Destined for Victory - Part 1
(Part 1)
We as children of GOD, through JESUS CHRIST, have been given more than what we need to be more than over comers through Christ. There is a popular belief that having a relationship with God is a life of “don’t do’s and no no’s. God isn’t out to rain on our parades so to speak. God is on the side of His children. He wants us to be victorious. He see’s our good moves. He wants us to be victorious so much that he made a way that we would be destined for victory if we choose it. We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus that loves us. We have been set up through the Spirit for victory.
Handout: Destined For Victory
There are two profound truths that let us know that the Father has destined, we as His children, for victory. There are two parts to this lesson. We will look closely at the first truth or first part, and if God will, next week we will continue and look at the second truth. The first truth that let us know we are set up for victory is this.
Let us go to the book of Romans chapter 8, verse 1.
Romans 8:1. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4. that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelling you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you. 12. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”
All these verses lead up to one general theme or truth, and we find that in God’s word, Romans chapter eight.
Romans 8:37 “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.”
We are under no condemnation. What Paul, the writer of these passages, is trying to get the readers to understand is that now, since Christ has died and paid the debt of sin, we as believers are no longer in bondage to the law but we are under grace. We are on this side of the cross. Therefore we are free from the law. He is telling us that being free from the law does not give us a right or license to sin freely, but gives us a license or a way not to sin. We are free from it. We have a way out.
Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2. God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”
When Christ gave His life, He made a way for us who choose to believe, to be free from sin. If we could just get that in our hearts and understand what that means we could live much more freely than we do.
Sadly, Satan works hard to get a false mindset into Christians that keep us in bondage to our past sin. If we are not very careful, we can get into a mindset that keeps us in a pit and under a cloud of condemnation that we create ourselves. In doing that we continue to return to the sin or to that pit and we live there unnecessarily. It is human nature to live out what we believe to be true whether it’s really truth or not. Whatever we are living out, is whatever we genuinely believe to be true about God and about ourselves and continuing to replay our transgressions over and over with guilt keeps us continuing to live a life of condemnation. We do not have to live that way.
Philippians 3:13-14 “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Looking back at Romans 8:1, if you read the original version, which is in Greek. You will find the words Oudies KataKrima or Krima. The word Krima being translated in English is Condemnation. That word Oudies/Ouden, meaning No. However, it goes deeper than just no condemnatory verdict. It is stronger than just no. It means, NOT A SINGLE ONE OF ANY KIND. No not one! Hallelujah! No matter how big or small, no not one. We as humans tend to look back at our pasts or look at our sins and failures and we classify them. We can see some that don’t seem so bad and say, well yeah, I can understand how those can be under no condemnation, but then others that seem bad, we think no way. We get a false mindset and make ourselves believe a lie that we must live under the blackness of that “bad” sin for the rest of our lives when the truth is, NOT A SINGLE ONE are we under condemnation from.
What a wonderful, gracious Father we have. Praise Him! HE IS WORTHY! Thank you Jesus for paying the price you paid. Blessed be the name of the LORD forever.
If we could just get that truth in our hearts, in our mind, we would realize that we do not have to live in that pit of sin anymore. We only keep going back to it and hanging on to the guilt of it because we believe that the sin committed defines who we are. We believe the lie that that’s who we are. NO, we are sons and daughters of the most high, Jehovah, Yahweh, Praise Him! We need to get out of the old mindset and start believing God’s truth, the real truth.
1 Corinthians 5:7-8. 7. “Purge our therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: 8. There let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
Sometimes when we have been in a horrible pit, it does something to us inside and can tend to believe that God in His mercy just “tolerates” us, He just lets us live. Surely He must love others more because we can see they have just done everything better. Satan echoes the lies over our head, look what you’ve done, you will never change, you can never overcome, you will never be good enough. You are worthless. How could God love you? He just tolerates you. Praise God, Satan is a liar. Do not make the mistake of comparing human forgiveness to the way God forgives. When we as humans forgive, we can let it go but we still remember it and it can come back up from time to time and that hurt is there even if we let it go. When God forgives, He does just that.
Psalms 103:11 “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.”
God knew everything about you before you were born. You cannot disappoint God.
Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee;”
1 John 4:16-19. 16. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18. there is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19. We love him, because he first loved us.”
I believe we cannot comprehend God’s love for us. That is why it is hard for us to really get the depth of that love. God loves you, you are not just tolerated. You were called. He approves of you. He sees you as what He can mold you to be. I recently heard a story as I studied for this lesson. It was the experience of a wonderful teacher many of you know and love, Mrs. Beth Moore. This was her experience and what God showed her through it. I want to share it with you before ending this lesson. It shows how much love we as humans can have, so how much more our Father loves us.
A young married woman, expecting her first child, was with her mother out shopping one day. As well as the young woman’s first experience of being with child it was her mothers’ first experience of being a grandmother. They had been talking a few months before about some new technology that allowed the baby to be viewed in 3D through sound waves, or sonogram. They were excited about it but had not yet had the procedure done. It just so happened that day as they pulled into the mall parking lot, they noticed a new building where they could take advantage of that technology, so they ran in and it just so happened that they had a cancelled appointment and so they took the young expectant mother and grandmother back into the room and the young lady lay back on the bed and was hooked up to the machine.
The young grandmother was overcome with excitement and was thinking of nothing but that tiny, sweet baby inside her daughter’s womb. She was as close as she could get, right in front of that monitor and she stated that she had never felt so much pure love as she did when she saw her grandson for the first time. She watched the unborn baby living inside his mother’s womb for 15 minutes. The baby would cross his feet, and lift his chin up, move his arms. The technician explained that the procedure did not hurt the baby but sometimes the sound made them uncomfortable, and this little one must not have liked the sound because he kept tucking his head into the side of his mother’s womb. The young grandmother still overcome with love just talking to the screen, she said hey little baby, I’m your grandmother, do you know how much I love you, as she lovingly touched the screen with her fingers. She took the pictures home with her and showed them to the family and everyone just fell in love with this wee baby that wasn’t even born yet.
She said she just was so over come with love for this little child, several times she would just sit looking at those pictures and just sob because of the overwhelming pure love. This little child she loves so much does not even know she exists. She doesn’t love him because he loves her; she loves him because he is hers. This baby had no clue that it’s family even existed or was even around or that they were watching him. He had done nothing to exist. He just was. He had done nothing to deserve love. He is loved because he just exists and he didn’t even do that. God spoke to her and made her realize that is how He is about his children. With a love that is so far beyond what we can even imagine. Thank You Father.
Before we even knew God exists, He loved us. We did nothing to exist. He created us. We did nothing to deserve His love He just loves us because we are His. Dear child of God, our Father does not just tolerate you, He loves you with pure love like no other will or can love you. Can you see as the Father must look down on us when we are not even aware and as He whispers, oh little one, do you know how much I love you, can you see how much you are loved? As much as we love, how much more the Father loves with pure love. A love so deep and pure, that we as human beings cannot even comprehend. Perfect love casts out all fear. That means fear of condemnation and judgment. We are destined for victory because we who are in Christ Jesus are under no condemnation. Praise HIM!
Psalms 139:17-18. 17. “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O GOD! How great is the sum of them! 18. If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.”
Dearest Father…
How worthy You are to be praised. There is no other like You nor will there ever be. We worship You Father. We pray today for Your will to be done in each of the lives of those that read and try to understand Your word. We thank You so much for Your love and that we are Destined For Victory and no longer slaves to sin and we are under no condemnation through Your Son, Jesus. We thank You for making a way for us to have relationship with You and we ask you to help us grow closer to You and learn more about You with each passing day that we fellowship with You. Help us surrender to You and Your will for our lives and help us have the mindset of Christ instead of believing lies from the devil. We thank You Jesus for dying on the cross and paying the great price You paid for us. Help us to always be thankful and to grow in our faith and in our walk with You Dear Father. Help us to accept and show Your love to others as we serve in Your will. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
PRAISE THE LORD!!!
~*Cindygirl*~