Echoes of Victory

Jesus Christ gained victory, final and sure, through the cross. One might ask,”How can being crucified gain victory?” That would be a good question. To understand the answer, we must grasp what the Messiah did in His earth-bound mission. So let’s jump in.

First, why did the Son of God leave heaven and come to earth? Why did the One through whom all things were created become like His creation? The gospel of John tells us that, while speaking to the Father God, Jesus prayed, “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” (John 17:4-6) The Son of God came to earth and became a human being to bring glory to the Father. Jesus glorified His Father by finishing the “work” given to Him by the Father. What was this work? 

For all of eternity the glorious victory Jesus Christ won on Calvary will be echoed through the life of believers.

Father God gave His Son a job to do. That job required Him to become human, to live a sinless human life. To go through all of the same trials, tribulations, temptations, and worldly junk that we go through, and to do it without sinning. By accomplishing this task, Jesus would be an acceptable sacrifice. Wait, what? By living a sinless life, Jesus would become a sacrifice for what? If Jesus Christ, the Messiah sent by God Almighty, lived without sin, He could, in His death, pay the debt owed by humankind for sinning against the Creator. Jesus left heaven and His Father to become human; task one done. He lived among humankind and never violated the standards established by God for purity in spirit; task two accomplished. He offered Himself up to the world, and before all of creation, seen and unseen, humans unjustly killed Him on a cross. On that cross, the Son of God was the unblemished, sinless, perfect sacrifice required to break the power of sin in God’s creation. According to Paul, “God made Him who had no sin to become sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Task three done. 

After Jesus Christ died on the cross, He obtained the keys to hell and the grave. In the Revelation, Jesus, the risen Lord states, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:18) Why is it important that Jesus Christ holds these keys? A judge must have the ability to punish. A judge without a prison is a joke. Before Jesus died on the cross, the keys to death and hell were in the hands of the law. Judgment was without grace. But because of Jesus’ sacrifice, the keys were placed in the hands of Him from whom grace originates. Because of His willingness to offer Himself as a payment for human sin, Jesus now holds the power to judge - the power to condemn or to proclaim free from condemnation. 

This is the victory of which I spoke at the beginning of this article. Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection glorified God the Father in the Son. He also secured eternal victory over sin, death, and the grave. Wait, how was sin victorious over God? It wasn’t. God has never and will never sin. How about death? Does God die? No. Death was never victorious over God. And God will never see a grave, except in the Son, who walked out of the grave in a new, unique form of risen, glorified man - the first of many. So, who's gaining this victory? The victory is our salvation! 

Because of what Jesus did on the cross and because He came out of the grave, salvation has been granted to sinful, fallen human beings. God’s creation, the focus of His love, is no longer bound by the power of sin and the penalty of eternal damnation. Jesus Christ is the payment for our sin, and through Him we can be made righteous, redeemed to eternal life. The victory is our victory through a Savior, who is Jesus Christ the Lord. Now, to every individual who believes in their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and is willing to give Jesus lordship in their life, victorious salvation is granted! For those people, judgment has been passed, and they are found guiltless because they have trusted in the perfect sacrifice made through Jesus Christ. 

And if that is not wondrous enough, here is an amazingly beautiful thing! Those who have given their hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ, who have called upon His holy name, are now echoes of the victory gained on Calvary's cross. Every believer is a declaration of Jesus' triumphant sacrifice echoing through the annals of time. As a believer in the One who died and now lives forever, in the King of kings and Lord of lords, you are a reverberating echo of our victorious Savior who brought eternal life through grace, and in God’s power that broke the back of sin and death. Even better, we humans, saved through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, will echo that same grace for the rest of eternity. Whenever and wherever God’s creation sees us, it will see the grace poured out by the Lamb of God, a Messiah willing to give Himself up for His enemies; a perfectly pure and glorious God willing to sacrifice Himself for his sinful, betraying, corrupt creation. 

God's love will be the garments around our glorified bodies, and His grace will be a crown that adorns our heads. The saved humans will echo the grace and love of God Almighty throughout all eternity.