The Victorious Life
THE VICTORIOUS LIFE FOR TODAY!
My prayer for you in 2022 is that you will live the victorious life today. It is the living out of your faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ in your everyday activities, in your comings and goings, your personal and professional life! Today, we start the new year with a proclamation of our faith through the reading of God’s Word and the partaking of the Lord’s Supper.
The Word of God for the Church of Jesus Christ from Paul’s 1 Corinthians 15:50-58:
Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will 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 will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
Beloved Church of Jesus Christ, my brethren, we come to the Lord’s Table on this first Sunday of 2022 to declare that God has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World. The victory of God is the defeat over the evil forces of hell, of sin, and of the final enemy, death. Paul declared in Colossians 3:12-15 and 1 Corinthians 15:20-26:
When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
- Do you believe in Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, who took your death on the Cross of Calvary, which every person deserves as the wages for sin, so that you may experience forgiveness for sin through the sufficiency of God’s grace?
- Do you believe that Jesus Christ, defeated death, experiencing the resurrection from the dead after three days in the grave, revealed himself in His resurrected body to His followers for forty days, and is now ascended to the right hand of God where He intercedes for you today?
- Do you believe that God loves you and has chosen to make His dwelling place in you through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who has sealed you for the day of redemption?
- Do you believe that even now you have eternal life through the precious blood of Jesus Christ and that nothing can separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing?
- Do you believe that Jesus Christ will come again, soon, to bring His people to Himself and restore justice to the nations through His iron rod of judgment?
- Do you believe that on the Day of the Lord, Jesus Christ will make all things new and restore on the earth the dwelling place of God with humanity, in the New Heaven and New Earth?
This is our faith, and this is our victory, bestowed upon us through the love of God in Jesus Christ! The answer to Jesus’ question about belief is the key to your partaking in the victory that God graciously given you through faith in Jesus Christ. As 1 John 5:4 states, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”
Faith, according to Hebrews 11:1 is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” It is our faith in the life, death, resurrection, ascension, and imminent return of Jesus Christ that is our victory because it is through faith that we take on the life of God through the forgiveness of our sins and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.
As a regular practice of our faith and as a proclamation of our unity as the people of God, we declare the victory of God through the partaking of the elements of the Lord’s Supper—the bread represents His body and the juice His blood. Our participation in this supper causes us to yearn for the abundance of the great wedding feast we will enjoy together in the very presence of Jesus Christ in Heaven—our union with Him and reunion with those who are in Him throughout all time.
After a moment of silence, I will read the words of institution over the elements of this ancient ordinance of the Church, as given to us by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23-33:
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.
Prayer of preparation
Let us, the one body of Christ, in concert with the Church of Jesus Christ throughout the world and throughout time, partake of the elements together:
- His body broken for you… Partake of the bread
- His blood shed for the forgiveness of your sin… Partake of the cup.
This is the eternal covenant of God with humanity, which is for the forgiveness of your sin and the eternal union of your soul with God. May God have mercy on His people and may you find rest for your soul. Let this service today and this partaking of the Lord’s Supper remind you of your baptismal vows to God and your forsaking of the devil and of the world. The Cross before you, the world behind you, no turning back!
We now dedicate ourselves to Jesus Christ and His righteousness, and our days left upon this earth to the service of the King of kings and His eternal kingdom. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I now declare over you the words of the Apostle Paul from Ephesians 4:1-6 & 1 Corinthians 15:58:
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. … Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.