Victory Through Christ ( 1)
“Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain,” ( 1 Corinthians 15: 57- 58 NKJV).
IN the Old Testament, victory is depicted as something that comes from the Lord, and it is the Lord Who carries on the fight. The Lord will go with the Israelites in their conquest of Canaan. He will fight against their enemies, and he will give them the victory ( Deuteronomy 9: 3; 20: 4).
In the New Testament the Greek word, “nikos” occurs only five times and means to be victorious, to conquer, to triumph; the related noun nikē means victory. In John's theology, Christ has already conquered the forces of evil ( John 16: 33; Rev. 5: 5).
Victory can be defined as overcoming opponents or difficult problems. The Bible states that we ha ve already been given the victor y: “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith,” ( 1 John 5: 4, NIV).
Two New Testament texts illustrate our victor y through Jesus Christ. First, is John
19: 30 where Jesus said: “It is finished.” By this, He meant that He had fulfilled all the prophecies concerning His death. He also meant that the penalty for our sins has been fully paid on the cross ( Isaiah 53: 4- 6). Furthermore, He meant that we now have forgiveness of sins through His blood.
The second text that illustrates our victor y is Revelation 5: 5, which says that Jesus has prevailed to open the scroll and lose the seals. These texts explain what our victory in Christ means.
In the Old Testament, David’s defeat of Goliath il lustrates what victory means. It was a battle of contrasts. David was younger than Goliath in age. Goliath was a war veteran, while David was a novice. Goliath was well armed, while David only had a sling and five pebbles; Goliath had conventio nal weapons of war, but David had improvised weapons of war . Despite these advantages, David conquered Goliath.
Our victory is God- won and God- given and therefore, should be Spirit- executed. Even before the battle starts we already have the victory. Before Israel went to war God had already given her victory over her enemies ( Judges 1: 1- 2; Joshua 6: 1- 2; Dt. 1: 6- 8, 29- 32; 1 Samuel 30: 7- 8). In God’s sight, our victory is a foregone conclusion. But we must fight to establish and appropriate it. God will not do for you what you are created to do for yourself.
Victor y is the result of pushing through, by faith, all that would keep me from walking in God’s will. God gives us the victory through our faith in Christ. Our faith and inspiration must be in God and this faith will overcome the obstacles and bring us victor y. Now let us elucidate the scope of our victory in Jesus. We have victory over Satan ( Rev. 12: 12; Col. 2: 14- 1 God gave victory to David over his enemies ( Psalms 18: 16- 24). We have victor y over the weapons of the enemy ( Isaiah 54: 17; 2 Cor. 10: 3- 5). We have victory over the flesh ( Romans 8: 1- 3). We have victor y over the world ( John 16: 33). We have victoria over sin ( Romans 6: 514). We have victory over fear ( 2 Tim. 1: 7; John 14: 27; Matthew 10: 28- 31; Hebrews 2: 14- 15; Isaiah 8: 11- 14). We have victory over poverty ( 2 Cor. 8: 9; 1 John 3: 2).