Gaining the Victory
In her poem known as “Success is Counted Sweetest,” the American poet Emily Dickinson writes that “success is counted sweetest by those who ne’er succeed.”
The poem’s theme is that in order to understand success, we must first understand what it means to fail. It seems to me that this is a spiritual concept of which there are many reminders in the scriptures. In order to yearn for the victory that comes in Christ, we have to acknowledge not only where we’ve been but that without Christ, for us, there is no victory.
Contradicting human wisdom, the only way to victory is to make ourselves slaves. In Romans 6:15-19, Paul speaks to the Christians in Rome regarding the grace of God which extends to all who will make themselves slaves of God. I find it interesting that the point is made that we are all slaves. Not being in bondage isn’t an option; however, we do get to choose who we will obey. He says in verse 16, “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” The entire human race is, at some point in life, enslaved to sin. We must decide to place ourselves in subjection to God and trust that He is able and trustworthy to keep His promises. Knowing the futility of the sinful darkness that we have come out of, to which we no longer have allegiance, should make us more dedicated to the One who brings us light!
Paul reminds us in verse 23 that “...the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” There’s the victory! Without Christ, we are doomed to live in darkness and the fruit we will bear will be death. It is only with Him, that we obtain the prize.
In chapter 8, Paul comforts the reader with the promise that we can be free from the law of sin and death because God sent His own Son in the flesh. If we are now living according to the spirit, then our minds no longer dwell on things of the flesh but rather on things of the spirit. We have victory over our own flesh because with Christ, we can bring it into submission to our minds. The eventual victory of heaven for us is always our hope, but I believe we have a piece of the victory now. In verse 31, Paul reminds us that “if God is with us, who can be against us?” The very word victory infers a conflict - additionally, if there’s a victor, then there is necessarily one who has been defeated, and the losers in this battle won’t ever be able to stand again.
I live in a country of those who have seen defeat. At the end of WWII, Germany had been blown apart. There are large areas of town, where the damage can still be seen - close to 80 years later. In fact, there are cities like Frankfurt that are completely modern - very few old buildings remain even though the original settlement here dates back to the middle ages. During the war, the city was flattened, but over the years it has been refurbished with modern buildings. Not only was Germany damaged physically, it became an occupied country. The Russians and the Americans split it into two halves, and those scars are still visible today. However, Germany is no longer viewed as an enemy; it, again, has its own military and is Europe’s strongest economy. Although categorically defeated, the country has bounced back.
Although I can not completely understand the spiritual battle in which I fight against principalities and eternal beings of darkness, one thing I do understand is that, in this battle, there will be no rebuilding for the defeated. Christ has already seen to that; in fact, the victory has already been secured, and as Christians, we must make certain that when the final trumpet sounds we find ourselves still fighting on the victor’s side.
Peter, too, encourages us to fight for the victory. In 2 Peter 1, verses 3 and 4, Peter says, “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
He has given us “all things.” He has withheld nothing that we need in order to gain the victory.
He promises us that we can join in the divine nature. These words seem so bold, but we hear the sentiment repeated by Paul multiple times that as we grow and mature and put on the “new man,” we are increasingly like our Father (Eph 4:24, Col 3:10), and in Romans 8:29, Paul writes, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
I don’t believe we can have full enjoyment of the divine nature while we exist in the physical world; however, through the kingdom, I do believe that God gives us glimpses of the glory to come.
And if we have this understanding - if we know what it is that we are a part of and we know to whom we belong - why would we ever forfeit the battle?
I’ve been a slave to sin. Been there, done that - it’s empty and without purpose. And it leads to death. I still fight my sinful nature, but I can’t give in to it, for who I obey is who I serve. Do I obey myself, or do I obey God? Two choices…with no options in between.
In the final stanzas of her very short poem, Dickinson fittingly uses the image of a battlefield:
Not one of all the purple Host
Who took the Flag today
Can tell the definition
So clear of victory
As he defeated – dying –
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Burst agonized and clear!
The “purple Host” who won the battle are not the ones who you should ask about victory. If you want to know the definition of victory, go ask the dying soldier who is listening to the celebration of the enemy camp. Who do you think considered paradise sweeter - Lazarus or the rich man? The rich man is the one who is desperate to send word to his brothers - too late and in defeat, he realizes what it means to be victorious.
The spiritual victory has already been won - Jesus accomplished that. We just have to make certain that we don’t abandon our post in the battle.
This world is a rough place. As Christians, we are not immune to the world’s hardships. We lose loved ones, we may struggle financially, we lose jobs - there are Christians who live under corrupt governments and in war-torn countries. There are those of Christ’s body who do not have even what many would call the “basic needs” of life - things like access to clean water and a roof over their heads. Christians around the world live in all manners of dwellings - some are wealthy while others live in poverty, some are healthy while others deal with crippling illnesses, some haven’t known devastating loss while, for others, catastrophe has been a part of life.
And yet, in any circumstance in which we find ourselves, if we are followers of Christ and members of His body…soldiers in His army…we have already gained the victory. The promise that Christ has gained the victory over this world and its suffering is something that we must hold onto with everything in us.
The older I get, the more tiresome the world is. I am weary of the battle, waiting for the final trumpet to sound. It will sound. Whether I will have finished my battle on earth or not, I don’t know. My battle will end one way or the other, and I pray that I will have endured and not given way to Satan’s influence in my life.
Because of Christ’s ultimate victory over sin and death, the end of this life holds no fear for us. If my lamp is trimmed and full, I’ll be ready, and Christ’s victory will be mine as well.