Victorious

Easter Sunday, April 9, 2023

By Paul Steiner, Senior Pastor, Tree of Life Church

Romans 6:5-11

5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. 8 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. 9 We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. 10 When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. 11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.

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 Victorious

By Paul Steiner

I like how Easter coincides with springtime because spring is a picture of resurrection. No matter how dark the winter, spring always wins. Looking out my window I see four-foot snow drifts, but I know spring is here, the snow is leaving and summer is coming. The annual reminder of Jesus’ resurrection that came after the dark of death. In ancient times people said, Christus Vincit! Christus Regnat! Christus Imperat! In English it reads: Christ vanquishes, Christ reigns, Christ rules. This is all true, even in a world marred by winter. I know that evil lingers two thousand years after His victory, but its days are numbered. Christ has won!

The lingering of evil after Christ’s victory is beyond frustrating. It’s heartbreaking. We see evil in school shootings, demonic ideologies, isms, and even in our sinful responses to that evil. For that reason I think it’s helpful to consider the exodus of the Hebrews slaves from Egypt to the celebration of Easter. In both cases, God provided the way to overcome evil and bring His people into the promised land. And in both cases, God’s absolute victory was and was not fully realized by His people. The Hebrew people became the nation of Israel described in the book of Judges. They were oppressed and mired in conflict because of their sin. And we the church, completely made free in Christ, return to the behaviors that once enslaved us and harm others. This unfulfilled potential is not just a theological concept. The gap between His victory and our full experience of His victory often brings us to tears, anger or resignation. Sin is defeated, yet evil lingers like a mountain snowdrift in the shadows. In this frustration we turn to what Christians have called, “the blessed hope.” It’s a phrase drawn from Titus 2:13, “while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Easter then, is a celebration of hope on several levels. Hope for the return of Jesus, hope for our final resurrection from the dead, and the hope that we will finally be done with sin and death.

In what way are we done with death? 

In Romans 6:10-11 it says, “When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.” Easter is the time when we celebrate that the power of death over our lives was utterly destroyed by Jesus at the cross. Just when the Devil thought he had won by killing the son of Man, he was defeated, for it was the final atonement for sin. All of Satan’s accusations, deceptions and lies may still lead us to sin, but the wages of sin have been paid by Jesus. Death is not our future because Jesus has already died on our behalf. 

In what way are we done with sin?

By faith in Him, we enter the rest of the Promised Land instead of the struggle of the wilderness. His love perfects and matures us away from the lure of sin as we see through lies and live according to the truth. For example, there is no temptation to steal stale bread on the street when one realizes the Father has provided fresh loaves at home. As the Holy Spirit leads us into truth, we see that sin has lost its power. There is power in knowing we are not orphans in need, but children of a good Father. 

Even when we murmur like the Hebrews in the wilderness or forsake God like Israel in the Promised land, His Spirit lives within us. We are not behaving our way to blessing, but inheriting the blessing based on our union with Christ. Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.” By grace, we are resurrected. The resurrection we celebrate on Easter has happened for us, and to us. We died to ourselves and were made alive with Christ. He won over sin and death and we are winning over sin and death. This is something to celebrate!

Today, I invite you to celebrate His victory for you and that His victory is spreading around the globe. Did you know there are more Believers in Christ alive on the planet than at any time in history? Do you realize that the praise of the name of Jesus is not sung by a small group in Jerusalem, but by churches in every country on every continent? Sure evil lingers, but it is defeated. No longer is it normal to view women and children as property. Slavery is abhorred by nations instead of practiced or tolerated. Daily, people turn from their sin and commit their lives to Christ. In large and small ways, the Kingdom of God is spreading like spring over winter. The victory is certain and it will be realized everywhere.

Christus Vincit! Christus Regnat! Christus Imperat!

Verse for Meditation:

Titus 2:11-14

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,  training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,  who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.