I was walking this morning and praying and this thought came to my spirit. ” What does victory look like,” and the Lord spoke into my heart. Victory for the Christian almost always comes against a backdrop of darkness. Some battle against the flesh, some taking up our cross, some trial or tribulation. These circumstances, these events bring to the fore a confrontation. If we look at the biggest picture of all it is darkness against light. By the very nature of who you are in Christ you are walking in confrontation. We know that the Scriptures tell us that "all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”(2 Tim:3:12)
Interesting is it not that even the desire to live a Godly life will bring about immediate confrontation. Maybe you have noticed this in your own life? And why is this? Because it is fundamentally at its root a spiritual battle that we face.Living Godly lives is a disaster for Satan because of the witness that Godly lives are to the world. I want you to know that when I use the phrase Godly I mean victorious overcoming lives. In the verses that precede verse 12 we see that victorious living is in juxtaposition to people who have a form of godliness but who walk without victorious power. They are ever learning but they never come to the knowledge of the truth. The Godly man is the victorious man. He walks in the power of the Spirit and He has knowledge of the truth. Knowledge in the true sense of that word. Not head knowledge but an intimate knowledge of the Truth.
And so what does victory look like? Well it looks like Gethsemane. It looks like Calvary. It looks like an empty tomb and it looks like an ascension up into heaven where the Lord finds His place at the right hand of the Father. This is what victory looks like and this is the process that all of us who would desire to live a Godly victorious life find ourselves in. There is no other way. You will be confronted if you desire to live a victorious life. And it is how you react to that confrontation that will determine the kind of life that you will ultimately live for there is no other kind of life in the Kingdom that is a witness for Christ than the victorious overcoming life.
And so the first part of victory, for it is made up of parts, is surrender to the will of God no matter what circumstances you find yourself in. You must remember that the circumstances you find yourself is not the problem, nor are the people who play their roles in your circumstances. People will always act according to their nature. A key point to remember as you face the trial or the persecution or the circumstance is that this is for the glory of God. And please, do not get me wrong brothers and sisters, I am not underestimating the pain of your trial. Yet the darkness of your situation will become the black velvet backdrop for the glories of Christ in your trial. We know that jewelers set their diamonds and gold on black velvet because it highlights the shining beauty of the gold and the gems. Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, sweating great drops of blood and agonizing about the cup that He faced is our perfect example of this.
He of course desires to do the will of God yet when the time comes, when the trial arrives, He cries out to God to let this cup pass from Him. I thank the Lord that He struggled because I too have struggled as I am sure you have when faced with a dire set of circumstances. We may not have sweated great drops of blood but we perhaps have cried a river of tears? Walked the floor in the middle of sleepless nights. Knocked on the doors of despair as the weight of our circumstances threatened to crush us. Yet Jesus bows the knee and surrenders and cries out ” Not my will but thine be done.” This is our Gethsemane and part one of our victory, surrender.
Next comes the road to Calvary and we see Jesus taken and unjustly tried. Lied against and beaten and the hairs pulled out of His beard. He is deserted by all of His friends and not only deserted but denied. All of this is incredibly painful and agonizing but is part of the process of victory and has to be overcome. Perhaps you have been lied about, falsely accused, found and pronounced guilty for things and crimes you did not commit. Should you defend yourself? Should you fight back and pay back in kind? Does not the flesh cry out for this? What did Jesus do? He was dumb before His accusers. He allowed them to abuse Him and gave no defense. He did not deny who He was but He gave no defense. Next He was given over to the world, His own had condemned and rejected Him.
The world would treat Him even worse. He was tortured and scourged to within an inch of His life and thorns were rammed into His head, all the while as He was mocked and jeered. He was then dragged through the streets naked and hung on a cross for all to see. Now what did Jesus think of the people who had treated Him so vilely? He cries out ” Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” This is the victory of Calvary. This is the breaking of the power of evil. For He rendered not evil for evil but He broke the chains that had forever bound all mankind. He tore down the gates of brass and broke in two the bars of iron that had held humanity captive. He dealt with sin by forgiving sin. This is the major part of victory in our own lives.
Next came the empty tomb. What does the empty tomb mean? It is testimony of the resurrected Christ. That which was designed to kill Him had failed. You see there must be life after death otherwise there would have been no victory. What does life after death look like to you brothers and sisters? We know that you were dead but you were brought to life again. Does the world see you alive? Is their life in you that proves your victory? Is your tomb indeed empty? Does your life testify to overcoming power? Have you walked through your Gethsemane? Have you taken up your cross? These are no mere words. This is the vital reality of a victorious life. Have you forgiven those who have tormented you?
This is life and the empty tomb proves that no grave could hold you down. Yes you died, but you rose again in Christ. Yes you die daily but the life of Christ in you, that super abundant life that outshines the old man, is the very proof of your victory in Jesus. And as we are victorious in Christ Jesus then we rule and reign with Him. Temptations lose their power as we draw near to to Him. In His presence, where He is, there is fullness of joy. Where there is fullness of joy there is supernatural strength to go on in Him for the joy of the Lord is out strength.
Now, if the greatest spiritual victory has Calvary as its backdrop, then what kind of backdrop will there be to the greatest victory the Church will ever know? If when Christ came it ended with Calvary, what will be the Churches end prior to His return? If Calvary broke the power of hell and death and sin and the grave what will finish it of? That same hell that believed that it could overcome the Christ by means of killing the Son of God, still believes that it can over come His children by wiping them out. This will be the end time strategy of the enemy. But can I tell you something Church, it’s all black velvet. It will merely serve as a backdrop to the greatest event the world will ever know, the return of Christ.
This will be the final victorious battle of the ages. This will be the victory of victories, the culmination of the plan of God. Now if we happen to be that generation that is alive just prior to Jesus returning then how can anyone believe this to be some kind of doom and gloom message? This is a message of victory. The same Spirit that filled the breast of Jesus fills ours. If after all He went through he can cry out ” Forgive them Father for they know not what they do,” then we too for that same Spirit burns in us and Christ resides in us. Hell breaking love, hell shaking love. This is victory, the victory that disarms Satan. Hate and fear fuels every single defeat for the saint. Hate and fear is the cycle of death that has bound humanity for all of its existence. Love and faith has set us free and it freed us for more than just living out our own lives. It has freed us to be part and parcel of the overcoming victory of Christ.
What motivates you brothers and sisters? Is it love and faith? If it is and it is your desire to live a victorious life, a Godly life then you will face confrontation. In your personal life for sure but also in your place of work, your place of worship, your town, your city, your nation and eventually all the nations of the earth will confront you. The world will confront you. Do not let hatred and fear rob you of your crown and lead you down a carnal path. Let love and faith have its way with you and you will walk in victory no matter what you face. Will you suffer loss? Yes indeed. Will you be rejected by men? Yes indeed. Will you be abandoned by ones that you love? Yes indeed.
Count the cost brothers and sisters for love and faith demands it all. The world will demand it all but you cannot give your all to two different entities. Ultimately it is a free will choice to walk in victory. I want to encourage you today brothers and sisters. Choose to love and choose to live in faith. Let the world hate, let the world fear, let the world run to and fro as it staggers from the shaking but you? You stand upon the solid ground of Jesus Christ and Him crucified and raised again to glory and you too will be raised again to eternal glory in that day. God bless you saints. Stand fast for our Lord is coming.