A New Day

By: Pastor Johnie Akers     

  Ephesians 4:9, “Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?” His company was attacked by six enemy tanks and waves of infantry. After ordering his men to withdraw to safety, he stayed behind to direct artillery upon enemy positions. Climbing aboard a burning tank, he employed its 50-caliber machine gun against the oncoming Germans. Although exposed to hostile fire from three directions, he continued to fight, killing dozens of enemy soldiers and thwarting their attack. Germans attempting to eliminate him got as close as 10 yards, only to be repelled by his fire. Upon being wounded in the leg, he continued the fight until his ammunition was exhausted. His Medal of Honor citation included these words: “[His] indomitable courage and his refusal to give an inch of ground saved his company from possible encirclement and destruction and enabled it to hold the woods which had been the enemy's objective.” Our hero’s name? Audie Murphy, who would become one of World War II’s most decorated soldiers. His wartime experience was portrayed in his book To Hell and Back, which was later made into a movie, in which he played himself. Of Christ, the Apostle’s Creed states, “He descended into hell.” That is, after His death on the cross, He descended into the regions of the underworld, defeated Satan on his own territory, and on the third day, rose again from the dead, victorious over death, hell and the grave. But friend, not only did Jesus obtain victory over that hell, but the wondrous truth is that Christ is victorious over every other hell that desires to enslave men and women. Ask the single, teen mother, who has been outcast by her family what hell is? Ask the woman who lives in an abusive relationship, or the meth addict whose body screams for one more hit, or the man whose thirst for alcohol far outweighs his will to say, “No”—ask all of them what hell is; they know. Not only has Jesus Christ been to the hell of the underworld and returned victorious, but whatever hell has you enslaved, He’s been there and opened up a way for your deliverance. He literally has been to “hell and back” so you and I can be forever delivered not only from the hell to come, but from every hell that would presently try to enslave us; forever granting us true freedom with each new day.