The Super Bowl to End All Super Bowls

Hebrews 9:24-28

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%209%3A24-28&version=NIV;NLT

  

Imagine a world where there was a Super Bowl to end all Super Bowls.

Where Tom Brady and the Patriots would never need to snap another ball; run another down; score another last minute touchdown. Where players wouldn’t need to prove themselves year in and year out.

They wouldn’t need to make any more sacrifices of blood, sweat and tears because the “once for all time” Super Bowl had been played.

 

With the Old Covenant, the High Priest would go into the Holy of Holies once a year with the blood of goats and calves to sacrifice for the sins of the people. This sacrifice would make them ceremonially clean on the outside, but not the inside. Only God could accomplish that. Only God could offer the “Super Bowl” of sacrifices.

 

¹⁴ How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!       Hebrews 9 NIV

 

The world loves a system like the Old Covenant. In fact, the world is built on a system like that where you earn what you get; where you climb your way to the top; where you accumulate stuff as a sign of success. It appeals to our pride; our desire to control; our sense of being able to do it ourselves. In fact, this is a system where you can earn your salvation.

 

But God’s system is the exact opposite. It is based on what only He can do. Only He can provide for our salvation; only He can make it possible for us to be cleansed on the inside; only He can make the ultimate sacrifice.

 

^26b …But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice.    NLT

 

Jesus’ sacrifice is all that is needed. It is the Super Bowl to end all Super Bowls. Jesus didn’t go into a manmade sanctuary, but into heaven itself; into the very presence of the Living God so that we might do the same one day.

 

Imagine that, once for all time, being at home with the Lord.

 

 

 

Victory is Ours

Philippians 3:10-14

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians%203%3A10-14&version=NIV;NLT

 

Tom Brady is the starting quarterback for the New England Patriots. Last Sunday, the Patriots defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars making them eligible to play in the Super Bowl. It’s not so amazing that the Patriots won, but how they won.

 

At the ripe old football age of 40, and with an injured right hand (his throwing hand), Brady lead his team to victory by overcoming a double digit deficit with less than three minutes left in the game. No matter what adversity he faced, he kept his focus, and his team’s focus, on attaining their goal.

 

Paul had the same mindset for himself and for the Philippians.

 

¹⁰ I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead… ¹³ I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.      NLT

 

In football, the temptation is to lose sight of the goal; to think about the injured hand, the penalty, the fumble, the double digit deficit or the teammate out with a concussion. The reverse is also true. When you get a lead, there’s a temptation to ease up on the gas pedal; to think you’ve got the game in the bag; to coast.

 

Life is the same way. There is a temptation to either obsess on the problem to the point of being overwhelmed. Or to focus on how good things are and coast. Either way, you lose sight of the goal.

 

Paul was a fighter. Here’s what he wrote to Timothy, his son in the faith.

 

⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.    2 Timothy 4:7-8 NIV

 

How do you respond to problems and blessings? Are you a fighter? Do you keep your eyes on the goal? Victory is ours, if we only take hold of it.

 

 

Do You Make Everyone Around You Better?

Acts 3:17-26

 

Peyton Manning, at age 39, retired this past week from the National Football League. During his NFL career of 18 years, he set numerous records while winning five league MVP awards and two Super Bowl championships. Following his emotional speech, there was a huge outpouring of tributes from other players.

 

Perhaps the greatest praise of all came from Manning’s rival and friend, Tom Brady, who posted this on his Facebook page. “Congratulations Peyton, on an incredible career. You changed the game forever and made everyone around you better. It’s been an honor.”

 

In the passage today Peter is preaching to a crowd in the temple. No doubt, these are many of the same people who wanted Jesus dead. Listen to his words:

 

^25 “And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ ²⁶ When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”                        NIV

 

The initial covenant that God made with Abraham had to do with inheriting land and becoming a great nation with many descendants. But Peter was pointing to a far greater meaning. He was stating that ultimately Israel was blessed because God had given them the message of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.

 

As a result of Peter’s outspoken preaching, Acts 4 tells us that, “the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand”. You might say that Peter was blessed by God, and as a result he was a blessing to others. You could even say, that he made everyone around him better.

 

As a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, you will have opportunities to be a blessing to others. You do that by investing in people’s lives; by ministering to those who are unable to help themselves; by sharing the Gospel in word and deed.

 

I have no idea if Peyton Manning is a Christian, but he embodies God’s promise to Abraham; “You are blessed to be a blessing”. And like Manning, when you do that, “you make everyone around you better”.

 

Do you?