The Victory

This is amazing to think about: when we read the Psalms, we’re reading the very thoughts that were sung over 3,000 years ago in ancient Israel. These were songs for weekly worship.

And 3,000 years later, God has preserved these same songs to help us worship and to gain perspective on reality. Here is a snippet from one of the Psalms:

The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has given me victory. —Psalm 118:14

This stood out to me, because this theme of strength, joy (my song) and overcoming are threads throughout scripture.

• “Strength“: the ability to do all that life requires.
• Joy (“my song“): fuel and encouragement for the journey.
• And “victory”…oh yes, sweet victory. Let me camp on that word for a minute…

This promise of victory is something we easily skim over today. But Jesus used it a number of times to describe the reward he offers to his people.

And if we don’t understand what he is referring to we might think, “Victory over what, exactly?”

“Victory” is a powerful, powerful theme throughout scripture, and it describes those who overcome an enemy—especially an enemy that would destroy them. In the psalms it refers primarily to enemies or warlords who would attack ancient Israel, taking and destroying anything they please.

Jesus continued using this idea, but clarified our common enemy.

Your enemy is not a person, or group of people. Your enemies are not members of a rival tribe or political organization.

Your enemies are the Evil One (Satan), this World System (the attitudes and values at work around us that are in opposition to God, that work to mold our thinking and living apart from God), sin and ultimately death.

These are our common enemies.

People are never the enemy, but they can be victims of the enemy. While God made us, values us, redeemed us and calls us to Himself as King, the enemy promises a counterfeit kingdom.

The truth is that you, and everyone you know, are at risk.

Satan—the enemy of your soul—uses the temptations in our world to destroy you, your faith, your family, even your finances and your future. His goal is to destroy you utterly.

This is a battle you don’t want to lose.

This battle is waged in every generation—a battle for the souls of people. But Jesus—who purchased our redemption—also gives us the path to victory.

In the book of Revelation, he describes the victory that comes to those who follow him (the Victor), who overcame death. He says:

Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne. —Revelation 3:21

And keep this in mind: When you follow Christ you will not dodge the struggle; rather you will become aware of it at an existential level (maybe for the first time), realizing what is truly at stake.

In the passage, Jesus says that the victory came to those who set aside this world’s agenda to follow Christ. The victorious are those who follow The Victor who overcame sin and death and now lives forever.

Death has no hold or claim on him, and those who follow him will be victorious as well—not over an athletic competition, or a political campaign, but over death itself. Death has already been defeated. And only those who follow Christ will experience this victory.

This is why we follow him. This is why we worship him. He is the victory.

Today, live from that perspective. He is your strength, your song—and yes—your victory. Worship as if your life depends upon it. Because it does.

Love you,
Pastor Bill

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Bill Herried is a pastor at CenterPoint Church in Tacoma, Washington and is married to the most extraordinary woman on the planet. Together they have 3 adult children and 5 grandchildren. He has been the lead pastor at CenterPoint Christian Fellowship in Tacoma since 2006.

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