Chris Bruce: Christ Conquers Evil

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Chris Bruce: Christ Conquers Evil (Colossians 2:15)

Chris Bruce, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Lexington, opened with reference to Russia’s war against Ukraine. He described Russian President Vladimir Putin as one in a long line of tyrants in history. Such tyrants and others who toss aside or use human beings for their own ends engage in evil, Bruce said.

How can a good, righteous, loving, all-powerful, all-knowing and sovereign God allow such evil to run rampant—from our perspective—in the world, Bruce asked. Christ triumphed over evil at and through the cross, he asserted, though this looked to the earthly rulers like they won.

In Paul’s words, Christ “disarmed the rulers and authorities,” both human and spiritual. Bruce described these powers as “power-hungry, greed-seeking, ego-driven.”

“Make no mistake,” Bruce said, “any time we see the rich and the powerful oppressing the poor and the needy, any time we see the strong abusing the weak, all in the name of greed and pride and lust and control, we are seeing the fruit of evil, we are seeing demonic influence.”

Christ’s victory at the cross, sealed through his resurrection, empowers his people today to withstand evil. Bruce details two threats Christians withstand in Christ.

This sermon was delivered for Sunday, March 20, 2022, at First Baptist Church in Lexington. It was part of a six-week Lenten series titled “At the Cross.”

A sermon script is available here.