BEYOND VICTORY
"We have been treated like sheep for slaughter"--and yet, in spite of all, overwhelming victory is ours through him who loved us. Rom. 8:37, N.E.B.
I remember listening to the radio the day the American hostages came home from Iran in January of 1981. The waiting crowd broke into cheers when the men and women stepped through the door of their plane. A huge bubble of camaraderie rose inside my chest, and I found myself cheering with them, celebrating the victory of those returning captives over defeating circumstances.
How good it is to witness human victory in a world terribly twisted with unfair wars and famine! There is so much senseless suffering and loss, so many injustices. At times one is almost compelled to wonder, Is it worth it all? Will the final triumph over evil ever make all that we've gone through here on earth worthwhile? Unless we understand the true nature of the victory God intends for us, we may lose heart.
Victory in itself is not enough. A returning prisoner of war has to be institutionalized for permanent mental disorientation can bring more agony to his family than when he was thought to be missing action. At least then they had hope. Likewise, God knows that it is not enough for us to be "saved." It is not enough for there to be no more sorrow or crying, wonderful as that is. It is not enough for us to walk on streets of gold and live in mansions. It is not even enough that we live eternally.
And so God assures us "overwhelming victory." This implies something beyond victory. God not only desires to deliver us from the perils and destruction of this life, but He wants us to live eternally with Him as His sons and daughters. He wants us to know Him well enough to call Him "Abba! Father!" the affectionate equivalent of "Dad" or "Daddy" (see Rom. 8:14-16, N.E.B.). He has "ordained that [we] should be shaped to the likeness of his Son, that [Jesus] might be the eldest among the large family of brothers" (verse 29, N.E.B.).
Jesus knew the Father and was one with Him. In John 17 He prayed that we might share that knowledge and oneness. He said, "I made thy name known to them...so that the love thou hadst for me may be in them" (verse 26, N.E.B.). This is our overwhelming victory: to know God and be one with Him throughout eternity!
"We have been treated like sheep for slaughter"--and yet, in spite of all, overwhelming victory is ours through him who loved us. Rom. 8:37, N.E.B.
I remember listening to the radio the day the American hostages came home from Iran in January of 1981. The waiting crowd broke into cheers when the men and women stepped through the door of their plane. A huge bubble of camaraderie rose inside my chest, and I found myself cheering with them, celebrating the victory of those returning captives over defeating circumstances.
How good it is to witness human victory in a world terribly twisted with unfair wars and famine! There is so much senseless suffering and loss, so many injustices. At times one is almost compelled to wonder, Is it worth it all? Will the final triumph over evil ever make all that we've gone through here on earth worthwhile? Unless we understand the true nature of the victory God intends for us, we may lose heart.
Victory in itself is not enough. A returning prisoner of war has to be institutionalized for permanent mental disorientation can bring more agony to his family than when he was thought to be missing action. At least then they had hope. Likewise, God knows that it is not enough for us to be "saved." It is not enough for there to be no more sorrow or crying, wonderful as that is. It is not enough for us to walk on streets of gold and live in mansions. It is not even enough that we live eternally.
And so God assures us "overwhelming victory." This implies something beyond victory. God not only desires to deliver us from the perils and destruction of this life, but He wants us to live eternally with Him as His sons and daughters. He wants us to know Him well enough to call Him "Abba! Father!" the affectionate equivalent of "Dad" or "Daddy" (see Rom. 8:14-16, N.E.B.). He has "ordained that [we] should be shaped to the likeness of his Son, that [Jesus] might be the eldest among the large family of brothers" (verse 29, N.E.B.).
Jesus knew the Father and was one with Him. In John 17 He prayed that we might share that knowledge and oneness. He said, "I made thy name known to them...so that the love thou hadst for me may be in them" (verse 26, N.E.B.). This is our overwhelming victory: to know God and be one with Him throughout eternity!
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