Victory in Christ

Contemporary-Christian singer Matt Maher has a song called “Christ Has Risen”, and in it, he paraphrases 1 Corinthians 15:55, which says, 

"Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?"

These words capture an extremely important concept for Christians to understand if they want to live a Spirit-filled life. As Christians, we have been given a promise that our God will never leave us or forsake us. He has given us a Helper to fulfill that promise. The Holy Spirit is our Counselor and our Comforter. But too often, we forget Who He is. We forget that He is here to transform us. He isn’t supposed to be this static personality waiting for us to do something. No, the Holy Spirit is here to work in each one of our lives, making us more and more like Jesus every day.

We have been given victory over sin through Jesus Christ. We cannot forget that. And the Holy Spirit is the vehicle of that victory in our lives every single day. “Victory” is defined as “success in a struggle against difficulties or an obstacle.” Well, our lives are certainly full of difficulties. But we are promised success if we trust in Jesus. So, why do we worry? We are not given a spirit of fear. We don’t have any reason at all to be afraid.

I’ve always struggled with this concept. It’s human nature to fear things, and I, perhaps more than some, am scared of a lot of things. I have always had trouble letting go of this world and letting God’s Spirit guide me. But I learned something recently. As Matt Maher sings, death has no hold on us. I had never really thought about this before, but the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the grave. Do you realize what that means? The Holy Spirit conquered death. And that same spirit LIVES IN ME. And He lives in you. Do you understand how incredible that is? Death is the very biggest weapon in Satan’s arsenal, and it’s completely powerless against our God. The Holy Spirit is God in us. Against the Holy Spirit, Satan can do nothing. He can’t conquer us as long as we hold onto Jesus. Nothing Satan can say or do is powerful enough to defeat God Almighty, Who is on our side. So why are we scared?

Nothing Satan can devise for us is bigger than God’s strength. I know that there are difficult days. Believe me, I am not belittling daily struggles. But none of those struggles can compare with the power of God, which rests inside of you. God wants to work in us. He wants to give us His strength. We need to learn that God, and thus the Holy Spirit, is bigger than anything we will ever face. And the reward waiting for us is bigger than anything in this world. So, when the days get hard, when relationships fall apart, when you start to wonder if your Christianity is worth it, fall on your knees and worship the God Whose strength is always enough. And remember that His Love will never leave you.