Jesus has just exposed Judas will betray Him and that Peter would deny Him three times. He’s about to be turned over to the authorities to be unjustly judged and crucified. Yet, with this immense spiritual battle facing Him, Jesus declares His victory as it has already occurred.
“Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately” (John 13.31-32 NKJV).
Jesus is about to take to shame of the world on His shoulders. He is about to be humiliated (naked, whipped, spit on, mocked, etc.) before all to see. He’s going to be separated from the Father by taking our sins. And evil will have dominion for a short time. Despite all of this, Jesus sets His eyes on the victory: He is glorified.
We can make one solid conclusion based on Jesus’ words: The struggle mandates our victory if we are in Christ. The key to our victory is faith. Jesus’ victory on the cross could not occur without the suffering of the cross.
“Every God-begotten person conquers the world’s ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the world’s ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John 5.4-5 MSG).
When we find ourselves suffering. When we find ourselves in a struggle. We must automatically declare our victory in Christ by faith. The fact that we find ourselves in a storm mandates our ultimate victory — Jesus is glorified in us. The victory is assured in our struggle.
If we don’t declare our victory by faith in Christ, we open a door to be spiritually attacked. If we allow ourselves to be filled with fear, anger, bitterness and shame, the enemy will make our struggle and our suffering even worse. The enemy feeds on emotions that are not of God. That is why declaring by faith our victory in Christ is so important. It prevents a difficult situation from escalating to an all-out attack on our souls.
When a “Judas” betrays us — our victory is assured.
When a “Pater” denies us — our victory is assured.
When we are unjustly judged — our victory is assured.
When we take up our cross (Matthew 16.24-26) — our victory is assured.
The struggle mandates our victory if we are in Christ…we simply must believe it.
So the next time you find yourself facing a spiritual storm, you must declare above the noise, “I have the victory in Christ!” And never give the enemy a foothold of fear.
“But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15.57 NLT).
If you want to know more about your victory in Christ, read my book, Our 6 His 7: Transformed by Sabbath Rest.
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