keeper of my soul

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time now and forever. Amen.” -Jude 24

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” -Phil. 1:6

“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” -1 Thess. 5:23-24

“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” -Eph. 1:13-14

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” -John 10:27-29

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” -John 6:37

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” -Rom. 8:38-39

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Peter 1:3-5

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” 1 Peter 5:10

Again and again and again we are told of God’s power reigning in the believer; over our stumbling, our sin, our enemy, our being cast out, death, life, angels, rulers, any powers, our suffering. In every single one of these verses, we see it is HIS power that keeps us. All his power. His power does protect and preserve us from all these things mentioned, but ultimately he is protecting us from ourselves. From our unbelief in him. Unbelief in God is why we would stumble or sin, it’s what our enemy is trying to make us fall into, it’s why we would be cast out, it’s what would bring death.

This reality is tremendously freeing. I am kept. And it is not my power that keeps. This is freeing mostly because I know my heart and it’s “power” to keep. I would not be kept if it were up to me. To be wholly kept in and by someone greater than me, whose unceasing faithfulness I have seen throughout history and in my own life….so let us rest all the more, and fight all the more, knowing we are kept by the Almighty!

The Believers Safety

That man no guard or weapons needs,
Whose heart the blood of Jesus knows;
But safe may pass, if duty leads,
Through burning sands or mountain snows.

Released from guilt he feels no fear,
Redemption is his shield and tow’r;
He sees his Saviour always near
To help, in every trying hour.

Though I am weak and Satan strong,
And often to assault me tries;
When Jesus is my shield and song,
Abashed the wolf before me flies.

His love possessing I am blest,
Secure whatever change may come;
Whether I go to East or West,
With him I still shall be at home.

If placed beneath the northern pole,
Though winter reigns with rigor there;
His gracious beams would cheer my soul,
And make a spring throughout the year.

Or if the deserts sun-burnt soil,
My lonely dwelling e’er should prove;
His presence would support my toil,
Whose smile is life, whose voice is love.

-John Newton

paradoxes 2

God is Lion-hearted and Lamb-like

“And one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.’ And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain…” (Rev. 5:5-6)

In this same passage Christ is referred to as both the Lion and the Lamb. Christ conquered the sin and death of the world like a lion would devour it’s prey. It was brutal. But he did it in the most humbling of ways, he himself was slain. Jesus’ life embodies both of these attributes. We see it most clearly in the ways he interacts with his bride…

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church.” (Eph. 5:25-28)

“In the words “gave himself up for her,” we hear the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ. If there ever was an example of leadership that took the initiative to protect his bride, this is it.” (John Piper) The cross displays God’s unfathomable love for his people in that he takes the wrath of the Father upon himself, protecting his beloved while crushing sin and death. This is no little thing.

Revelation 6:15-16 says, “Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

The most powerful on earth pleaded for rocks to crush them, for this would be better than facing the wrath of God. Christ endured ALL the wrath of God for his people. He had all the power in the world to smite the Romans who were torturing him. He had all the power in the world to call angels down to excuse him from the task at hand. He had all the power in the world to blow up Rome, to disappear, to make the brutality stop. But he didn’t. He didn’t take equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing…He did this in order to cleanse, nourish and cherish his bride. What a God!

God is Powerful and Personal

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth…Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, and said ‘ Thus far shall you come and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’? Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?” (Job 38:4, 8-13)

There is nothing outside of the hand of God. “And God said, ‘Let there be light’ and there was light.” (Gen.1 :3) Can you imagine anything more powerful than a word spoken which produces something brilliant from nothing at all. Light, the thing that gives life and sustainability to every living thing on this planet, God created in all its complexity, with four words. God can do anything, anything at all. He has ALL the power in the world. And what does he choose to do with his power?

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Mat. 10:29-31)

He chooses to know us and value us. The same great God who calmed the storm and walked on water, is the same God that walked with, taught and loved his disciples. The same great God who OPENED the red sea for the Israelites, hears everything we ask of him and answers everything we ask of him.

God says this of his people: “Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life…” (Is. 43:4)

The crazy thing is. God knows us far better than we know ourselves. He knows ALL of our dirt. He knows who we are when we pretend to be someone else. He knows the real reasons why we do things, he knows we are not faithful to Him. And with all this knowledge, he doesn’t hesitate to say we are precious, he says we are honored and loved.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!

pensees

“We never keep to the present. We recall the past; we anticipate the future as if we found it too slow in coming and were trying to hurry it up, or we recall the past as if to stay its too rapid flight. We are so unwise that we wander about in times that do not belong to us, and do not think of the only one that does; so vain that we dream of times that are not and blindly flee the only one that is. The fact is that the present usually hurts. We thrust it out of sight because it distresses us, and if we find it enjoyable, we are sorry to see it slip away. We try to give it the support of the future, and think how we are going to arrange things over which we have no control for a time we can never be sure of reaching.

Let each of us examine his thoughts; he will find them wholly concerned with the past or the future. We almost never think of the present, and if we do think of it, it is only to see what light it throws on our plans for the future. The present is never our end. The past and the present are our means, the future alone our end. Thus we never actually live, but hope to live, and since we are always planning how to be happy, it is inevitable that we should never be so.”

-Blaise Pascal

1. We are a discontent people.

2. This proves that having “control” isn’t satisfying.

3. In light of the gospel, we as God’s children live our lives hoping and waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promises. This we ought to do in faith. It doesn’t mean however that we don’t live and enjoy the present. I’m left asking, what does it look like to truly enjoy and be in the present, and is it possible? Contentment. When we are full in Christ, we are left needing nothing, and longing for everything he is. The security Christ gives enables us to rest and be in the present.

4. Let us dwell on Christ. “Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:6-11)

“Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people’ once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:10)

paradoxes (1)

“Remember this and stand firm…I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.”          (Is. 46:9)

There is none like God. No other ‘god’ comes close to Yaweh’s character, no human compares with God-like attributes, and no thing in this world images God clearly. Although there are countless pictures and reflections of our God on this earth, they are not God, and cannot ever be God.

Our minds in these bodies cannot comprehend the fullness of who God is on this earth, however God has revealed himself through his word in order that he would be known. God’s character is revealed through the whole Bible, from the measurements of the tabernacle in Leviticus, to the parables Jesus told to the Pharisees in John. Some look from afar and claim God’s actions are contradictory in the Bible; wrath-filled in the old testament and loving in the new testament. But God says this in Malachi: “For I the LORD do not change.” (Mal. 3:6) God’s character was the same throughout the Bible and remains the same today. Within God’s character, there are many seemingly ‘paradoxical’ attributes. These attributes are not contradictory, instead their fusion is what makes God perfect. If any of these attributes were absent, God would cease to be perfect.

God is Holy and Humble

“‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’” (Is. 6:3-5)

Here Isaiah is humbled by the purity and holiness of God. God has never screwed up, he has never done something he has regretted, he is morally pure in every way. In his holiness God is set apart; he is unable to be in the presence of sin (humans), we all fall drastically short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Yet maintaining his holiness, God humbled himself and lived among sin and became sin through his son.

“[Christ], who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Phil. 2:6-8)

The fact that Christ would come in the form of a human is a tremendous act of humility in itself. There had never been a perfect human. Christ came into the form of a creation that had been perverted by sin. He also came into the world quite lowly in appearance and status. The pinnacle of Christ’s humility exemplified on this earth is the cross. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21) Christ, the Holy of Holies, bore the world’s sin and endured being separated from his Father for our sake.

God is Just and Merciful

“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.” (Isaiah 30:18) Here in Isaiah, these two attributes are named right after each other. God would not be a perfect God if he was not both just and merciful.

Let’s start with justice. Most people are shocked by God’s justice much more than they are shocked by God’s mercy. Why is this? It’s because we think we deserve God’s mercy and not God’s justice. We think we are better than we are, and when it comes down to it, we don’t understand our sin or the holiness of God. If we understood how holy God is, and how sinful we are, there wouldn’t be a question in our mind that we ought to be damned to hell. This is what we deserve. A good judge would never allow a 1st degree murderer and rapist to go back on the streets of society without punishment. Sin must be punished, therefore God’s wrath reigns down on sin.

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.” (Lam. 3:22) Although our God has every right to remove us from his presence eternally, he is merciful. There is no reason that God’s children should be his children, we should be consumed. His compassions never fail, he doesn’t grow weary of being gracious to us. It’s not that in the new testament God decided to be merciful, no, God has always been and will always be merciful. In the new testament God poured out his wrath and displayed his justice on his son Jesus Christ in our place. The cross is the most beautiful and clear picture of God’s justice and mercy. The satisfaction of God’s wrath laid upon his son, and the undeserved gift of redemption for me because of his son. Who is God that he is mindful of man?

“For the LORD loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever,but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.” Ps. 37:28

who is like our God?

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements-surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed? Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it? Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this. Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness, that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home? You know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great! Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war? What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth? Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain and a way for the thunderbolt, to bring rain on a land where no man is, on the desert in which there is no man, to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground sprout with grass? Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew? From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the frost of heaven? The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you? Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are’? Who has put wisdom in the inward parts or given understanding to the mind? Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens, when the dust runs into a mass and the clods stick fast together? Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in their thicket? Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for help, and wander about for lack of food? Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the does? Can you number the months that they fulfill, and do you know the time when they give birth, when they crouch, bring forth their offspring, and are delivered of their young? Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south? Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high? On the rock he dwells and makes his home, on the rocky crag and stronghold.” (Verses from Job 38-39)

Who is like our God? And who am I that I think I can be God?

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your finders, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” -Ps. 8:3-4

accepted

“Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. It strikes us when we walk through the dark valley of a meaningless and empty life…It strikes us when, year after year, the longed-for perfection does not appear, when the old compulsions reign within us as they have for decades, when despair destroys all joy and courage. Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and it is as though a voice were saying: ‘You are accepted.’ Accepted by that which is greater than you, and by the name of which you do not know. Do not ask for the name now, do not try to do anything now, do not seek for anything, do not perform anything, do not intend anything. Simply accept the face that you are accepted.”

-Paul Tellich

fighting to rest (part 2)

So if the Christian life is about rest, what does it look like to rest? Resting in the Lord is a state of your heart, there is no physical standard by which we can measure rest. Someone might be resting in the Lord while completing their daily to-do-list, another might be people watching, or spending time in prayer, or playing frisbee. However, although we cannot physically “do” anything to rest in the Lord, the Bible is clear that the Christian life here on this earth is a fight. Fighting to rest.

Hebrews talks about two types of people, “we who have believed enter that rest” ( 4:3) and “those who formerly received the good news failed to enter [that rest] because of disobedience” (4:6), “they were unable to enter [God's rest] because of unbelief” (3:19). In chapter 3 we are warned against unbelief, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” (12-14)

An unbelieving heart is the thing that prevents us from resting in God. John Piper says, “Fear that unbelief, because that’s what will keep you from entering God’s rest—God’s haven of salvation and God’s heaven. Fear unbelief. Fear not trusting God. Be diligent to enter God’s rest-God’s heaven. Be diligent!” We must be diligent because we live in a world of death and our “hearts are deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9). A right fear of unbelief would drive us into the arms of our Savior. This is not a fear that paralyzes or adds weight to our burden, but a fear that brings us to the one who is sufficient.

The writer of Hebrews urges believers to “exhort one another every day” (3:13), why? because every morning we wake up and our minds are not filled with God’s promises but with thoughts of self, anxiety, discontentment…We need exhortation every day. Paul says, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.” (Phil. 3:12-16) The “holding true” and “straining forward” that Paul talks about is fighting to rest. He also said in Philippians 2:13, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” and Romans 11:20, “You stand fast only through faith; so do not become conceited but fear.”

What does fighting to rest look like? We must pray for a right view of ourselves and of God that would cause us to rest, and while we are praying, we must fight. Doing things that cause me to worship Jesus, being around people that cause me to worship Jesus, ridding my life of things that don’t cause me to worship Jesus. Living, messing up, repenting, living, messing up, repenting…

“People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.” -D.A. Carson

Would God grant us grace-driven effort to rest, and fight to rest on this earth. For soon we shall be home.

Bitter and Sweet-John Newton

Kindle, Saviour, in my heart,
A flame of love divine;
Hear, for mine I trust thou art,
And sure I would be thine;
If my soul has felt thy grace,
If to me thy name is known;
Why should trifles fill the place
Due to thyself alone?

‘Tis a strange mysterious life
I live from day to day;
Light and darkness, peace and strife,
Bear an alternate sway:
When I think the battle won,
I have to fight it o’er again;
When I say I’m overthrown,
Relief I soon obtain.

Often at the mercy-seat,
While calling on thy name,
Swarms of evil thoughts I meet,
Which fill my soul with shame.
Agitated in my mind,
Like a feather in the air,
Can I thus a blessing find?
My soul, can this be pray’r?

But when Christ, my Lord and Friend,
Is pleas’d to show his pow’r
All at once my troubles end,
And I’ve a golden hour;
Then I see his smiling face,
Feel the pledge of joys to come:
Often, Lord, repeat this grace
Till thou shalt call me home.

fighting to rest (part 1)

The Christian life is all about rest. The world does not rest because the world does not have Christ. The knowledge of the love of Christ for the sinner brings transcending peace that causes REST. Rest because the work is done. It is finished. Christ payed my debt and won me favor with the Most High God, therefore I am free to rest in that reality, embracing the gift of the cross. I am left with no laws to fulfill, no rules to obey, no demands to yield to that will change the way the King views me. The only thing He requires is that I rest.

In the Return of the King, Eowyn asks her Father and King in the midst of battle, “What other duty would you have me do?” Theoden replies, “Duty? No…I would have you smile agian.”

Just smile. Just enjoy. We are bent on duty! It is easier to do because it is something tangible that makes us feel like we are in control. And how we love control.

In Exodus, when God was delivering the Israelites out of Egypt, the Bible says, “The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped by the sea…When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly.” (14:9-10)

They feared greatly, and rightly so, they were fleeing from their slave-masters with nothing but the clothes on their back. The Egyptian army was on their tails clothed in the finest armor, equipped to slaughter. The Israelites were now cornered…

So the people cried out to the Lord and Moses relayed this message to the people from God. “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” (14:13-14)

Then, God proceeded to open the Red Sea, save all his people and destroy all of the Egyptians. No big deal.

“In returning and rest you shall be saved.” (Is. 30:15) Would we fight to rest and let the Lord fight for us. He has conquered sin and death already-let us rest in his victory.

buy without money or price

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.” Isaiah 55:1-3b

What an invitation we have been given! To the ones with nothing to give, a summoning to partake in the wealth of the land. This passage is specifically addressed  to two people, the thirsty and those who have no money. To those who are “spending their money for that which is not bread” and left unsatisfied, longing, thirsty, and those who have no money at all. The thing about this water, milk, wine, is it’s not able to be purchased, there is NOTHING that can buy it. Come….come…come…come is the command.

“When you come to God, he binds himself by an unbreakable oath to pursue you with goodness and mercy all your days right into eternity—with ever-refreshing water, and ever-strengthening milk, and ever-exhilarating wine, forever and ever!” -Piper

This is an invitation to the cross. Eat the thing that will satisfy your soul and make you live, Jesus Christ. The only thing that gives life. If we don’t eat of Him, we eat things that bring death. There is no invitation like this. Come, and buy without money or price, because Christ has paid the cost in full on the cross. So come!

victory, sweet victory

“Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor. 15:54-57

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.” Ps. 46:1-3

“I do not trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame.” Ps. 44:6-7

“I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” Rev. 5:4-5

“All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” 1 Sam. 17:47

“You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great.” Ps. 18:35

“Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: ‘The Lord’s right hand has done many might things!’” Ps. 118:15

“He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless…” Pr. 2:7

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” Rom. 16:20

“So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory, it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.” 1 Cor. 15:42-44

“That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” Eph. 1:19-23

“And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”    Col. 2:15

Christ on the cross and raised again is our victory. Its’ light permeates everything in the life of a believer. We have only hope to look forward to! Christ’s death on the cross conquered sin. His resurrection defeated death. His body overcame darkness. His blood triumphed over evil. Because I am in Christ and Christ is in me, I share in ALL of this victory. This hope that we have in Christ overshadows any calamity or strife we might face on this earth. Yes we still sin and fight it, yes we experience disaster, hardship and trial, yes we endure poverty, sickness and physical death, but through Christ, our prize (which is Christ) remains and waits for us to receive him fully.Therefore our hope is not deferred.

“Therefore I must look unto Christ who has taken my sins upon himself, crushed the head of the serpent and become the blessing. Now they no longer burden my conscience, but rest upon Christ, whom they desire to destroy. Let us see how they treat him. They hurl him to the ground and kill him. 0 God; where is now my Christ and my Saviour? But then God appears, delivers Christ and makes him alive; and not only does he make him alive, but he translates him into heaven and lets him rule over all. What has now become of sin? There it lies under his feet. If I then cling to this, I have a cheerful conscience like Christ, because I am without sin. Now I can defy death, the devil, sin and hell to do me any harm. As I am a child of Adam, they can indeed accomplish it that I must die. But since Christ has taken my sins upon himself, has died for them, has suffered himself to be slain on account of my sins, they can no longer harm me; for Christ is too strong for them, they cannot keep him, he breaks forth and overpowers them, ascends into heaven (takes sin and sorrow captive, Ed. 1531), and rules there over all throughout eternity. Now I have a clear conscience, am joyful and happy and am no longer afraid of this tyrant, for Christ has taken my sins away from me and made them his own. But they cannot remain upon him; what then becomes of them? They must disappear and be destroyed. This then is the effect of faith. He who believes that Christ has taken away our sin, is without sin, like Christ himself, and death, the devil and hell are vanquished as far as he is concerned and they can no longer harm him.” -Martin Luther