Victory

The word, “Victory” is used 107 times in the New Living Translation (NLT) Bible. It’s used 98 times in the Old Testament and 9 times in the New Testament. Most of the references to victory in the Old Testament are military victories. But the New Testament victories are more spiritual in nature.

 Let me give you a couple of examples of God given military victories under King David from the Old Testament.

 2 Samuel 8:5-6 (NLT)

When Arameans from Damascus arrived to help King Hadadezer, David killed 22,000 of them. 6 Then he placed several army garrisons in Damascus, the Aramean capital, and the Arameans became David’s subjects and paid him tribute money. So the LORD made David victorious wherever he went.

 2 Samuel 8:14 (NLT)

He placed army garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s subjects. In fact, the LORD made David victorious wherever he went.

 The Arameans planned to attack and defeat Israel in the time of King David, but God gave David the victory and made the Arameans the subjects/servants of Israel instead. In verse 14 the same thing happened to the Edomites that tried to attack and defeat the children of God. The LORD made David victorious wherever he went.

 These God given military victories are all over the Old Testament. But what about the church age? What about the New Testament promises to the church? What does victory look like to the church?

 The church has the indwelling Holy Spirit. This is different from the Old Testament. We have Christ Jesus living inside of us and because of that, we have already won the victory regardless of our outside physical circumstances.

 Romans 8:35-37 (NLT)

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

 It was the presence of the LORD that gave David victory in the Old Testament. It is the presence of the LORD through the person of the Holy Spirit that gives us victory today. Today, the presence and person of Jesus Christ lives within us. The victory is already inside us right now. Our circumstances don’t matter. When we are born again, the victory lives within us all the time. This changes everything.

 I encourage you to meditate on these following Scriptures today and use your God given faith to live under the victory of Christ. Remember, our ultimate enemy is spiritual, not physical. Our ultimate enemy is Satan, and our ultimate victory can only come from the One that has defeated Satan.

 1 Corinthians 15:57 (NLT)

But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 Colossians 2:13-15 (NLT)

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. 14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.

 1 John 4:4 (NLT)

But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.

 1 John 5:3-5 (NLT)

Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. 5 And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

 Maranatha, Hosanna, Hallelujah and Amen,

Terry Cooper