#3 Victory
Since the very beginning, mankind’s ultimate nemesis has been death. A foe that could not be overthrown. Like an oncoming truck somewhere down the highway of your life, you don’t know when, but you know it will hit you hard. For some people, death casts a huge shadow over their present lives. I know grandparents who won’t visit their grandkids because they are scared of the roads that lead them there. Death holds them hostage, even years out from a visit.
But Jesus overthrows death. 1 Cor 15:
55“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?” 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
#4 Freedom
Mankind has longed for freedom from the beginning. The modern concept of freedom is unlimited options, and unlimited opportunity to pursue them. But the result is chaos. Worse, the Bible tells us the result is slavery. Everyone is hardwired for worship – to ascribe ultimate worth to someone or something, and spend our energies in the pursuit and exhaltation of that thing. The problem is, to worship anything other than the living God is to bind yourself to something that won’t deliver what you hope for, but will keep you pouring your energy in anyway.
But Christ came to set us free from all that. Galations 5:1:
1It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
In Anticipation 