The Achieved Victory

by Christopher Hendrix

The young man trembled with fear. All seemed hopeless as he peered into the valley and saw a massive army as the morning light dawned. The previous night's darkness faded, but a more profound darkness set in. There was no escape as the army encircled the city. This army came to do one thing, and that was to capture one man. As the young man fell to despair, he looked to his master for the next move. His master was no ordinary man but someone who did things no one else could do. He knew things no one else knew. He claimed to speak on behalf of God. So, if anyone knew what to do, certainly he would. Instead of directly responding to the young man, the master prayed and asked God to open his eyes. The answered prayer unfolded into a bright and supernatural scene. The young man looked around and saw past the valley towards the mountains. The mountains were on fire! But, as he squinted to adjust his eyes, he saw not a forest fire but fire coming from chariots. Myriads upon myriads covered the landscape as this heavenly army overwhelmed the army of men. Salvation was here!

This is the account of Elisha and his young servant in 2 Kings 6:15–19. God's deliverance for Elisha from his enemies was miraculous and amazing. These stories proclaim something of God's nature. He is a good and saving God, one who delivers in times of attacks by enemies. You may ask, though, does He still do that today? Does God still rescue us from our enemies in extraordinary ways? You haven't seen any chariots of fire recently, have you?

Watch Pastor Chris Hendrix’s sermon on James 3:13-18.

James 3:15 tells us the enemies of the Christian are three: the world, Satan, and our flesh. Sometimes, all three attack at once. Sometimes it's just one. Nonetheless, when the attacks rage against us, they are powerful. Their method of attack is through wisdom, not from God. When we fall to their attacks, it's not that we lack wisdom. We exercised wisdom in succumbing to the temptation. The problem is which wisdom we exercise? A wisdom from above, or the wisdom from our enemies. They promote wisdom as well, but it's a wisdom that aims to deny God's goodness. This wisdom seeks to sever the Christian from fellowship with God. This evil wisdom wants to apprehend the heart through captivations. 

Yet, the wisdom of God far surpasses this evil wisdom. The wisdom of God is far greater than wisdom from the big three. God's wisdom is better. Why? Because God's wisdom is ultimately wrapped up in a person, and that person is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:30 says, 

And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who gave us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. 

The wisdom of God is on display through the person of Christ. Stemming from the person of Christ, his work represents the most incredible way wisdom fleshes out into life. His works are the very definition of wisdom. What are these works? 1 Corinthians sums them up through righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Christ is righteous; he gave us this righteousness, redeemed us, and made us holy. There is no greater power than seen in Christ. 

So then, when the enemies surround us and bring their attacks against us, we already have the victory in hand. Christ, who conquered death and resurrected, has given us this victory. We don't need chariots of fire. That would be a downgrade. That would be settling for a weaker army. Christ is all we need. Our enemies are defeated because Christ is the victor. All we have to do is walk in this victory. Don't lay down your arms admitting defeat. That's ludacris when we have already won. Caving to temptation and sin gives up our position as victors. It lets the losers claim a temporary win. Instead, walk in the victory of Christ. How? By repenting of the times, you surrendered to the beaten enemy and believed in Christ. Look to the truths in His Word. Look to Him! Our victory has been achieved against our great foes.