The Victory of Jesus Christ
What it is. What it isn't. Why it matters - especially now!
1. The story of the bible is all about the conflict between God and Satan – and God’s ultimate comprehensive victory.
2. At the beginning of Genesis, soon after God established humanity in the Garden of Eden, Satan successfully enticed mankind to reject God and become enslaved to his alternative rule. In this way, the conflict between God and Satan enveloped humanity. Jesus the Christ, the Son of God took on our human form so that, through his death and resurrection, he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death, bringing them back into citizenship of a new kingdom characterised by righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. (Heb 2:14; Rom 14:17; 1John 3:8) The bible concludes with the judgement of Satan in the Lake of Fire and the new creation with humanity reconciled and restored. Everything else recorded in the bible adds detail to this cosmic conflict between God and Satan. Much of that added detail is about how the conflict and the victory of Jesus Christ affects you and me.
3. Here’s the critical piece of information that should shape your perspective on everything you experience in your life: the victory of Christ is decisive but in this period between resurrection and final judgement, the battle continues to rage between God and the powers of darkness opposed to him. This battle is taking place on earth and you are engaged in it for as long as you are alive. You should be aware that the struggles of life and its roaring successes are all related to skirmishes within that battle. Sometimes it may turn out well for you, other times not, but every struggle in your life is significant. Every conflict has a purpose. Every illness, every bereavement, every disappointment, every heartbreak, every situation in which you feel powerless is part of something important. You may have choice in how to act, or you may not. But how you choose to react in difficult (or even impossible) circumstances matters enormously. Your reaction reveals your character, it reveals your hopes and fears, your deepest desires and hidden prejudices. Most importantly of all, your attitude, reactions, your actions and choices reveal whose side you are on in the cosmic conflict – and where your hope is based.
4. The battle between God and the powers of darkness is not primarily about you or the individual human being. God’s enemies operate to keep entire nations enslaved in darkness – and they have proven to be remarkably successful in that operation. When literal war breaks out in our region or if there is famine or some national crisis, we might possibly consider the malign influence of the devil (or, more probably, blame God for allowing war to happen). But even in times of relative peace and prosperity, the powers of darkness work through politics, law, economics, education and culture to offer an alternative to the wisdom of the Living God. The spiritual battle lines are not just isolated skirmishes centred on the individual; they stretch to become national or even global. But on whatever scale, the small or the large, we should regard every experience as evidence that there is an ongoing cosmic spiritual battle and that we are all active combatants. Sometimes we experience the battle raging hot and sometimes the conflict may seem a distance away. In reality, the battle is ever present. Your attitude, reactions, your actions and choices reveal whose side you are on in this cosmic spiritual battle: if you are not consciously and intentionally allied with God then you are opposed to him. There is no neutral position.
5. When we take this biblical perspective of cosmic conflict and the victory of Christ, it shapes the way we approach everything. It provides us with a hopefulness that allows us to align with God’s intent as we navigate through life with its successes, struggles and sufferings. (Psa 23:4-5) Of course, it would be absurd and deeply unhelpful to jump to the conclusion that every instance of human suffering or success breaks down into a naïve “good vs evil” analysis. This is simply not the case. The cosmic conflict is messy. Suffering is messy, very messy indeed – and so is success. It is almost always impossible for us to fully disentangle how the conflict between God and the powers of darkness is evidenced in any particular human experience (as the book of Job demonstrates). Life is full of vicissitudes and the course of history does not always reward the righteous or bring the guilty to justice. In any conflict, the truth of the matter is hard to establish in the heat of the battle – but this is precisely where faith in Christ and hope in God make all the difference. God is sovereign and the victory of God is assured in Christ. However, God’s scheme of manoeuvre from this point in time to the future destruction of evil remains his military secret. This is what the bible sometimes refers to as a “mystery”.
6. One of the problems with mystery around God’s scheme of manoeuvre is that our practical understanding of Christ's victory has become very confused and contested – and sometimes turned into things that it very much isn't! For example, some parts of the church would take the victory of Christ to justify a “Christianised Polity.” That is, they might argue that the church has a mandate from God to influence the laws of a nation and shape its customs to create a society based on Christian ideals of justice and compassion. Western civilisation has developed under a christianised polity, but in recent times this has come to be resented by non-Christians, particularly when “religious” arguments are used to influence legislation on “progressive” social issues. What does the victory of Christ come to mean in a nation whose leaders specifically reject the Lordship of Christ and prefer a secular course or even an Islamic one? A second example: in past centuries the promotion of a Christianised polity has led some parts of the institutional church into very dark places where killing and torture in the name of Christ have been justified. Torture and slaughter are so far from the true intent of Jesus Christ that these churches have ceased to be Christian in any meaningful sense: their actions are tragically aligned to their father the devil. How does this happen? How is the victory of Christ turned into action that is violently opposed to Christ? (John 16:1-4)
7. The issue I want to address is this: The institutional church is either silent or hopelessly confused about the practical outworking of the victory of Christ. Both at the level of the individual christian experience and at the level of the group, the institutional church has floundered and settled for various weak or even misdirected expressions of Christ’s victory that satisfy no-one – except perhaps the devil. So what does the victory of Christ mean on a practical basis? Why is there such confusion on the topic? How do we re-connect with the simplicity and the power of Christ’s victory?
What does the victory of Christ mean on a practical basis?
8. The victory of Jesus Christ is first and foremost his victory over Satan. Jesus achieves this victory through his incarnation, his life of faithful obedience, the submission of his will, his death on the cross, his resurrection, his intercession and his final judgement. At the final judgement, Satan and the rebel angels are cast into the Lake of Fire and the new creation can begin, untroubled by God’s enemies. In the time period between resurrection and final judgement, the primary expression of Christ’s victory is a ransomed people who have been brought out of the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the beloved Son to live on earth in the obedience of faith. The victory of Christ is secure, but for the moment, God’s enemies remain active in their opposition to God’s plan. His ransomed people have the task of expressing that victory in the way that they live – both collectively and as individuals.
9. All four gospel writers tell the story of the escalating conflict between Jesus the Christ and Satan culminating in crucifixion and resurrection. Once you understand how this is the driving narrative, then a range of practical implications open up. The climax of the conflict builds in the exchange between Pilate and the Christ. (John 18:28 - 19:16). Pilate represents the power of Rome, but when confronted by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, Pilate oozes a vacillating uncertainty and gives up on “Truth”. He is completely confounded and bewildered by the power and wisdom of Jesus the Christ. Against the advice of his wife, Pilate feels reluctantly compelled to action by the Jewish leaders and by the crowd. They are all energised by the powers of darkness; they don’t fully know what they are doing but they are making their choice.
10. The powers of darkness, working through the power of Rome, seized the opportunity to direct all their hostile ferocity against Jesus the Christ. This was the moment when the mysterious hidden wisdom of God upended all the cunning of Satan. (1Cor 2:8, Eph 6:12). The crucifixion was a demonstration of power and wisdom that had never been witnessed before. It was utterly perplexing for Pilate, for the Jews, for all those witnessing at the time – including the unseen witnesses from the angelic realm present at the cross. It was utterly perplexing for Satan and for the Powers of Darkness. This was Jesus wrestling against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. By quoting Psalm 22 from the cross, Jesus did not just have the opening verse in mind, “My, God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” He was directing us to consider the entirety of the psalm. There is mystery in the psalm – the “bulls of Bashaan” is a term for the spiritual powers of evil who exercise authority over the nations. So when, by the glory of the Father, Jesus was raised from the dead, we have the revelation of the mystery: Jesus Christ, the Power of God and the Wisdom of God, is completely vindicated and victorious over the powers of evil. Dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. (Psa 22:28) Jesus has made a way to release everyone who is held captive by Satan’s regime of fear and violence and menace and lies. This is the victory of Jesus Christ – but what does that mean for us today in practical terms?
11. Whenever God’s ransomed people operate in His wisdom and power, God’s name is glorified and Christ’s victory is demonstrated. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul describes the power of God that energises his people “to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine”. (Eph 3:20) Let’s draw out some of those immeasurably unimaginable things:
a. We demonstrate Christ’s victory whenever the name of God is glorified on earth as it is in heaven. This may be when a person is converted from darkness to light (Luke 15:7). It may be where the good works of God’s people prompt an unbeliever to give glory to God (Matt 5:16, 1Pet 2:12). Or it may be when the thoughts and intentions of a heart are revealed so that the evidence of God’s presence is unmistakeable. (1Cor 14:25)
b. We demonstrate Christ’s victory by building on our faith to become “partakers of the divine nature.” This is the virtuous cycle of “being and becoming” that Peter describes in 2Pet 1:5-8. It is the victory over sin.
c. We demonstrate Christ’s victory by refusing to quiver in fear at the menace of the enemy when facing sickness or suffering or death and choosing instead to live in the power of resurrection life. This is the release from the power of Satan that he exercises through fear. (Heb 2:15-16)
d. We demonstrate Christ’s victory through a love for the truth and a refusal to be satisfied with things that are less than true or things that are false. The Truth is ultimately a person – the risen Lord Jesus Christ – not a body of doctrine or a set of facts. Loving the Truth is a life of learning to think and speak and act and react like Jesus, expressing the fullness of his grace and truth.
e. We demonstrate Christ’s victory through the collective expression of the unity of the Holy Spirit in the bonds of peace. This is a peace that the world cannot comprehend – it defies analysis by worldly wisdom and it is unshaken by any pressure from worldly power. It makes a reality of the angels’ declaration to the shepherds at the birth of Christ: “Peace on earth among all those on whom God’s favour rests”.
f. We demonstrate Christ’s victory through the collective expression of love for one another. This is the true testimony of the followers of Jesus Christ. (John 13:35) This love among the people of God is unique and nothing on earth can replicate it – it depends on God: we love because he first loved us. (1John 4:7-21) It is not a universal, unconditional love for everyone in the world: it is a specific love expressed among the people of God that then, as a secondary effect, benefits all humanity to the extent that it is welcome. (Rom 12:10-13; 1Thes 5:15; Gal 6:10)
12. The most powerful demonstration of Christ’s victory is seen when the redeemed people of God are able to live as an expression of Christ's new kingdom, operating with God's righteousness, God's joy and the peace of God's Holy Spirit. (Rom 14:17) This living expression is a direct attack on the domain of darkness because it is life under the rule of Christ pitched on earth, on the very terrain that Satan used to dominate uncontested. The nations within the world cannot contend with this power of indestructible life. And so, the domain of darkness seeks to blunt it.
13. In an earlier verse of Ephesians, Paul also describes how the human enemies of God are energised by the “prince of the power of the air”, otherwise known as Satan (Eph 2: 2). The power of God and the wisdom of God are opposed by the visible power structures of the world and the patterns of thought approved in the world. The enemy has two main lines of attack on God’s ransomed people: he attacks through alternative power structures to God’s power and he attacks through alternative sources of wisdom to God’s wisdom. Being crystal clear on this point will help us to understand why the institutional church has settled for various weak or even misdirected interpretations of the victory of Christ.
Why is there such confusion about the victory of Christ?
14. The enemy’s rearguard action in response to the resurrection of Christ is to regroup around his core tactics of violence and lies. For Satan, it has always been about control through the fear of death and manipulation through deceit. (Heb 2:14-15; John 8:44) The redeemed people of God are liberated from Satan’s power and his alternative sources of deviant wisdoms, so what would you expect him to do? He moved to reinforce the old power and the old wisdoms. The enemy continues to energise the sons of disobedience to violence and lies. Although his threats are ultimately hollow, they are painfully real and they are enforced (Matt 10:28). His lies can be extraordinarily effective because not only does he masquerade as an angel of light, he energises people to masquerade as servants of righteousness. (2Cor 11:14-15)
15. Satan’s move against the early believers was an attempt to blunt the victory of Christ. He cannot deny the victory of Christ, but he can attempt to lure people away from the freedom the Christ has established. This was a very real risk (Gal 3:3) and much of the New Testament addresses this risk. The devil knows that as soon as you yield to the power structures of the world, you lose connection with the power of the resurrection and you once again become subject to all the fear that satanic power instils. As soon as you lapse into the wisdom of this world, you lose connection to the wisdom that comes from above. It must be the top priority of the redeemed people of God to remain connected to the Lord Jesus Christ. (John 15:1-8)
16. The two main forms of blunting are: (i) blunted wisdom to understand what is going on and why and what to do about it and (ii) blunted power to act and make things change. Whenever the institutional church adopts worldly power mechanisms or worldly wisdom it is always with the expectation that this will somehow advance the kingdom of God. But what actually follows is an inevitable decline to misguided unfaithful failure.
17. As they laid the foundations of the church, the apostles operated in a way that exposed the wisdom of the world and the power structures of the world. Simply by their manner of life and conversation they demonstrated a way of being that threatened the Jewish leaders and leaders of the Roman world. They were not revolutionaries attempting to overthrow governments, they were not even seeking to influence governments – they were seeking to live peaceably and quietly, but in accordance with the new life made possible by the faith of Jesus Christ. Their challenge to worldly power structures was entirely novel – it was not indirect but neither was it in any way seeking to grab the levers of power. The Spirit of God moving among them was countering the “power of the air” that energises the sons of disobedience. It was the power and wisdom of God at work among them that drew the attention of the authorities and led to conflict. (NB They were not standing on their “rights” for freedom of religion or freedom of speech!)
18. That all began to change after the apostles were martyred and the church entered the patristic era. From the very earliest decades of the post-apostolic church, the patristic bishops began to be influenced by worldly wisdom (in the form of mostly Greek philosophy). What is there to be gained by resisting all the great ideas of bright minds even if those minds are energised by the powers of darkness? Surely it should be possible to take the ideas that are helpful and reject whatever isn’t? Ideas have consequences – and the consequences of these philosophical ideas proved to be massive.
19. At the beginning, the worldly powers were regular persecutors of the early patristic church, but eventually the persecution gave way to accommodation. This occurred once the church was large enough to be regarded as an important lever of social control. The later patristic bishops had to decide on their attitude to worldly power – how should they engage with political influence, military force and the influence of money? At some point those early bishops decided that it was necessary to work with the worldly powers and, if possible, get them to work for you. So the notion of “christianised polity” began to develop.
20. The apostolic church found itself in conflict with the civil authorities because it was operating in the power of God and the wisdom of God. Once the patristic church made its pact with the Roman Emperor that conflict went away. But perhaps that was the point when the power and wisdom of God went away too? That was the point when all sorts of structures and creeds and rites and rituals were developed to cover for the absence of God’s power and wisdom. They were obliged to develop a christianised polity because they needed to decide how to influence the earthly authorities.
21. It is fascinating to notice that the apostles’ final question to the Lord Jesus before his ascension was about political power: is it at this time that you will restore the kingdom to Israel? The Lord’s response was to point them away from thoughts on restoring political kingdoms and towards a completely alternative source of power for a different purpose: “You will receive power when to Holy Spirit comes on you to become my witnesses….” The apostles’ thinking was stuck in earthly polity until the Spirit provided them with power and illumination to understand differently. It is a struggle to develop a biblical approach to christianised polity because the inspired writers of the New Testament were never inspired to consider that topic.
22. The church has always felt an extraordinarily strong pull back to the question of polity because how do we “make a difference in the world” unless we have some form of political influence? Here’s the point: the kingdom of God is not about making a difference in the world, it is about living in a way to demonstrate the obedience of faith working through love that establishes God’s righteousness, God’s joy and God’s peace and glorifies his name on earth – all in the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17) In his Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus taught clearly that even where the good works of the church are a blessing to the world, that blessing the world is not the goal: the goal is for the people to give glory to the Father’s name. (Matt 5:16) On close reading of the passage in Romans 14, this trio of righteousness, joy and peace is the corrective for those who want to control the behaviour of others through laws and customs. A christianised polity stands in opposition to the purposes of God working through his people.
23. A christianised polity is actually a contradiction in terms. It's as ridiculously absurd as the idea that Pilate and Christ might have been able to come to an arrangement for the government of Israel. It makes the assumption that the power structures of this world and the wisdom of this world can become the force to establish God’s kingdom in this world. Two examples of this: (i) the patristic church took a conscious decision early on to target its evangelism on national kings and rulers, believing that to be the most effective way to convert a nation; (i) It also sought to use the power of kings to enforce creeds and doctrine. This was the critical misdirection that denies both the wisdom of God and the power of God. This was the successful blunting of the victory of Christ. It is a blunting that remains with us to this day.
24. Once we accept the inevitability of working under worldly power structures and worldly wisdom, we create an opening for the enemy to infiltrate. It is true that the institutional church had success in persuading the civil authorities to introduce laws that were aligned to christian teaching. Many may view this positively as a means of encouraging or even forcing “Christian” change on a nation (whether the people want it or not). We may look with approval at the “Christian heritage” of western civilisation and compare it favourably with non-christian civilisations in terms of markers such as individual rights, democratic government, care for the poor, the rule of law, economic prosperity, the quality of arts and literature. Surely, this leads to human flourishing that gives glory to God? This is such a dangerous path to take! We must not forget that the lies of the devil have been very successful in shaping various concepts of christianised polity and what it means to be flourishing.
25. Even the very best of “Christian” change achieved through christianised polity is, without exception, markedly less than the vision painted by the Lord Jesus Christ for his kingdom. Jesus’ vision is from another realm, whereas all christianised polity is mired in this realm. The worldly power structures and the world’s wisdom may have been influenced by “christian ideals” to achieve a form of “thriving humanity”, but (i) this is nowhere close to the righteousness, joy and peace of the Holy Spirit that gives glory to God and (ii) the power structures of the world are unperturbed and the “christian ideals” may be discarded at any time because there is no heart commitment to Christ. (We are seeing such a discarding now.) We should acknowledge that such a polity, though spiritually powerless and subject to all these corruptions, is likely to be a better one than one based on, say, Islam or Marxism. The Lord Jesus used the “salt and light” metaphor to illustrate how his faithful followers can have an impact through good works so that unbelievers offer glory to God. (Matt 5:16) This is the acid test for any version of christian polity: does it lead to unbelievers offering glory to God?
26. There are many sorry consequences once the institutional church has lapsed into this critical misdirection:
a. All of the distinctive immeasurably unimaginable elements listed above (paragraph 11) that demonstrate the victory of Christ are made much harder to achieve. The church has watered down each of the six points describing how the victory of Christ could and should be expressed.
b. There is a missed the opportunity to live distinctively as the ransomed people of God. Much energy and effort is diverted into the machinations required to work the levers of power in the world.
c. The institutional church dishonours the name of Jesus Christ and makes it much harder for faithful people to proclaim his name. By attaching the name of Christ to a christian polity, the failure of the polity is inevitably seen as a failure of Christ himself. The failure of christian polity in the UK, particularly marked since WW1 and WW2, is one reason why the institutional church is struggling today.
d. Individuals are prevented from entering into the kingdom and benefiting from the freedom that Christ’s victory offers. Specifically we are taught to have low expectations about the power of God to heal, restore, provide and protect.
27. There are 2 billion nominal Christians worldwide. We don’t know how many of them are truly living in the obedience of faithful allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is almost certain that the vast majority of them are loyal to some form of the institutional church rather than loyal to Christ himself. All 2 billion of us have heard the name of Jesus and we have some familiarity with his gospel of repentance and faith; most of us have the scripture, so God is very near to each of us. We have everything we need to draw close to God and yet one serious obstacle that often hinders or even prevents us living in the victory of Christ is the institutional church. A very similar situation arose with the Pharisees at the time of Christ’s first appearing. (Matt 23:13) This is what can easily happen when the scholars are in charge of the church; they are so easily tempted by intellectual pre-eminence and the philosophy of this world is too dazzling to resist. (Luke 11:52) They lack the humility necessary to be trusted with the revelation of the mystery of God. This is why the Lord Jesus avoided the scholars and selected his disciples from among the fishermen.
28. The 2 billion nominal Christians do still have a collective role. Where nominal Christians exist in large numbers they provide a form of democratic legitimacy to the institutional church’s christianised polity which, in most nations, usually leads to a fairer, kinder and more peaceful society than it would be otherwise. So when the faithful people of God pray for the opportunity to live peaceable and tranquil lives, the civic authorities are more likely to oblige if a christian polity has had an influence. In its more extreme form, the institutional church’s christianised polity has led to some historically significant military conflicts that have repelled the forces of Islam from the gates of Europe. (Most notably, the Battle of Tours AD732 and the Battle of Vienna AD1683.) Nothing is guaranteed and all too often, the nominal Christians are still sons of disobedience, energised by the powers of darkness to have such a strong allegiance to their church that they feel justified in persecuting those whose allegiance is to Christ rather than to their church. It is complicated.
29. It is amazing that the gospel of Jesus Christ has survived at all given the extent to which the institutional church has been diverted away from the power and wisdom of God to serve the interests of God’s enemies. On the other hand, it is testimony to the power of the Holy Spirit that there does remain a faithful remnant – and, of course, the pattern of Old Testament experience suggests that God does tend to work through a remnant with the anticipation of large-scale unfaithfulness.
30. The situation facing the church in Britain today is special. Much of the institutional church remains captured by the concept of christianised polity, as it has been for centuries. This christianised polity has all but collapsed in Britain since the end of WW2. It has been under sustained pressure since the Enlightenment but its collapse has been accelerating since the war for three or four reasons: the welfare state, individualism and entitlement, the socially permissive agenda and the overwhelming distraction of information enabled by digital technology. The legacy of christianised polity lingers on, but the leaders of the country have rejected it. (As Blair’s adviser once said: “We don’t do God”.) In rejecting any form of christianised polity, successive British governments have implemented incoherent short-term policies that are motivated by godless ideologies (a confused and disjointed blend of Marxism, feminism, liberalism, capitalism, individual human rights). This is the result of the “prince of the power of the air” energising political leaders who have consistently rejected God. After 80 years of godless ideology, the model of liberal democracy in Britain is itself unsustainable and the warning signs of collapse have been flashing for some time. Christianised polity has no ability to operate prophetically because it operates according to the wisdom of this world, divorced from the wisdom of God. Unless God intervenes, it is destined to collapse alongside the liberal democratic model it has done so much to create. What follows next?
How do we re-connect with the simplicity and the power of Christ’s victory?
31. Once we recognise the seriousness of the problem and its urgency, we can begin to challenge ourselves on what the NT vision actually is for the people of God in this present era between the resurrection of the Lord and his coming again. We can challenge ourselves on what the expression of God’s power and God’s wisdom looks like in the generation that has rejected christianised polity and where regime collapse is impending. We have to rid ourselves of the things that blind us to God’s vision. As part of our repentance, we have to set aside any form of christianised polity if we are to reconnect with God’s power and wisdom. We have to come before him in humility to learn from him. The promise is clear, the one who seeks will find – provided the seeking is wholehearted.
32. Looking at the gospels and the apostolic church for examples, the most obvious areas for challenge are the power of God over sickness, the power of God over demons and the power of God over the nations. The western church has deferred to worldly wisdom in each of these areas: sickness is for doctors; the troubled mind is for doctors because demons do not exist; and nations are best served with liberal democracy. The church offers nothing distinctive in these areas: we simply signpost people to the credentialed experts in the world and offer some supportive prayer or counselling.
33. Rather than addressing these areas directly, it is much more helpful to set the conditions for God’s wisdom and power to be seen among his people. This is about re-discovering the practical reality of Christ’s victory. Other things follow as a consequence. What does it mean for us to be liberated from the power of the evil one? What does it mean to express “righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit”? This is the key to re-connecting to Christ and to his victory.
34. First: set aside any notion of christianised polity. Romans 14 implies that attempting to control others through laws or customs is entirely at odds with the kingdom of God. Let’s re-establish the glory of God as the all-consuming purpose of everything that we do.
35. Second: let’s re-establish a Spirit-filled, biblical appreciation of righteousness, joy and peace.
36. Righteousness and the victory over sin: In his second letter, Peter describes something completely astonishing: it is the virtuous cycle of being and becoming partakers of the divine nature. The virtuous cycle begins with faith and then builds to ever increasing faith. It continues like this: faith à moral excellence à knowledge à self-control à perseverance à godliness à brotherly kindness à love. “If these things are yours and are increasing they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brothers, strive to make your calling and election sure. For if you practice these things you will never stumble, and you will receive a lavish reception into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2Pet 1:5-10)
37. This should be the routine experience of every faithful ransomed person. But it isn’t because the institutional church has made a successful business trading on the sin and guilt cycle: sin à guilt àconfess à forgiveness à sin (repeat). Of course, we all fail and confession is regularly necessary – but the adjusted perspective of the victory of Christ lifts us completely out of guilt and brings us into the pattern of seeing the righteousness of God working from faith to greater faith. Peter’s faith cycle is all the more amazing once you connect it with the full expansive definition of sin as the opposite of faith: whatever is not of faith is sin. The implication here is that we are not bound by the guilt cycle. We have a much more demanding requirement to deny all unfaithfulness (rather than all sinful acts of commission or omission). But it is a joyful cycle rather than a guilt driven cycle. This sets the foundation for the expression of the most glorious liberty.
38. Joy: On an individual level, the victory of Christ is established as he is set apart as Lord of your heart. The joy inexpressible, full of glory will prompt the question: where is your hope? (1Pet 1:3-8, 1Pet 3:15). This is what it means to be delighting in the Lord and experiencing life in all its fullness. This is easy when life is sweet. It is not easy at all when facing pain or grief or persecution. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (Jas 1:2-4) Words are cheap and quoting bible verses is cheap. This cannot be merely about words, it has to be about power, about the Holy Spirit about deep conviction.
39. The victory of Christ means that every illness, every bereavement, every disappointment, every heartbreak, every situation in which you feel powerless is part of something important. You may have choice in how to act, or you may not – you may be facing death itself. But how you choose to react in difficult (or even impossible) circumstances matters enormously. Your reaction reveals your character, it reveals your hopes and fears, your deepest desires and hidden prejudices. How does your situation bring glory to the Father? This is the victory that overcomes the world: your faith. Is there faith for an act of power to bring glory to God in a hopeless situation? Or is there faith to bring glory to God, resting in his love throughout the ordeal you face?
40. Peace: On an individual level, the victory of Christ protects you from all fear. Perfect love casts out fear. The one who fears has not been made perfect in love. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus because you can bring requests to God through Jesus Christ with thanksgiving. (1John 4:18; Phil 4:6-7) This is crucially important in our nation in this generation. Anxiety and depression are rife because we have lost the peace of God. Too many things rob us of our peace – and we allow this robbery to happen. Do not fear what can kill the body …. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Luke 12:4-6) The peace of God could be the most impactful testimony in this nation, especially at a time when turbulence strikes in multiple forms simultaneously – if only we had the faith to demonstrate it. Specifically, how do we demonstrate peace in the face of adversity? How did the Lord Jesus demonstrate God’s peace when confronted with suffering, sickness, injustice? How was he able to act and to react in the way that he did? In the times of prayerful solitude and fasting, how did he learn the obedience and submission and wisdom that allowed him to radiate peace?
41. Third: let’s re-connect with God’s people to express the freedom that escapes the worldly wisdom and worldly power characteristic of the institutional churches. This is a plea for those who fear the Lord to talk to one another. (Mal 3:16-18) We are approaching times of serious testing where long-established certainties will be exposed and discarded. The enemy will continue to deceive. God will always be looking for those who love the Truth and who refuse to believe the lie. It is by strengthening each other that we can be built up in the holy faith of Jesus Christ. This is a time where we need to distinguish between those who serve God and those who do not. Serving God is all about the living as a practical expression of the victory of Jesus Christ.
42. Finally, the time of tribulation is one where this will all be put to the test. The old certainties will collapse and there will be strong pressure to take refuge in sources of wisdom and power that are false. (2Thess 2:9-12; Matt 24:24) The institutional church has a track record of siding with worldly power and worldly wisdom but the redeemed people of God must retain their love for the truth in order to remain undeceived and emerge faithful to the end. This is the victory that overcomes the world – our faith. (1John 5:4)
43. Our Father in heaven, may your name be honoured on earth as it is in heaven. May your kingdom be established among your people and may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We look to you for our provision, for our source of all wisdom, joy, peace and righteousness. Show your power, O God. Deliver us from the enemy. Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory. Forever.