BE-Gratitudes: 30 Days of Positive Attitudes – VICTORIOUS!
November 29th, 2021
Day Twenty-Nine: Victorious!
Romans 5:17-21, ‘Death once held us in its grip, and by the blunder of one man, death reigned as king over humanity. But now, how much more are we held in the grip of grace and continue reigning as kings in life, enjoying our regal freedom through the gift of perfect righteousness in the one and only Jesus, the Messiah! In other words, just as condemnation came upon all people through one transgression, so through one righteous act of Jesus’ sacrifice, the perfect righteousness that makes us right with God and leads us to a victorious life is now available to all.One man’s disobedience opened the door for all humanity to become sinners. So also one man’s obedience opened the door for many to be made perfectly right with God and acceptable to him. So then, the law was introduced into God’s plan to bring the reality of human sinfulness out of hiding. And yet, wherever sin increased, there was more than enough of God’s grace to triumph all the more! And just as sin reigned through death, so also this sin-conquering grace will reign as king through righteousness, imparting eternal life through Jesus, our Lord and Messiah!’ (TPT)
By humanity’s standards, it might have seemed enough that Jesus conquered death and the grave. But in addition to His triumph, He made us victorious too and has allowed mankind to share in the prize, which is everlasting life with God the Father rather than eternal damnation and defeat with the enemy. He ran the race; He overcame; He conquered; but we get to carry the trophy too and claim the victory as ours.
What does that look like? It’s pretty amazing actually. We didn’t have to do much of anything to be victorious. We recognize the truth, terrible but accurate, that we are all sinners, and we fall short of what a just and righteous God can accept as tolerable. We admit to our wrongdoing, and acknowledge that apart from holy help, we are incapable of living righteously ourselves, and we ask a Holy God for His holy help. There’s a little more to it than that eventually, but the intersection of victory is found at the foot of His cross and the words of our confession. We have overcome eternal death and damnation once we intersect with the truth about ourselves and the truth of God’s grace. To truly live victoriously continually it is necessary for us to allow ourselves to be set apart for His good purpose, not our own, and to choose His paths, not our own, and to bear resemblance to Him, not ourselves. But initially, overcoming begins with us at the cross of Jesus where He took our sin, heaped it on Himself, and paid our debt in full so we could be set free.
O God, I am so grateful that You saw me; You loved me; You wanted me; You chose me; You forgave me; and, You pardoned me, so I could walk victoriously and proudly in freedom, with my head held high and my heart clean.
How about you? What does victory mean to you? Are you victorious? If not, would you like to learn more about being set free from the captivity of sin?
