your behalf, then what? Notice Romans 5:17: “Those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” So it’s not enough to know that long ago God won the battle for us in Christ. We must personally receive His victory. How?

Let’s make this simple and practical. We simply confess ourselves as sinners unable to save ourselves from Adam’s bad choice on our behalf. Next we believe that Jesus came here as our new representative, God in human flesh. By His life and death and resurrection, He conquered sin and Satan. We accept Him completely while rejecting everything that is opposed to who He is and what He offers. And then, day after day, we just “keep on keeping on.” The Bible calls this walking by faith. 2 Corinthians 5:7.

Do you see what’s at stake for you here? Salvation depends upon choosing between membership in Adam's fallen race and Christ's redeemed humanity. Will we identify ourselves with the first Adam by participating in his unbelief and rebellion against God’s will? Or will we accept our new identity in the conquering Christ?

It’s kind of like being elected for office in the United States or Canada. Winning the necessary votes doesn’t by itself make a man or woman leader of the country. There’s still the inauguration in which the already-won election is personally activated.

So with us. God has elected us as His children through Jesus. That’s a done deal! But we must believe and receive Christ’s victory for us. Just as George Bush had to lay his hand on the Bible and activate his election, so must we activate our salvation in Christ.

One person who did was Paul the apostle. Listen to his testimony in Philippians 3, beginning with verse 8: “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own.” He continues in verse 10: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection.”

Paul experienced Christ’s resurrection power by knowing Him, identifying himself completely with Jesus. He knew he had no goodness or strength within himself. He needed the higher power of Jesus Christ. The courageous people who attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings are not ashamed to confess: “I’m Tom, and I’m an alcoholic.” Well, that’s who Tom is within himself, fallen through Adam. But there’s more to Tom’s identity. He is a child of God, saved from sin and death. And so are you, with Christ the conqueror in your life!