The Devil is defeated! (Pt.2)

(Part 2 of 2)

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”-Genesis 3:15

From the moment that God made this declaration in the Garden of Eden, Satan’s only strategy has been to disrupt, distract, and divert people away from God. Knowing that Jesus was coming he worked overtime to thwart the plans of God all because he knew what John would later pen to be true:

“For this purpose the son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”-1 John 3:8

Jesus accomplished this by disarming Satan at the cross!

“You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.”-Colossians 2:13-15

The only real weapons Satan had to use against us were accusations and the fear of death, but Jesus silenced the accuser (as he rehearsed our sins before God) when he took the penalty for our sins upon Himself on the cross.

Then Jesus completely disarmed him when three days later He came out of the tomb:

“Because God’s children are human beings-made of flesh and blood-the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could He set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.”-Hebrews 2:14-15(NLT)

Satan tormented mankind with the fear of death. Fear was the key to Satan’s power and Jesus stripped him of it. We know this because Jesus said in Revelation 1:18:

“I am the living one, I died, but look-I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys to death and the grave.”-

Some of you reading this have been living under the condemnation and accusation of the devil for years. He keeps whispering in your ear things like: “God doesn’t love you.”, “You will never be good enough.”, “Your sins are too many.” Can I tell you that Jesus silenced the accuser at the cross for you.

Some of you are crippled by fear! Fear of the known and the unknown. You feel distant and separated from God and see know hope for your future. Can I tell you that Jesus rose from the grave to give us hope.

Let me encourage you and tell you with confidence what I know to be true:

“No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”-Romans 8:37-39

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church

The Devil is defeated! (Pt. 1)

(Part 1 of 2)

“Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman siad, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”-Genesis 3: 13-15

Who is this serpent? He goes by many names throughout the Bible; Beelzbub, the god of this age, the father of lies, the great dragon and Lucifer. However, Revelation 12:9 refers to him by his two most common names:

“So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

The word Devil means slanderer/accuser. The word Satan means adversary. He was cast out of heaven after, according to, Isaiah 14:12-15 he attempted to ascend above the throne of God:

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.”

His mission according to John 10:10 is to steal, kill and destroy:

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

After his expulsion from heaven he turned his attention to mankind; the apple of God’s creation. He opposed them by bombarding them with temptations, accusations and condemnation; all in an effort to separate them from the love of God!

Satan had already suffered a humiliating defeat in heaven when God deposed him from his position of authority. When he was cast down; he knew it was over. So he turned his attention on humanity.

If he could not ascend above the throne of God, he would destroy that which God held dearest. His mission was to tempt Adam and Eve to sin. Why? Because Isaiah 59:2 declares:

“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”

After Adam and Eve succumb to temptation and allowed sin to enter the world, you would think that Satan would have been pleased with his results and celebrated his great victory; however he too heard what God declared in Genesis 3:15:

“He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Genesis 3:15 is a beautiful passage because it declares for us from the very beginning of the Bible that Satan is already defeated. God looked Satan dead in the face and declared his defeat! Satan knew from that moment; he was already destined for destruction.

Pastor Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church

Destroying the sting of death (Pt.2)

(Part 2 of 2)

“Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.”-Romans 6:9

Jesus came to dismiss the idea that life ends with death! He came to break the fear of death off of people’s lives and although the reality of death would remain, the fear of death would be destroyed. He did this through His own resurrection!

The crazy thing is-He had to die to defeat death. He had to prove that death had no dominion over Him. In fact, His death would become the avenue to life:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”-John 12:24

Commentator Steve Clark described it like this:

“A seed can be very hard and look much like a little stone, lifeless; but once it falls into the ground, a process happens that could be described as death. The seed dies. That death, however, is not the end. Something inside that seed, something that was there all along,  is released and begins to live in a new way. It transforms the seed into something greater, a plant capable not only of growing but of giving rise to other plants like itself. Death can be life-giving depending on what is inside when the dying begins.”

The Apostle Paul also recognized death as an avenue to something greater:

“So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.”-1 Corinthians 15:42-44

Christ’s resurrection took the sting out of death destroying the fear of the unknown; as He showed us the path to life and answering the fear of the known by demonstrating His power over death; giving us hope for today:

”So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”  “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”-1 Corinthians 15:54-55

The greatest news that mortal ear has ever heard is the news that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. It is the truth that lies at the very foundation of the Gospel. It is essential to our Christian faith. Without a belief in the resurrection there is no salvation:
“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”-Romans 10:9

In the resurrection of Jesus Christ we have the answer to the great question of the ages: “If mortals die, can they live again?” The Bible teaches that because Christ lives we also live:

“But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.”-1 Corinthians 15:20-22

Rev. Billy Graham after reflecting on this passage made this insightful statement and sums it all up nicely:

“The greatest truth that you can ever hear is that Jesus Christ died but rose again, and that you, too, will die but can rise again into newness of life.”

Pastor Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church

Destroying the sting of death (Pt.1)

(Part 1 of 2)

 “If a man dies, shall he live again?-Job 14:14

 The book of Job is considered one of the oldest books of the Bible and in it Job poses a question that has occupied the heart and mind of mankind sing the Garden of Eden-“If a man dies, shall he live again?” According to Romans 5:12:

 “Therefore, just as though one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.”

 Death entered the world through sin! Because of it’s intimate association with sin, death became characterized with dread, separation, grief, fear, despair and loss. King David describes it like this in Psalm 55:4-5:

 “My heart pounds in my chest. The terror of death assaults me. Fear and trembling overwhelm me, and I can’t stop shaking.”

 As a minister, of course, I’ve performed and attended my fair share of funerals. My observation from nearly 20 years of ministry is that death always carries with it an element of fear. Fear of the known and the unknown. The craziest thing about death is, should the lord tarry, we are all going to experience it:

 “And it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement.”-Hebrews 9:27

 However, nobody wants to talk about it. Probably the broadest way to define death is this: It is the end of life. It isn’t medical or scientific, but it is the way that humanity views death. It is this concept of death that I believe, Jesus came to address. I say this because of how the Word of God defines Jesus:

 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”-John 11:25-26

 Multiple passages describe Jesus as Life and giving life: John 1:1-4, John 6:35, John 10:10, and John 14:6

Jesus came to dismiss the idea that life ends with death! He came to break the fear of death off of people’s lives and although death would still be a reality, the fear of death would be destroyed. He did this through His own resurrection:

“But has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”-2 Timothy 1:10

Essentially, He had to die to defeat death!


Pastor Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church
Owensville, IN.

Breaking through the veil of religion (Pt.2)

(Part 2 of 2)

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the important aspects of the law-justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.”-Matthew 23:23 (NLT)

Time and time again, Jesus was butting heads with the religious elite of His day because they had become consumed with maintaining the letter of the law and had completely missed the spirit of the law. They had neglected what Jesus had called the weightier matters of faith, justice and mercy. 

Their concept of the law was so narrowly focused on performance that they often missed the greater work that Jesus was doing among them. How many times did the Pharisees and teachers of the law question and complain each time that Jesus would heal someone on the Sabbath. How often did his have to criticize the religious leaders for worrying too much about appearances rather than focusing on their own hearts:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”-Matthew 23:27-28

According to John 5:39-40, they diligently searched the Scriptures to find eternal life, but remained unwilling to put their faith in the One the Scriptures testified about:

“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”

They were convinced they could attain right standing with God by keeping the law, although the Apostle Paul declared in Galatians 2:16:

“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.”

What does the veil being torn mean for us? The tearing of the veil at the moment of Jesus’ death symbolized that His sacrifice, the shedding of His own blood, was a sufficient atonement for sins. The barrier of sin between God and man had been removed. God was establishing a new covenant (Hebrews 8:13).  It signified that now the way into the Holy of Holies was ope for all people, for all time, both Jew and Gentile. According to Hebrews 10:19-20, Christ became the veil by which all people would come into the presence of God: 

 “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh.”

Christ flesh was torn for us so that we might have access to the Father; but just as the High Priest could only enter the Holy of Holies through the veil, we too can only enter the presence of God through Jesus Christ (John 14:6). An excerpt from a recent commentary that I read sums it up perfectly:

“The veil in the temple was a constant reminder that sin renders humanity unfit for the presence of God. The fact that the sin offering was offered annually and countless other sacrifices repeated daily showed graphically that sin could not truly be atoned for or erased by mere animal sacrifices. Jesus Christ, through His death, has removed the barriers between God and man, and now we may approach Him with confidence and boldness (Hebrews 4:13-16)

Jesus didn’t die on the cross so you could live the rest of your life trying to do enough things right to make heaven; He died so that the veil of sin that separated us would be removed so that we could come to Him. 

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church