“I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron.” Isaiah 45:2
Dear Ones:
What is victory? What is it from heaven’s standpoint? If the believer is to understand victory aright, he must look at Christ, and the nature of victory. Is this victory that which has its origin, concept, and realization in man, and for the glory of man? Or does it have its meaning, origin, and resources in God? When David hurled the stone from his sling, which would bring down Goliath, was it strictly of David’s doing and for his glory? The answer is revealed in an event which brought to bear the working of God. In 1 Samuel 16, we find Samuel the prophet anointing David with oil, as the Lord had told him: “I have provided Me a king among his (Jesse’s) sons.” (v.1) On that day, at that moment, God intervened in the life of David in a most humble, and yet, momentous way. Scripture tells us, “…and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.” (v.13) The coming of the Spirit of God upon David at that point not only set him apart to BE a king, but provided him with all the resources of heaven for the accomplishment of his task. David did not proceed to manhood immediately, even though he was anointed. It would take varied experiences of God’s choosing to reveal to him what God would do in his behalf. Before he would meet Goliath, he would kill a lion and a bear, which had come to kill and devour his sheep, as he was their shepherd. God’s strength, courage, power and wisdom, were manifest in his “victory” over opposing forces, in this case, wild animals. Those experiences would move David to tell Saul the king, “the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, HE will delver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” (17:37) The victory that is of God is that which God accomplishes by His Spirit in and through the life of the believer, in the face of opposition and resistance. It is therefore to Him that belongs all of the glory. But, how does He work in the believer the attitude of mind and heart, whereby this victory of Christ is lived, and realized in the life.
The victory that is of God, over sin, death, self, and Satan, is that which has its origin in the person and work of Christ, the perfect Victor over all, and His victorious word, which is perfect in every way. Sometimes it takes a good while for the believer to discover that the means and manner of knowing such a victory, does NOT reside in and of himself. Paul’s experience is a good example. After struggling with his own sin nature, being brought to the end of his resources, he would declare: “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24) It is certain that Peter would echo those words, as he denied the Lord Jesus three times, and afterwards wept bitterly. It is in understanding that there is nothing, in and of our selves, that is “good,” or worthy and capable of showing forth this victory, that the true answer comes. Paul puts it in this way, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2) As God, by the Spirit, was the power in creation, so He was in David by virtue of his anointing. As Jesus overcame all the power of the enemy, living a perfect life by the power of God, and finishing the work that the Father gave Him to accomplish on the cross by the Spirit, so the believer has but one Resource and Means by which to know this victory of Christ. It is by the Spirit, in response to faith.
Dear Father, Open our eyes to see Christ’s victory, and to make it our own by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad