God’s enemies don’t stand a chance

Sermon for the week of Trinity 16

Deuteronomy 32:39-43 + 1 Corinthians 15:21-28

There are people—lots of them—who think they will get away with rebelling against God. They live as they please, believe what they want, worship how they choose, ignore God’s Word, ignore God’s commandments, and still think they will be fine, in the end. They believe they are in control of their own fate. Now, the level of self-delusion it takes to believe that way is truly mind-boggling. But it’s exactly the deception that the devil puts out there and wants people to believe. Because he knows that, as long as people believe that, they are his. Forever.

If we believe the God of the Bible, then no one is in control of his own fate. We are all at the mercy of God. As He said through Moses in the book of Deuteronomy: ‘Now see that I, even I, am He, And there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand. Of course, that’s really bad news for those who are not on God’s side, and, at the same time, it’s really great news for those who are on His side. His enemies don’t stand a chance against Him, while those who have been reconciled to Him through Christ, and are on His side, have nothing in the universe to fear, from anyone or anything. As David says in Psalm 27, The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

The Lord goes on through Moses to explain how this works: For I raise My hand to heaven, And say, “As I live forever, If I whet My glittering sword, And My hand takes hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to My enemies, And repay those who hate Me. I will make My arrows drunk with blood, And My sword shall devour flesh, With the blood of the slain and the captives, From the heads of the leaders of the enemy.” If God comes against you as His enemy, you will not survive the encounter. And He will come against all His enemies, sooner or later, to take vengeance on them, in divine retribution for all their lawlessness and hatred of Him. Truly all men ought to fear His anger. That’s part of the Christian Gospel, in its broader definition. It’s the simple truth of what will happen to the enemies of God. And it’s important to remember that God is the one who decides who is His enemy and who is His ally, and friend, His son or His daughter. Because lots of those same people who live in rebellion against God and His Word will claim to be God’s friends. But God has said otherwise, and it’s His determination that counts.

Of course, the other part of the Christian Gospel is where we draw our hope from. We all start out life as God’s enemies, with the force of His holy and righteous vengeance aimed at us. But the same God has come up with a way to turn His enemies into His friends before that wrath hits us. He calls us, through the Gospel, to repent of our natural enmity toward Him, and to take shelter behind His beloved Son, who put Himself in the way of God’s oncoming wrath, and bore the brunt of His wrath and punishment so that we might be kept safe as we move behind Him. Those who move safely behind Him are now said to be reconciled with God and will not be devoured with the enemies of God, but are counted among His friends, and among His children.

Who is invited to do this, to be converted from God’s enemy to His child? Everyone. The people of Israel were invited to it before Christ came, so that they would be counted as the people of God who were looking forward to their promised Messiah. And now, all nations and all people are invited, as Moses himself prophesied 1500 years before Christ came. ’ “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; For He will avenge the blood of His servants, And render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for His land and His people.” “His people” are all those who believe in Christ, both Jews and Gentiles. Christ has provided atonement for us all, and all who use it, all who take shelter in it, are part of God’s holy people.

Meanwhile, God’s enemies are still out there, for now. Some of them will be converted before the end, but most who are God’s enemies now will remain His enemies. But what did the Father say to the Son? The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” This, too, is the hope of the Christian, that, one way or another, sooner or later, God will come against all His enemies. Because His enemies are also our enemies. For our part, we are not to take vengeance against them. But for God’s part? Vengeance is Mine, declares the Lord. I will repay.

And so, even now, Christ reigns. He is, even now, in the process of putting all His enemies under His feet, working out His plans for this world to rescue the remnant that can still be rescued, before He comes to finish it all on the Last Day. As you heard Paul say in the Second Lesson this evening, He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For “He has put all things under His feet.”

As we heard on Sunday, Christ is the obstacle of death, and death stands no chance against Him. Death is His enemy. And, soon, that enemy will be destroyed along with all the rest of God’s enemies. Soon, when this dying world reaches its last day and breathes its last breath, then, as John describes it in the book of Revelation, Death and Hades will be cast into the burning lake of fire, together with the devil, together with the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars. But those who have found reconciliation with God and the forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ Jesus will finally begin a life without any enemies to disturb us. Hold on to that hope! Hold on to the One who has defeated death for Himself—Christ the firstfruits—and will soon defeat it, permanently, for us who are found taking refuge in Him. Amen.