What Happened at the Cross Part 5

Last Sunday we continued the series, “What Happened at the Cross?” We started at Psalms 22:16-17.  We discussed the significance of the piercing of Jesus’ feet. Throughout the Word, the feet are referred to being connected to authority. For instance, in Deuteronomy 11:24, God tells the Israelites that, if they would be obedient to Him and walk as He told them to walk, that everywhere they set their foot would be theirs.

 In Romans 16:20 it says that God would “soon crush Satan under your feet.” It is OUR feet that crush him. Jesus’ feet gave us the power and it is our responsibility, using that power, that do the crushing. But how? The rest of that verse holds the key. It goes on to say, “The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” It is the grace of God with you that gives us the power we need to crush the enemy. Satan is an accuser. He will continually cause you to reflect on your sin and shortcomings as a reason to believe you have no authority over the circumstances of life. We must remember that grace redeems us from having to “fully obey the law” to be eligible for blessing and authority.

 Certainly, sin is going to make it hard to succeed in life – not because God removes the blessing, but because sin causes problems. All of that considered, do not allow the enemy to allow condemnation to strip you of the power of your authority.  Ephesians 1:22 says that all things have been placed under the feet of Jesus. What was under His feet at the crucifixion? It was the cross itself --  the sign of the curse or sin. Jesus has put the curse of sin under His feet, triumphing over it. He took that ground for you.

Hebrews 2:8-9 uses the words of the Psalmist from Psalms 8:6 to remind us that Jesus took back all authority. It goes on to pose the question as to why, we do not see that authority working in our lives. The answer is in a story from the book of Joshua.  In Joshua 3, the Israelites are about to finally enter the Promised Land. They must cross the Jordan River at flood stage. God instructs Joshua to have the priests carry the ark of the covenant across the river.  As soon as their feet touch the water, God says the river will stop in a heap and all of Israel will cross over on dry land. They do as instructed and everything happens just as God said.

 A few things to consider about this event… First, the name Jordan, in Hebrew, means destroyer. The river of destruction was separating God’s people from the Promised Land. Next, that river empties into the Dead Sea. Sin and destruction leads to death. Also, the river, when it stopped, heaped up in a pile in the north near the city of Adam. Jesus cuts off the power of sin to bring death all the way back to Adam!  So, how does this relate to our feet and authority illustration? The priests were to carry the ark – which was the symbol of the presence of God on earth. To us, it is Jesus. We are carrying the presence of God Himself with us as we go and have His authority in us to overcome all sin and destruction. 

Another important part of this story that we need to apply is that the river would not stop up until the priests stepped out by faith into the water. They couldn’t wait until the river stopped before they stepped out. They had to have faith that the Lord would honor what He said would happen as they set their feet in the river. We need to not only know we have authority through Christ Jesus but walk as though we have that authority until we see it operate properly. Until we walk, we are not exercising authority. If you are born again, then you are carrying the “ark” with you. You have authority over sin and destruction.  Ask the Holy Spirit to show you if there are areas in your life that you have not exercised the authority we have been given through the work of Jesus!

 

To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/ and click on online media.  To learn more about Living Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.