When Jesus died on the Cross of Calvary, it was done openly in view of the whole universe. After “…having spoiled principalities and powers [evil angels and their domain], He made a shew of them openly [in front of all the multitude of heaven and hell], triumphing over them…” (Colossians 2:15). The powers of darkness were overcome by Him alone at the Cross. All who believe in Him are now able to walk in power and continual victory themselves, due to the victory He won there.
The power of the Cross is what we need to understand. Christ didn’t die as a martyr on the Cross—this was His extreme triumph! Our refuge therefore is God, without a doubt, and we can be confidently convinced that He will help us. He’ll do for us what no other power is able to do. If we have God on our side, who among us needs to be afraid?
We can only be victorious over sin, death and the grave through the Lord Jesus. He conquered the grave by rising out of it Himself, and by living forevermore. Therefore, victory has already become ours, since Christ alone already won the victory for us!
“Through Thee will we push down our enemies: through Thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us” (Psalm 44:5). Christ finished and put an end to our enemies when He got the victory over them by sacrificing Himself. And we can only be victorious over sin, death and the grave through the Lord Jesus. He conquered the grave by rising out of it Himself, and by living forevermore. Therefore, victory has already become ours, since Christ alone already won the victory for us! When the last day arrives, He’ll make the grave give up its dead, and then His victory concerning His people will be exceedingly obvious.
At the Cross, Christ also gained a victory over the law. This was confirmed when He was resurrected from the dead. And, since He won the victory, and we’re believers in Him, we have become more than conquerors—in Him! Only through the Lord can this victory be ours, and it can only come by placing our faith in Christ and what He did on the Cross.
We’ve been made to share in all our Leader’s victories, but not because we deserve it. Victory for believers is a gift from God the Father, who gave us His Son, along with everything that belongs to Him. This was God’s plan that He carried out in giving us His Son; and He presents it to us personally at our death. “Thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).
We have a real enemy trying to steal our faith at every opportunity. The Devil’s primary purpose is to cause us to lose our faith, which will cause us to lose the battle.
And “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ…” (2 Corinthians 2:14). To triumph not only indicates victory. It’s also an open, public demonstration of its purpose and its power. And how is it possible for us to triumph? Only by manifesting faith continually in what Christ did for us on the Cross. Then the Holy Spirit has freedom of action to operate in our lives and bring us victory. But the faith we used in the past isn’t enough for today’s battles. We have a real enemy trying to steal our faith at every opportunity. The Devil’s primary purpose is to cause us to lose our faith, which will cause us to lose the battle.
We are in a battle. We were recruited into God’s army when we were saved. He wants us to be His soldiers. The battle is now on; therefore, the time has come to put on our battle fatigues. We need to have God with us because this battle is hot, with the devil constantly turning up the heat! But we also need to recognize that the battle we face isn’t really our battle, but God’s.
We can’t toy with the enemy—we must conquer him! And the one thing that will turn the devil away is God’s Word. The only offensive weapon we have to fight with is the “sword of the Spirit.” Since we’re outnumbered and outmatched to fight him in our own power, let’s quit trying to fight every battle ourself and allow God to do our fighting. He never asked us to fight the enemy anyway; He only asks us to just believe.
It’s in His name and His strength that we’ll be victorious over every enemy. Yet how many people fail to see the potential here—all they notice is the enemy!
Christ will appear soon at the head of His armies, with a sharp sword emerging from His mouth and wearing a garment dipped in blood. Then the people under Him will be inspired to fight valiantly. It’s in His name and His strength that we’ll be victorious over every enemy. Yet how many people fail to see the potential here—all they notice is the enemy! In fact, how many people compare themselves to the enemy! We need to compare our enemy to our God instead!
We can’t put our trust in our own power—we have to come in the armor of the Lord. Then it won’t be us that the devil sees—it will be Christ. The time has come to put on the whole armor of God, not try to carefully select what we want. And let’s make sure that we never remove that armor until we’re victorious!
It’s not because we’ll do valiantly, or tread down the enemies. The One by whom we will do valiantly will do it for us!
All our victories come from God, and therefore all credit for victory belongs to Him alone. The Israelites chalked up many victories, but not due to any virtue or power of their own. Their victories were all achieved by the favor and grace of the Lord. Those willing to submit to King Jesus will share in His glories. But those who are against Him will be put beneath His feet. Very soon the end of all the enemies of Christ and His people will come, and then we’ll all spend an eternity together with Him! But it’s not because we’ll do valiantly, or tread down the enemies. The One by whom we will do valiantly will do it for us! Praise be to our Almighty King—we are more than conquerors in Him!
[Image credits: Featured image (when applicable) a composite image of models and a cross by Evgeni Tcherkasski/pixabay and Randy Fath/unsplash respectively; Marcin Wlodarczyk/unsplash; Foundry/pixabay; Flickr photo by arkland_swe shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-SA) license; WikiImages/pixabay]
