One of my favorite movies of all time is The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. I recently watched all three movies in the series again and I was struck by one scene in particular. It is the scene where Denethor is about to burn himself alive. As Gandalf enters the chamber to stop him, Denethor says:
"You may triumph on the field of battle for a day; but against the power that has risen in the East, there is no victory."
Denethor's mind had been poisoned into believing there was no way to win. The irony of this scene is that the Rohirrim had just shown up and were slaughtering the orc armies. If Denethor had just looked at the battlefield at that moment he may have been persuaded that victory, not just on that day, but total victory was possible.
As I watched this I was struck by the thought that we already have total victory in Christ. Not only in one battle but for eternity. From the moment God pronounced the curse on the serpent in Genesis 3:14-15, the war was virtually over. Jesus completed the victory in His death and resurrection and He will consummate it at His second coming. Sometimes it can be difficult to keep that in mind as we walk with the Lord day to day. A lot of the time we are like Denethor when we consider this earthly life; believing that there is no victory against Satan or against the power of our flesh. The Lord reminded Israel of His power in Isaiah 60:1-3:
"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising."
Though things look bleak and dark for the Israelites, God will win through. The victory will be so complete and evident that nations and kings will be drawn to Israel. God has promised those who are faithful in Christ a victory even more complete in the conquering of death:
"I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall all be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
"Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" 1 Cor 15:50-55
Victory is already ours! Death has already lost! The message of the cross is victory in God's love and not just at the end of the age, but right now. The inauguration of that victory occurred on a Sunday morning when Christ rose from the grave. That is why Paul taunts death at the end of that passage. Jesus has won and given us the victory. No fighting on our part, no conditions attached.
So my message to you is this: don't be like Denethor when your life looks bad, when you struggle with sin, when you contemplate suffering and evil in the world, or when the day to day grind of this fallen world tries to drag you down. Look out at the battlefield and see that the Lord has won. If you are in Christ, you've already won through Him and you can change Denethor's words to read:
"Satan may triumph on the field of battle for a day; but against the power that has risen from the grave, there is no victory."
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