We are the Victors

I am a competitive person. If it’s a game I know that I can’t win, I don’t want to play. I want to feel like I at least have a chance at winning before I take a seat at the table. I don’t know many people who enjoy losing; although I do know some who handle it better than others. 

This battle that we are in, this fight that Satan has started, we already know that we are the victors. Our Savior has already taken on death and defeated it when He willingly went to the cross. Have you ever sat and thought about the grisly path to the cross? With each snap of the whip, with each barb, with each piercing jab, Jesus could have walked away. He could have decided that we were not worth the excruciating pain, the humiliation, or the rejection. He could have chosen to let us die in our sins. But He didn’t. He took the pain that should have been ours. He willingly walked each step to the place where He would be nailed to a cross. My brain can’t fathom the physical torture that He faced. Willingly. Because of His sacrifice, we already know that we are the victors. 

I will say it over and over again. This world is not my home. We live in a fallen world. We have to face the trials of this life, but this is not our home. We should feel uncomfortable and out of place on this Earth. Our son wasn’t very old when he told his aunt, “I won’t be on this Earth long. I wasn’t meant for Earth. I am meant for Heaven.” What prompted him to say that? I have no idea. By this time, we knew that he had a defect on his heart. The doctors had been following it for years, and didn’t have much to tell us. We had no reason to suspect that he would not live a long and fruitful life. Maybe they had talked in Bible class about how quickly life happens on Earth. Whatever the reason, his words are accurate. None of us will be on this Earth long, especially not compared to the amount of time that we will spend in eternity. Nor were we meant for Earth. We were meant for Heaven. We were created to walk in the garden with our Creator in the cool of the day. We ruined that, and yet we are still guaranteed the victory. 

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Philippians 3:20-21

Not only are we the guaranteed victors, our Savior has gone ahead of us to prepare a place for us. He is eagerly waiting for us to join Him. 

My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going. John 14:2-6

Does that not bring tears of joy to your eyes? He is preparing for us in advance. He is making plans for us to join Him in a place so glorious, so magnificent, so incredible, our human brains can’t even imagine it.  After that soaks in, let’s praise Him for giving us the victory over sin and death. 

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,   1 Peter 1:3-4

How can you walk in more confidence and more faith today knowing that you have already won? Jesus has already fought for your soul and has beaten death. As we keep our eyes on the cross today, let’s praise Him for making us victors.