Victory Already!
"But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:57 NIV)
Today we celebrate Palm Sunday, the day on which Jesus triumphantly rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. His parade was actually very similar to the sort of parades held by kings and other rulers after conquering their enemies in battle: they would parade into a city, with people singing their praises and waving palm and garland branches, and sometimes would be showered with flowers and branches, similar to the tickertape parades of modern times. What is unusual about this particular parade, however, is that, although it is a victory parade, the victory has not yet been won. And yet, at the same time, it already has.
Jesus has already defeated Satan, sin, and death. He has already defeated His enemies. He already told His disciples some time before He was going to be crucified, but then He was going to rise again after three days. His victory was already guaranteed, and He knew it. However, for that victory to take place, He was going to have to go through a period of tremendous suffering - which He also knew, and which He willingly accepted, for us. He knew that in order to save us from sin, He was going to have to sacrifice Himself, take our sin on Himself, so it could be washed away by His blood. He knew that in order to defeat Satan, He was going to have to succumb to death, but then rise again to live immortal, to show Satan who ultimately has the victory. He was going to have to defeat death by fully dying Himself, but then cheating eternal death by coming back to life. And yet, He knew what the ultimate victory was going to be - He was going to be victorious. That is why He willingly faced all His sufferings.
Although we may be going through a period of suffering right now, especially with the pandemic and its effects, we already know what the final outcome is going to be: victory. God is eventually going to bring an end to this pandemic. We are struggling in many other ways. But we cannot succumb to despair, because we are not defeated. Jesus has already defeated everything which would come against us - we simply have to wait patiently for Him to reveal His victory. Since Jesus already won victory over the greatest enemy of all - death - we know, and believe, that no enemy, nothing that can come against us, is too powerful for Him to defeat. And yet, at the same time, we have to go through this period of struggle in order to experience God's victory. Jesus has already won victory for us. We simply have to wait for it. We simply have to trust that God is working out His victory, perhaps in ways more wonderful than we could possibly imagine. God has already given us the victory - it will come, because it already has come, in the victory of Jesus!
Dear Jesus, thank you for winning the victory for me, over sin and death, and everything else. In your Name, Amen.
"But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:57 NIV)
Today we celebrate Palm Sunday, the day on which Jesus triumphantly rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. His parade was actually very similar to the sort of parades held by kings and other rulers after conquering their enemies in battle: they would parade into a city, with people singing their praises and waving palm and garland branches, and sometimes would be showered with flowers and branches, similar to the tickertape parades of modern times. What is unusual about this particular parade, however, is that, although it is a victory parade, the victory has not yet been won. And yet, at the same time, it already has.
Jesus has already defeated Satan, sin, and death. He has already defeated His enemies. He already told His disciples some time before He was going to be crucified, but then He was going to rise again after three days. His victory was already guaranteed, and He knew it. However, for that victory to take place, He was going to have to go through a period of tremendous suffering - which He also knew, and which He willingly accepted, for us. He knew that in order to save us from sin, He was going to have to sacrifice Himself, take our sin on Himself, so it could be washed away by His blood. He knew that in order to defeat Satan, He was going to have to succumb to death, but then rise again to live immortal, to show Satan who ultimately has the victory. He was going to have to defeat death by fully dying Himself, but then cheating eternal death by coming back to life. And yet, He knew what the ultimate victory was going to be - He was going to be victorious. That is why He willingly faced all His sufferings.
Although we may be going through a period of suffering right now, especially with the pandemic and its effects, we already know what the final outcome is going to be: victory. God is eventually going to bring an end to this pandemic. We are struggling in many other ways. But we cannot succumb to despair, because we are not defeated. Jesus has already defeated everything which would come against us - we simply have to wait patiently for Him to reveal His victory. Since Jesus already won victory over the greatest enemy of all - death - we know, and believe, that no enemy, nothing that can come against us, is too powerful for Him to defeat. And yet, at the same time, we have to go through this period of struggle in order to experience God's victory. Jesus has already won victory for us. We simply have to wait for it. We simply have to trust that God is working out His victory, perhaps in ways more wonderful than we could possibly imagine. God has already given us the victory - it will come, because it already has come, in the victory of Jesus!
Dear Jesus, thank you for winning the victory for me, over sin and death, and everything else. In your Name, Amen.
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