Jesus Made Us Victorious - Part 821

"And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able to perform. And therefore, it was imputed to Him for righteousness. Now it was not written for His sake alone, that it was imputed to Him but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed -- if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead - who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification." (Romans 4:21-25)

The following blog was written by Holy Spirit Ministries Canada founder William McKendrick. It is repeated here today because a reminder of the gospel truth is always good 8)

For we know in whom we have believed and we are fully persuaded that our God is able to keep us from falling into the depths and deceptiveness of sin. It is He that shall present us faultless before His majesty with exceeding great joy.

The ghostly presence of the Spirit of God persuades us that we are sitting together with Him in Heavenly places, and we understand that sitting identifies that the work of our redemptive salvation is totally complete. For we were not delivered from the dark night of sin by works of righteousness which we have done. For truly, we of our own selves were lost, walking down that road called Broadway -- the road well recognized and yet well worn pathway to sin.

But JESUS our Creator came to our rescue. God has at different times and in various manners endeavoured to speak to us through the prophets. Sadly, for the most part these prophecies went unheeded. So then God added the Law [and ten commandments]. The Law was intended to awaken us from the darkness of sin. But similarly, over time, the Law eventually also became unheeded. 

It is important to note that the Law in and of itself WAS perfect but we who dwell in prone to sin bodies found ways and means to negate the Law. Indeed, we dressed up sin in fashion in order that sin would not appear as sin but rather, would become something to be sought after and desired.

Further, the Law was a covenant between two parties -- God and man. And being a covenant, it contained demands. But again, because the demands were not adhered to, God simply walked out. Even today, the other party known as Jews have not come to the realization that God has walked out.

Finally, as a last resort and because He loved us, God made a conscious decision to come as a man so that we might be saved. This God did! However, as before, we rebelled on JESUS -- as we had previously done to the afore running prophets. 

This unexpected reaction even though JESUS worked miracles, and performed signs and wonders in their midst as had never before been seen. Picture this. Here was JESUS -- the light of the world -- shining the light of God in their midst, and yet man hated the light. Why? Because a shining light would expose their sin for what it was. And they loved darkness much more than light. 

So what did they decide to do? They crucified JESUS who was God Almighty manifest in the flesh as a Son. In unison, we read that JESUS' accusers cried out, "Crucify Him, crucify Him. We will not have this man rule over us."

Still, as we read in the gospel according to Luke, JESUS was conceived of the Holy Spirit -- being "God with us." In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God ... and the Word became flesh. (John 1:1-18)

So, throughout the centuries, who has loved His creation with an everlasting love? Jesus. Yes, Jesus, the promised Messiah. The Christ. 

Do you recall when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden and they hid among the bushes? God, upon visiting the garden seemingly could not find them. Then, upon being discovered, God exclaimed, "What have you done?" And from that moment on, God set in motion plans to redeem man and woman from a world of sin and rebellion. At the same time, the devil who had earlier been cast out of heaven ruled the world to which Adam and Eve through adherence to the devil's deceptive words had become captives.

But the good news gospel is that we were never left stranded. He never left us alone. JESUS being the Word of God, which Word declared that the SEED of a woman would bruise the serpent or devil's head -- this same JESUS did just that. Jesus bruised the devil’s head. In so doing, JESUS exposed man’s real enemy. In fact, He made an open display, casting demonic spirits out of individual lives and healing all that came to Him. Read the scriptures for yourself. Believe that Jesus is today, and seek His righteousness. Stand in the offering plate.