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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
Yes, I admit I like racing; I watch grown men turn left at breakneck speed lap, after lap, after lap. Maybe its my alter ego that compels me to lose myself in such things. Many a race, in fact the most exciting races, has been won in a photo-finish. In the 1959 Daytona 500, it took NASCAR officials three days to confirm that Lee Petty had edged out second place finisher Johnny Beauchamp by a scant two feet! For some old-time race fans, that “victory” is still disputed!”
The victory of which Paul wrote to close out Romans 8, is a victory of a very different sort. It is different not only in its significance (totally mundane and fleeting vs. heavenly and eternal), it is also different in the decisive way in which the battle was won. Hear his words: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, 'For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.' Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” (Romans 8.35-37; emphasis mine, jb).
Literally, Paul was affirming that the battle had been won, and won in a decisive manner. This was no photo finish; it was a smashing and humiliating defeat for the enemies of truth. Extending the effects of that victory, “...we are more than conquerors.” Paul used a compound word to describe the believers status as a winner in this battle; he used one word which simply means over, above, or abundantly. The second of the two words is the one which speaks of victory. We will take a few moments to look at a couple of usages of this second word in the New Testament.
In what we might see as one of Jesus' darkest hours, He stated this: “Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you [the apostles] will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16.32-33). The word overcome in this text is the same word as the second one in Paul's compound word of Romans 8.37. According to Jesus' own words, He had overcome (been victorious over, conquered) the world. Further to this victory, He counseled His vacillating followers, “Be of good cheer.” The victory would not be confined to His own triumph and glorification; its power and effects would be shared among all believers!
An aging John (the disciple whom Jesus loved but nonetheless a man tainted by sin) would later write, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world——our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5.4-5). Notice the fact that John had personalized the victory of Jesus and extended it to every believer; the victory was not a victory of one Man (though it was won by One Man); rather, it was a victory for all men! However, lest someone miss the point, the victory was squarely and eternally rooted in our faith that Jesus is the Son of God! Apart from that fact and confidence in that fact, the victory does not exist. It is in Christ and only in Christ that the victory can be won!
We have been beggars, but we are beggars no more. We have been the underdog, but such is no longer the case. We have been under the eternal condemnation of sin, but Jesus Christ bore that burden for us, carried His cross on our behalf, and secured the greatest victory that can ever be won. We are, to God's eternal praise and glory, more than conquerors!
Questions:
1. When did the battle start, the one which Jesus won so decisively?
2. Why would anyone choose to fight the battle for himself, the battle that Jesus already gained?
3. If faith is the victory that overcomes the world, why is the world still at odds with God and His saints?
4. How can I claim a part of the victory that Jesus secured? (Hint: Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to the cross I cling; Naked, come to Thee for dress; Helpless look to Thee for grace; Foul, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Savior, or I die)
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