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0:20 Well, howdy, gentlemen, it's an honor to be with you here this week. 0:23 Our times together are going to build on each other as they move also from more theological to more practical. 0:30 But let me say I love the title of this, The Daily Blade, because spirituality can often feel like a struggle, like a fight. 0:38 I don't know if you've experienced that where you go, man, trying to be the kind of man I want to be feels like a fight. 0:44 And I'm here to tell you, it feels like that because it is. 0:48 As you read the scripture, spirituality is played out in the context of adversity, that it feels like a war because it is one. 0:56 And yet it's a war in which our king has won the decisive victory. 1:00 So before we figure out how to fight against our sin or fight to be the kind of men we're meant to be, we first need to understand that we've been fought for. 1:09 And 1 John 3.8 says this: the Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 1:17 I remember a couple years ago, I had a buddy who's a Navy SEAL show me a video from one of their training schools, Halo School. 1:23 Halo's an acronym, stands for high altitude, low opening. 1:27 It's a parachuting school. 1:28 And we were all laughing at the beginning of the video because these guys are wearing these light blue outfits with big handlebars on them so the instructors can move them in the air. 1:37 But with each successive jump, they learned some new skill. 1:40 And by the end of the video, their final jump, I noticed none of us were laughing anymore because we watched these men load up onto the plane in dark colors, jungle greens and blacks, with about 50 pounds of gear strapped to them, including weapons. 1:54 And when it came time to leap out of the plane, they did it without hesitation. 1:58 And I'll never forget looking at that screen and watching this warrior descend in the night sky and realizing, you know, these aren't buddies taking a parachute in class for fun. 2:07 These are warriors being sent on a mission. 2:09 High altitude so the enemy can't hear the plane. 2:12 Low opening so there's minimal time as an open target. 2:15 And the reason they're descending to the earth is to rescue those who are in jeopardy and to wreak havoc upon those who oppress men. 2:23 And I remember looking at that and thinking, that is Christmas. 2:28 That's what the Bible says about what Jesus came to do. 2:31 The Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil. 2:35 Jesus came to destroy something. 2:37 And some of you may go, wait a minute, no, I thought he came to save or to bring peace or to heal. 2:42 But if you think about it, to save implies that you were held captive. 2:46 To bring peace means you were in a situation where you had no peace. 2:50 To heal means he had to cut something out. 2:54 And so our spirituality plays out in the context of adversity, but we have a king who went to war for us. 3:00 I mean, you see it in Genesis, our first parents with the stain of their sin on them. 3:05 God said, I'm sending the seed of the woman to crush the serpent's head. 3:09 He's going to crush the one who deceived you. 3:11 And so when Jesus arrived, it was a landed invasion. 3:14 I mean, read through the Gospels. 3:16 You see, as soon as Jesus is born, Herod wipes out every kid under two, trying to eliminate the Messiah. 3:22 When Jesus was baptized and the Father said, This is my son, the very next thing that happened was Satan tried to tempt him to derail him from his mission. 3:30 When Jesus told his disciples, I'm going to Jerusalem to go to the cross, Peter said, Oh no, you're not. 3:37 And Jesus looked past him and said, Get behind me, Satan, that he saw Satan's trying to keep me from my purposes. 3:44 One of my favorite moments in Jesus' life, as he was casting out demons, one group of demons said to him, Have you come to torment us before the appointed time? 3:54 It's like they knew a whipping was coming. 3:55 They just thought he came early. 3:57 But Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, set his face like stone towards that city. 4:02 And when he arrived there, he liberated us not by perpetrating violence, but by taking it upon himself. 4:08 Hebrews 2 14 says, Since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself partook of the same, so that through his death he might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. 4:26 The wages of sin is death. 4:28 Jesus never sinned, so he didn't deserve to die. 4:30 So when he died, he took on your sin and mine. 4:33 The scriptures say he who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be right with God. 4:39 That Jesus went to war against sin and death on our behalf to set us free. 4:44 That's what Colossians 1 says, that he delivered us out of the domain of darkness, transferring us into the kingdom of the beloved Son. 4:51 Paul told the Colossians that the one weapon Satan has that is sufficient to damn you is your unforgiven sin. 5:00 But when that sin was nailed to the cross, it says Jesus disarmed the powers. 5:05 He knocked the sword of your condemnation out of the devil's hand. 5:09 And so Jesus' arrival was a landed invasion and a rescue operation, transferring you out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the beloved Son. 5:18 So before we fight our sin, we need to know that we've been fought for, because here's the reality the greatest fighters are those who know they've been fought for. 5:26 You see this in kids, the most courageous and curious kids are those who know their parents got their back. 5:32 Stephen Pressfield wrote a historical fiction novel about the Spartans, and in it the Spartans' bravery was attributed to the fact that their king would always go into battle first. 5:41 And when they watched their king fight for them, they had the courage to fight for him. 5:47 You see this in the Old Testament, when Goliath and the Philistines attacked the Israelites, they all cowered in fear. 5:53 But when David stepped forward and killed Goliath, the one they were scared of, the Israelites shouted the war cry and drove the Philistines out of their land. 6:01 And I'm telling you, friend, when you understand that the Son of David, Jesus Christ, fought sin and the devil and hell for you, when you understand that my king fought for me like that, that will give you the courage to shout the war cry and to drive the little Philistines of fear and lust and pride out of your own life. 6:20 And so Jesus' arrival is a landed invasion, a rescue operation, and then it's an ongoing mission. 6:26 We join our king and all that he is here to accomplish. 6:30 But if you've never put your faith in Jesus, friends, that's where it starts. 6:33 That I move from death to life by faith in him, transferred out of the dark into the kingdom of the beloved son, freed to fight alongside of him. 6:41 And then we rally to the king's banner. 6:43 And if you've put your faith in Jesus, let me encourage you now, friend, you say thank you to the King who gave all to set you free. 6:50 He has struggled on our behalf, and now we have the freedom to struggle well.