VICTORY IN CHRIST
1 Cor. 15:57
Morning Meditation 5/10/17
Verse 57 says, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The joy of being a Christian comes from the study of the Scriptures to discover what happened when we were saved. We entered into eternal life by the New Birth the moment we were saved. It is a life that will never end and we can begin to enjoy it in this life. First Corinthians fifteen is the great resurrection chapter of the Bible. This chapter as a whole looks to the future. But there are things also that apply to the present. I want us to take this one verse and look at it in this meditation. First,
PAUL CELEBRATES THE VICTORY
He says, “But thanks be to God . . .” The word “thanks” translates “charis” and means, “grace, i.e., that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech.” Paul is saying that our joy over the victory that we have in Christ should be addressed to God. All these words describe an attitude of heart that is expressed in words toward God because of the victory that we have in Christ over sin, Satan, the grave, and all that will happen to man as a result of the fall. God is the Author of salvation.
The Christian needs to be very careful to give God ALONE credit for the victory that we have in Christ. Salvation is God’s plan. The Church is the institution through which the message is spread, but the church is powerless to save anyone.
One might say, “Well, no one would be so foolish as to give a church credit for saving them.” This is the very problem of a big segment of professing Christianity. Some Churches believe they have the power to remit sins. Others believe that the ordinances of the church are necessary to salvation. This makes man necessary and is a work. This leads to the next truth in our text:
PAUL SAYS IT IS A GIFT
He says, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory . . .” The word “giveth” translates “didomi” and means, “to give, to give something to someone, of one's own accord to give one something, to his advantage, to bestow a gift.” It is a present active participle. The present tense represents action going on continually in the present. The active voice is where the subject (God) is the Actor in the action. This means that Paul is saying that there is a victory going on at the time of his writing this epistle in the lives of those to whom he is writing, that they can enjoy before the resurrection.. It is not “will give.” That would be future tense. This means that the resurrection which is in the future is already a victory given to believers.
What is given? The word “victory” translates “nikos” and means, “to utterly vanquish.” What is stated in this context to be what is utterly vanquished?” Verse 55 says, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” Paul is saying that death and the grave are enemies of the human race. They have been successful in battle against everyone in the human race since Adam sinned. However, there is one exception to this. Jesus is the exception. Paul says because of this one exception, something HAS ALREADY HAPPENED TO THESE ENEMIES. They have already been “utterly vanquished” and Paul names the ones who enter into that victory in the use of the plural personal pronoun “us.” Someone hold my mules!!! Praise the Lord it is a victory GIVEN. Next,
PAUL IDENTIFIES THE PERSON IN WHOM THIS VICTORY IS FOUND
It is “through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The word “through” translates “dia” and means, “the ground or reason by which something is done.” Jesus is the one who obtained the victory for everyone who believes.
Heb. 2:14-15 says, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Jesus had to take on flesh and blood so that He could enter the arena of battle with the devil who had the power of death and put death to death. An unsaved man is in bondage to death. Death is an awful enemy:
1.Death terminates the joy of this life.
2.Death seals the opportunity of salvation for the unsaved. Some teach universal salvation which means they teach that ultimately all will be saved. This is a man made doctrine and nothing could be further from the truth.
3.Death introduces the unsaved into a state of torment (Luke 16:19-31) where he will stay until the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:11-15).
There has only been ONE PERSON who engaged death in battle and walked away after three days and nights victorious. Rev. 1:17-18 says, “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”
His victory over death and the grave is our victory. This is what Paul is saying. It is through “our (yours and mine) Lord (the One Whose authority we are subject to right now) Jesus (the One who came to save us from our sins) Christ (The Anointed of God, the Messiah of Israel, and the One through whom the whole plan of God for man is being worked out).
I trust that this has helped to understand what God is saying in this verse. It is the truth that blesses us over and over again as we go back to reexamine it.
