Have you ever gained hope because your team won a crucial game? I have. Was that hope always well placed? For me it was not. Do you know of any for sure victory that will bring you hope? I do. Let me tell you what God has taught me about how victory brings hope?
For many years now I have been a Minnesota Vikings fan. The older I get the less of a fan I have become. In part it is because of the change in how teams work. As I grew up there were players that were Vikings for a long period of time. You got to know them and were familiar with their style of play. Now, not so much it seems like most of the good players are looking for the next best place to land where they can get more money. Well in my case the Vikings have always been one game short of victory. They have either lost the key game or games needed for the ultimate victory. I have lost hope that I will ever see the ultimate football victory.
There have been many wars fought and there have always been winners and losers. For the most I have been a part of a nation who was on the winning side at least in traditional wars. In cultural wars not so much. America is still losing the war on drugs. We are falling deeper and deeper towards the loss in the battle over good and evil as society is decaying into rampant immorality.
However, I know in the long run that I am on the winning side. In that I place my hope. You see there is a spiritual war going on. This war has been going on since the beginning of time. It is the war over good and evil. My side has lost many battles and seems to be losing the war right now. There has been one battle so far that my side has won. It is the battle over sin and death. The victory occurred on the Cross of Calvary where Jesus died for my sins and yours. “He declared victory that day, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (ESV) I notice that Jesus gave up His spirit for us the Satan did not take it Jesus gave it up willingly to pay the price for my sins and yours.
So, there is still a war going on. The war between good and evil. I know for certain what the outcome of that war will be. I know I am on the winning side because I trust in Jesus and my personal Lord and Savior. You too can trust in Him and be on the winning side in the end. Revelation 16 has the story. The key verse to me is verse 19, “The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.”(ESV) The battle was won. Victory belongs to God! I am on God’s side, are you? Revelations 21 describes what His victory will be like. You must choose your side. You can be on the winning side or the losing side. If you choose the losing side you will have this to hope in but if you choose the losing side you will have no hope only eternity in misery. Choose wisely!
I pray you will look forward to the sure victory that is to come where you will find hope. Hope because you will see that you are on the winning side. That you can be certain that the victory will bring about a new heaven and a new earth where all things will be perfect. A time when there will be no more pain or sorrow, there will be no wars, there will be no illness, there will be no death and we will be at perfect permanent peace. So, for now look to the victory of Jesus our coming Lord and King who will conger over sin and evil forever. In that we find Jesus our source of true hope. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross satisfied the penalty for my sins and yours as well. It satisfied all my sins from the past, in the present, and in the future. My penalty and yours were satisfied on the cross by the death of Jesus, God’s greatest act of love and wrath, who became sin for me and you. It was also God’s greatest act of faithfulness because “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (ESV) Because wisdom shows us, we need to believe in Jesus. I hope that you join me in helping others to choose Jesus.
If you have not read my previous blogs, you can find them here. You can watch a book trailer about my book. You can find my book, Hope Amid Hopelessness: Our Abba Father Provides a Way Through Mental Illness here. eBook or Audiobook versions can be found at Westbow Press
