Tag Archives: children of God

The Ultimate Parade of Victory!

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images-47As far as you could see there was a sea of blue clothed fans packed in the streets. The atmosphere was filled with excitement and resounding shouts of victory as the crowds pressed in to see the oncoming parade. It was the fall of 2015 and the Kansas City Royals had just clinched the World Series pennant. The city couldn’t have been more committed in the celebration parade; schools were closed as well as some businesses and many took the day off to make a family day of it. The parade was filled with local marching bands, ticker tape and most important, the bigger than life team players.

After being involved in this city-shaking event it makes Paul’s words to the Colossians come alive more vividly. He says in Col. 2:14-15 concerning Jesus work on the cross, “…having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the

At the End of the Age we will be shocked at the devils weakly appearance!

cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it”. The word “triumphing” Paul uses here and also in 2 Cor. 2:14 is a figure of speech drawn from the ceremony that greeted a Roman general who had won a decisive victory over a enemy. This “Via Triumphalis” parade usually featured a display much like our “parade of champions” in our sports enthused societies.

The parade would wind through the most occupied places of the city. At the front would be musicians, dancers and maidens carrying perfumes and incense, throwing flower petals along the way, much like the flower girl at a wedding. The air and atmosphere would be filled with the smell and sounds of victory! Then in a chariot pulled by white horses, came with the conquering general wearing a crown on his head given by Caesar, and in his right hand a palm leaf symbolizing victory. Behind him came his son’s and officers sharing in the victory.

Yet there was one more group following and it was those captured. They were being displayed before the citizens of the city, stripped of weapons, armor, clothing, bound in chains and tied to the conquerors chariots. These defeated foes would be revealed as humiliated and powerless opponents in front of the cheering crowds.

The apostle Paul used this triumphal procession as an analogy of Christ’s victory at the cross. He was painting a picture for us so we could see that the enemy

 If the devil was defeated at the cross and we are victorious through Jesus why don’t we live like It!  

was totally defeated through Jesus’ work. Therefore, as a Christian we need to see the enemy of our souls as just that, a defeated foe! To often we still imagine the devil as a big bad threat in our lives instead of the humiliated spectacle beheld on the parade route!

Peter describes in his letter the devil as someone that roams around acting like a roaring lion. (1 Pet. 5:8) And if we look further at some other passages in scripture we can even paint a broader picture of satan being nothing more than a toothless fake lion on a leash with a bashed in head eating dirt! (Gen 3:14-15, Ps 3:7, Job 1:12) He is nothing that we should be intimidated by as sons and daughters of God. (Gal. 3:26) In Isa 14:12-17 it tells us concerning the devil at the “End of the Age” that we will “gaze at you, and consider you, saying: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms”. We will be shocked at his weakly appearance! So let’s not wait until then to get a right perspective. He is defeated and we are victorious through Jesus our Lord! So live like It!

 

Thoughts to Ponder:  

  1. Have you been one of those that have imagined wrongly the devil as a big bad scary enemy?   Why do you think you have believed that?
  2.  If the enemy of our souls is already defeated why do you think many people are in bondage by him?
  3. What must a person do to be included in the triumphant parade behind Jesus? In other words how do we become a son and daughter of God?

 

Quotes to Tweet:

At the End of the Age we will be shocked at the devils weakly appearance! www.billvirgin.com

If the devil was defeated at the cross and we are victorious through Jesus why don’t we live like It!    www.billvirgin.com

 

#TheDevilIsNothingButADeafeatedFoe        #WhyShouldIBeAfriadOfTheDevil

 

 

Do You know Who You Are?

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images-45When I was in Junior High my brother and I were riding our bikes on a hot August evening through a section of our small farming community when a neighborhood “Bully” came riding up between us yelling, “Do You know who I am?”. The question he was asking was not a wrong question but his arrogant and blunt manner of how he was asking it was definitely out of place. At the time my brother and I were confused and not sure what we had done to stir this assault with words and anger. Thinking back, I guess we must not have had permission to go through his turf. He must have been a self appointed kingpin of that block. Yet in an uncommon fashion and complete unison we decided to just ignored him and keep riding along our journey.

Honestly, when I think of that event it still brings a smile to my face and makes me chuckle. But in a more serious note it also reminds me of how the devil, the enemy of our souls, comes to us often and arrogantly tries to intimidate us and convince us he is in control.

In 1 Peter 5:8, we read Peter’s exhortation to Jewish believers, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour”. The devil has no other thought than to accuse you and destroy you. Stopping you from fulfilling your God given purpose. The enemy does that through stealing, killing and destroying in your lives. (Jn. 10:10) He is a master intimidator and manipulator, an transform himself as a angel of light” as it says in 2 Cor 11:14. He looks and waits for you to leave the gate open in the fields of your life.

The devil has no other thought than to accuse you and destroy you, stopping you from fulfilling your God given purpose.

In other words the devil is a squatter, which is a person that unlawfully occupies land or a building making and saying it is their own. The devil is a self appointed kingpin and can only overpower you by deceiving believers.

In the same manner that the neighborhood bully tried to intimidate my brother and I with the words, “do you know who I am”, the enemy is also doing the same to many immature Christians. Paul declares he wasn’t ignorant of satan’s devices, desiring to take advantage of God’s people. (2 Cor 2:11) There’s to many Christian that don’t know who they are, therefore, the enemy pushes them around!

In all reality my brother and I should have said to the bully in our past, as well as, every believer should say when the enemy comes knocking is… “Do you know who we are?”. Instead of cowering to the intimidation of the enemy we need to stand

We have the privilege of being in the family of God. You are now a child of the King.    

in confidence of our identity in Christ. We are children of the most high. We should be quick to announce to the enemy “You are messing with the wrong person! We are a kings kid”.

In Gal 4:4-7 we read, “God sent forth His Son … that we might receive the adoption as sons… Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” Through our receiving of Jesus being the Son of God we are adopted into being His sons and daughters. We now have the birthright of His bloodline. That’s what it means to be an heir! A person legally entitled to inherit and continuing the legacy of a predecessor. We have the privilege of being in the family of God. You are now a child of the King.