Victory is Ours!

"Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love?

Does it mean he no longer loves us

if we have trouble or calamity,

or are persecuted, 

or hungry,

or destitute,

or in danger,

or threatened with death?

No, despite all these things, 

overwhelming victory is ours through Christ,

who loved us."

Romans 8: 35, 37 NLT

Death is all around me.  The collapse of a 20+ year marriage.  The ruin of a young person's faith in God.  The passing away of respect for elders.  The turning of a believer away from the Truth.  The loss of hope once grasped so firm.y but which now seems so feeble.  All of these deaths overwhelm me.  Thankfully, there is a reason for optimism.

Victory is already mine through the astounding plan of salvation carried out through Jesus' death on the cross.  God has already fought all these battles and won, but I am failing to claim the victory!  As Oswald Chambers said, "The Cross is the point where God and sinful man merge with a crash and the way to life is opened--but the crash is on the heart of God."  He paid the awful price, making possible what was once impossible: Living life to the full.

Through Christ's death, I can now claim victory.

Separation

As an Army wife, I know a little something about living apart from the one I love.  When my husband was on active duty, he would spend months at a time deployed to some far off, dangerous place while I stayed at home taking care of the family.  

The first time he left when our marriage was only months old, I thought I would not survive!  It was as if a part of me was ripped away and I was expected to continue living as if nothing was missing.  My heart yearned for him!  I was bleeding from the wound.

This is how it is with me and God.  I need Him.  I was made for Him. I am incomplete without Him.  As the psalmist sang, "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God." (Psalm 42:1)  


The problem is, no matter how much I want to be close to Him, I am separated from Him by a vast chasm created by my sin.  I cannot get to My Love!


God, in His infinite foresight and mercy, made a way for me to traverse the canyon of sin and get to my God.  That bridge was erected when Jesus, being God in the flesh and as such carried no sin of His own, took my transgressions upon Himself, bearing the punishment that was meant for me, the offender.  


God's just nature requires the punishment of death and separation from His holiness for my failure to perfectly adhere to His law.  But His grace was manifested in the sacrifice of His Only Son on the cross, repairing my relationship to the Father and making a way for me to live eternally.  


Through Christ's death, I can now claim victory from the separation between me and God.  

Condemnation

Disapproval comes so naturally to me as a human.  I can easily see the faults of others. In the interest of fairness, though, I must point out that I am not alone in this proclivity.  Consequently, it is not surprising that I often fall victim to the criticism of others. It is human nature for each one of us to put ourselves in the position of judge and jury.


Radio talk show host and Bible teacher Steve Brown puts it this way: "It's worth noting that Jesus didn't condemn bad people.  He condemned "stiff" people.  We condemn the bad ones and affirm the stiff ones."  I am stiff when I fail to see my own sin and only notice others' failings.


Jesus Christ set us free from condemnation of any kind, either that which is dished out or that which is received. But more importantly, He saved us from the right and just condemnation of God. The Apostle Paul teaches in Romans 8:1-3 the following: 


 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering." 


The blame I deserve for failing to perfectly adhere to God's law no longer falls upon my shoulders, resulting in my death.  Instead, I can enjoy life free from the weight of the penalty my sins deserve through faith in Jesus Christ.


Since I am so freely forgiven, how can I then turn and condemn others as wrong?  Jesus did not condemn.  If I truly accept the forgiveness He offers me for my transgressions, then I can put the sins of others into His hands as well.


Jesus said it best when He proclaimed, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."  (John 3:16-17)


Through Christ's death, I am saved and can now claim victory over condemnation of any kind.

Death

One of the most moving moments of the crucifixion was when Jesus uttered the words, "It is finished."    (John 19:30)  The terrible price had been paid.  His blood had been shed.   Our salvation from the penalty of death had been secured. 

I need not fear the death of my physical body anymore because that is not the end of my existence.  Death now becomes a transition from one reality to another;  from earth to heaven, from physical to spiritual, from momentary to eternal.  

Nineteenth Century Evangelist D.L. Moody is known to have said, "Some day you will read in the papers that D.L Moody of East Northfield is dead.  Don't you believe a word of it!  At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now; I shall have gone up higher, that is all, out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal--a body that death cannot touch, that sin cannot taint; a body fashioned like unto His glorious body." 

As one who has been saved by the grace of God that is found in Jesus Christ, I can celebrate that, "Death has been swallowed up in victory. . . The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:54, 56-57)

Through Christ's death, I can now claim victory over death!

The death of Jesus Christ secured victory over my separation from a holy God that sin requires, the condemnation that my sin deserves and I so easily dish out, and the worry of the inevitable; death.  Through faith in Jesus, I can live as a conqueror!

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can remember all that Jesus' death accomplished. 

How do I live as though I'm not forgiven?

When do I keep God at a distance even though Jesus' death made it possible for me to draw near to Him?

Why?

 “'About Jesus of Nazareth,' they replied.

'He was a prophet,

powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.  The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 

but we had hoped that he was the one

who was going to redeem Israel.

And what is more,

it is the third day since all this took place.'"

Luke 24:19-21

Have you ever thought you knew what God was doing in a certain situation only to be completely confused when things didn't go the way you had expected?

This has happened to me.  Not because I think I'm so smart as to know the mind of God.  Rather, I like to know why I am doing things.  This desire leads me to ask God, "Why?" 

It's like the time we were looking for a house with which to expand our afterschool program.  As we drove through our neighborhood one day, a house which had been on the market for at least 2 years beckoned us to come with it's door standing wide open.  We interpreted that to mean this was the house for our program!  We rejoiced and began taking steps toward purchasing, trusting that God would provide the funding.

We spent much time praying over that house, at God's direction.  We prayed for all the children whose lives would be changed under that roof.  Then we prayed for a way to purchase it.  Finally came the day when the Realtor told me she had a buyer.  I trusted that God had a plan.  The family moved in and I was confused.  Things hadn't gone the way I expected.

A few months later I met a woman up at our neighborhood pool.  After talking for a few minutes, I realized she was the one who had moved into the home we had been praying over.  She and her husband had adopted two children and were raising four in all.  I stood in awe as she told me how she invited children in for story time and how they were always looking for ways to reach kids for Jesus.  It was then that I understood and I tearfully told her that we had been praying for her for months before they moved into their home.  The house was not for us, but it was being used for God's Kingdom just as much as it would have been with our afterschool program.

Instead of asking, "Why?"  I need to ask, "Who?"  And the answer to that question is always, "God."  I need to trust God for the answers.

Suffering Woman

She had been bleeding for years. . . .twelve to be exact, and no one had ever been able to help her. In fact, all of the experts had only made the bleeding worse.   But this Jesus of Nazareth. . .He was different.  She knew deep within her heart that He could heal her, if only she could get to Him.  So many people pressed around Him, vying for His attention.  She need only touch Him. . . even the hem of His garment. . . and she would be free from this affliction.  She knew this as much as she knew that the sun would rise each day. 

The woman with the issues of blood possessed deep faith in Jesus.  She didn't care to know why she was suffering.   She didn't bother to ask, "Why me?"  Instead, she came to the One who could truly help her.  She trusted that He was the ultimate remedy.  All she needed was Jesus.

This is why Jesus said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”  (Mark 5:34)

Trusting Jesus means believing He is the only remedy needed to free me from any problem.  I need not understand, I only need faith enough to leave the details to Him.

Healing at the Pool of Bethesda

Albert Einstein is credited with saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting different results.  I'm not sure if the poor fellow who spent his days at the pool near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem could be diagnosed with insanity, but he sure did not give up! 

The man in question had been disabled for 38 years, and it can be assumed that he had spent quite a number of his days at the pool of Bethesda where angels are said to have stirred the waters from time to time, giving the first person who entered the waters instant healing.  He had lain there year after year, hoping to one day be the first to enter the freshly stirred waters, but never having anyone to help him get there fast enough.  He never gave up hope in the healing properties of this pool.

Then came Jesus, his only real hope, if only the suffering man had known.  But no matter. . . Jesus healed him despite the man's ignorance of His identity as the Son of God whose power could change a mortal's life with a mere word.   

Unlike the woman healed by touching the hem of Jesus' robe, this man did not know Jesus, and never expected healing to come from anywhere besides the pool.  He was putting all his faith in those waters and the angels that stirred them.  

How often do I go after things that I think will help me, only to be disappointed by the outcome.  Doing things my way without giving God a chance to bring healing will always frustrate me. 

Trusting Jesus means going directly to Him with my issues. My hope lies in Him and Him alone.  I am reminded in Lamentations 3:25 that, "The LORD is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him."

Disciples

  

The One they had left everything to follow had been brutally killed, was dead and buried.  All there hope was gone.  What kind of a Savior was He with all His talk of coming to save the world and all?  Dead men are able to save no one.

Or so they thought.  Little did the disciples know that God had a plan that included the crucifixion of Christ as a way to atone for their sins.  Little did they know that Jesus had risen from the dead and was speaking to them at their greatest point of despair.  Little did they know that they had already been saved.

Circumstances can blind me to the reality of God's plan.  Things seem hopeless.  Despair sets in.  But underneath it all is a tapestry of great beauty.  The disciples did not understand the purpose for all the suffering their Friend and Teacher had endured.  But there was a purpose.

Trusting Jesus means believing He has a plan, even when I don't see it.

It's easy for me to think I have things all figured out.  But trusting Jesus means leaving behind my desire to understand "why?" and instead letting Him handle the details.  It means placing all my hope in Him, and believing He has a plan in all things, no matter how hopeless it seems. 

Trusting God means never asking, "Why?"

As I begin this day, it is my prayer that I can trust Jesus with the plan that lies beneath the mess of my life.

When do I place all my trust in other things instead of leaving it all in Jesus' hands?

What am I expecting to happen that has nothing to do with God's plan and instead has everything to do with mine?