The Final Funeral | Redemption Church Plano Tx

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Have you ever seen this movie plot?

The innocent hero breaths their last after receiving wounds from evil enemies. The enemies rejoice over the fallen hero…but little do they know that the hero they left for dead is yet alive. One by one, the hero hunts down his enemies from least to greatest, exacting revenge; until finally, this once thought dead hero, faces off against the major boss bad guy. This final battle is the climax of the movie where the hero gets ultimate revenge against the ultimate foe.

As exciting as a movie with this plot is… Jesus does it better!

Jesus is the innocent hero who was thought dead, but is now out of the grave and is now tracking down every last enemy from order of least to greatest.

One day there will be a final funeral. Jesus Himself will perform a funeral for our greatest enemies.

Funeral – 6 the Final Funeral

This is Redemption Church in Plano TX and I am Chris Fluitt. I am so glad to be with you.

Dearly beloved we are here today to lay some things to rest… We are in the final week of our sermon series called Funeral.

Funeral

We have learned a lot about death. We have studied many of the funerals in the Bible.

Today on the final week of this series, I want to tell you about the final funeral.

1 The Final Funeral

Entertainment has a plot that has appeared many times. Stop me if you have seen this one…

Have you seen Kill Bill, Payback, The Crow, Gladiator, Conan, I Spit on your Grave, John Wick, Avenger’s Endgame, High Plains Drifter…? They all share this exciting storyline… But Jesus did it better.

But, like all good movies, you can’t just start at the final battle.

2 The Cross was the final funeral… for the last hope of the world.

You need to realize that when Jesus walked the Earth it was something the World had not seen since the days of Creation. The demons and spiritual authorities of this world were afraid of Jesus, and not for the reason you would assume. You would naturally assume that they would fear Jesus because they knew He was God incarnate… the Son of God. There is some evidence that they were unsure who, or what Jesus was… Satan kept asking “if you are the Son of God…”. It was almost as if this no good devil was looking for Jesus to confess who He was because the demons were not completely sure. This is fun to think about…, but let me give you another reason why they were so very afraid of Jesus.

They felt something in Jesus they hadn’t felt since Adam & Eve – BEFORE the fall of mankind into sin. Adam & Eve walked in full authority and had dominion over the earth! They stood holy & clean before God, without a need to hide themselves from His presence. When the serpent tempted them to SIN, they lost this authority & dominion. They were no longer clean & holy before God and had to hide from His presence…

But then came a man named Jesus, who possessed the original “dominion authority” lost so long ago…; The winds & waves obeyed Him… blind eyes opened for him, and he cast out demons left and right…

This Jesus has a direct holy & righteous communication with the Father in Heaven. Jesus speaks directly to the Father, and the Father speaks directly to Him. This man is unlike any other since Adam & Eve’s fall… Jesus walks around with NO SIN & NO SHAME and never has to hide his face from the Holy presence of God.

The evil spirits of this world had wielded dominion power over every man since Adam & Eve…, but those same spirits had no power over Jesus. They were scared of Jesus… They knew they had to do something about Jesus…

So the evil enemies tried to get Jesus to sin… 2 Corinthians 5:21 reads, “He knew no sin;” Hebrews 4:15 says, “He was tempted in every way just as we are – yet He did not sin;” 1 John 3:5 says, “In Him is no sin;” and 1 Peter 2:22 says, “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

They could not tempt Jesus into Sin… The demons found it so annoying when Jesus would say, “I only do the will of Him who sent me; I only do the will of my Father in Heaven…;” Thy Kingdom come and Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven…”

Sin could not beat Jesus directly, so the enemy had to try another approach. Sin would affect those around Jesus to get them to turn on Him… to reject Him… to lie about Him… to drag Him through the streets… to swear at Him, ridicule Him, and spit on him… to place a crown of thorns on His head and place His body on a cross… to swing a hammer and drive spikes through His hands & feet… to pierce His side with a spear…

Yes, it was a Roman soldier with the spear and hammer in his hand… but it was sin at work… it was evil orchestrating this funeral. Yes, it was a Jewish high priest who lied and yelled, “Crucify Him…” But, it was the devil, the father of lies who was pulling the strings to extinguish the life of Jesus.

And Jesus died.

2 The Cross was the final funeral… for the last hope of the world.

All of the forces of evil breathed a sigh of relief at that moment, followed by hideous laughter. The One with dominion authority & holiness was dead and gone. Evil threw a big party at the funeral of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the hero who breathed his last, but his enemies did not realize He was still alive. One by one our hero, Jesus Christ, hunts down these evil enemies in order; from least to greatest He gives them their own funerals.

What enemy does Jesus put down first? Who is the ultimate foe who receives the final funeral? Think about this great showdown!

The Bible is very clear on what chump Jesus gets revenge on first. Jesus throws a funeral for sin.

3 A Funeral for Sin

Sin is that force that separates us from God. Sin is that force that brings death to everyone. Because of sin we hide our faces in shame from the presence of a holy God.

The evil forces did not understand, but even as Jesus drew His final breath on the cross, sin dropped dead.

Romans 8:3 (NIV) For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh,

Jesus condemns sin… and here is the execution of the condemned.

Colossians 2:13 (NIV) When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,

Colossians 2:14 (NIV) having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

Colossians 2:15 (NIV) And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

In the movies, the hero who was thought to be dead will take out the first enemy in such a way that it sends a message. It sends a message that the hero is still alive… the hero has not forgotten what the enemies did… and that the hero is not done, but will be coming after every last one of his enemies.

Jesus does it better than Hollywood. Jesus takes sin and nails it to the cross…

Sin ought to be dead to you. You need to have a funeral for sin today. We ought to be alive in Christ and dead to sin!

And should we fall back into sin, we should go back to Jesus… go back to the cross and leave sin there!

Settle the matter of sin!

Isaiah 1:18 (NIV) “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

Jesus, the “Holy One” and the one with dominion authority performed a funeral for sin and He leaves no trace of sin’s work in your life.

The Devil gets worried when He sees Jesus alive and all sin nailed to the cross… so, the Devil forms a plan. This plan is not even completed yet… much of this plan is future and you can read prophecy of it in the book of Revelation.

We know exactly what Satan will do. He will gather 2 enemies to lie and deceive the entire world. There will be a false prophet & an anti-Christ also known as “the beast”, and their deception will be so devastating that most of the world’s population will worship evil and reject God.

The false prophet and the “the beast” will do spiritually powerful things that cause the world to think they are God; the same world that hung Jesus on a cross will bow down and worship the enemy.

But, the enemies of God don’t even understand the hurt our hero is going to put on them…

Revelation 19:19-20 (NIV) Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

4 A funeral for the false prophet & the beast

Jesus creates a special funeral for these two. He creates a place called the “lake of fire”, and the first 2 victims to enter that place are the false prophet & the beast.

5 A funeral for satan

That devil who showed up in the garden… that one who went before God to test Job… the same one who tried to tempt Jesus… aren’t you ready to attend His funeral.

Satan, you said that you would ascend to be like God…

Isaiah 14:13-14 (NIV) You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

Satan you think that you are going up… but you have been going down ever since.

Isaiah 14:12 (NIV) How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!

Revelation 12:9 (NIV) The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

Revelation 20:2-3 (NIV) He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

Satan is thrown down from heaven, down to earth, down into a pit…

Isaiah 14:14-16 (NIV) I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit. Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble,

Those that see you, Satan, will be like… “Is this the guy…? You mean this is the one the fuss has been over?” Can He possibly fall any further….? Yes!

Revelation 20:10 (NIV) And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

1 The Final Funeral

Satan you lose! As great as this moment is…, it is not the final funeral. It is a misconception that satan is the final boss. Satan is not the final enemy… nor is he the most powerful.

There is still a funeral that remains.

1 Corinthians 15:21 (NIV) For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.

1 Corinthians 15:22 (NIV) For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15:23 (NIV) But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.

1 Corinthians 15:24 (NIV) Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.

1 Corinthians 15:25 (NIV) For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

1 Corinthians 15:26 (NIV) The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Death Suffers the Final Funeral

Death is the final enemy to be destroyed. When Jesus throws a funeral for death, there will NEVER be another funeral again.

And here is where Death was undone!

Hebrews 2:14-15 (NIV) Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

God put on flesh & blood and became a human so that He could share in our humanity. In His humanity He died, and IN HIS DEATH he broke the power of Satan and freed us from the fear of death!

Are you afraid of death? Jesus died to set you free from the fear of death.

Romans 6:8-9 (NIV) Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.

Death has a new Master

Death has no mastery over Jesus. Jesus has mastery over death!

Revelation 1:18 (NIV) I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

Jesus died like no one else. All of us die clinging to life. We try to breathe one more breath and have one more heartbeat until we finally succumb to death… But Jesus willingly laid down His life and dismissed His spirit.. He willingly took the cross, the grave, and death, and hades/hell.

Jesus emerges from the cross, the grave, from death, and hades… But He doesn’t come out alone. Jesus comes out with all those followers of God who had been defeated by death.

Jesus comes out with Adam & Eve, Abraham & Sarah, Moses, King David, John, Peter, Paul, Mary… He comes out with you and those you love…. And Jesus comes out with the keys of death and hades!

1 Corinthians 15:52 (NIV) in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

1 Corinthians 15:54-55 (NIV) When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

Death you lost your keys! Hell you lost your keys! Jesus is victorious!

6 Death suffers the Final Funeral

Death is the final enemy to be destroyed. Death has the final funeral and one day we, the righteous body of Christ, will see this event take place.

Revelation 20:11 (NIV) Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.

Revelation 20:12 (NIV) And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.

Revelation 20:13 (NIV) The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.

Revelation 20:14 (NIV) Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.

You will never see a more joyful funeral than on the day death & hades is thrown into the lake of fire. No one will stand up and say kind words about the “dearly departed.” There will be no eulogy and no soft music about how we hope to see them again… We will dance, rejoice, sing, and give thanks to Jesus, our True hero!

The enemies thought that the cross of Jesus was the final funeral for the last hope of the world… but it was the funeral of Jesus that won the ultimate victory of the ultimate foe.

I want us to spend some time worshipping and thanking God today. We are going to spend some time in prayer, talking to God. If you need a miracle in your life I want you to boldly come to the front of this stage and ask for prayer. Your hero Jesus is here and He defeats every one of our enemies.

BUT BEFORE YOU COME I want to tell you… It’s not a revenge story, but an avenge story

Not a revenge story… an avenge story

Musician,

Revenge is about retribution. Revenge is about “getting even” for what someone else did to you. Revenge is all about your own self.

Jesus did not go after these enemies because of what they did to Him… Jesus went after these enemies because of what they did to you!

When Jesus nailed sin to the cross, I believe with every blow Jesus said something like… “This is for Adam… Eve, Cain, Able, Seth…This is for you! This is for the ones I love!

When Jesus throws the false prophet and the beast into the lake of fire, He will not do it out of hatred of those evil doers… No, Jesus will be avenging you and all those who have been deceived by the lies of our common enemies.

When Jesus hurls Satan down into the lake of fire, it will not be out of feelings of personal revenge. No, it will be to avenge every trick the devil has ever played on you!

When Jesus takes death and throws it into the lake of fire, it is because of all that death has done to you – to all of us.

It has all been about you! He loves you!

Stop fighting your own battles! “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

He will fight every last enemy. He will go to the cross, to the grave, to hades… anywhere and everywhere to save you!