Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Christ's Victory


One amazing thing about the gospel is that Christ provides both justification (forgiveness) sanctification (progressive innate holiness until the 2nd coming) and glorification (innate perfect holiness after the 2nd coming) to those who receive Him as Lord, Savior, and treasure. I think it's important to remember that if God ,through Christ, doesn't provide glorification ( the perfect and holy resurrection of our bodies) then sin and death would not be ultimately defeated (1 Corinthians 15:54-58). For if God's plan of redemption just provided forgiveness of sins and thus allowed us to go to a spiritual realm called heaven (Phil 1:23 and 2 Corthinians 5:8- which would be great too a large degree) then Satan/sin/death would have ultimately foiled God's good and physical creation (Genesis 1).

But since Christ has physically risen from the dead and because Christians are connected by faith to him, we will also rise (Romans 6) thus we can sing of Christ's victory now and forever.

"Death is swallowed up in victory." 55 "O death, where is your
victory? O death, where is your sting?" 56The sting
of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, who
gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corthinians
15:55-57)