Have you ever watched a sporting event, award show, or talent contest where you already knew the outcome? You probably recorded it so you could see it in its entirety. There may not be the typical anticipation, or even stress, when you know who wins, but don’t we still enjoy some of the entertainment value?
I thought about that as I was watching the most recent Super Bowl where I felt a strong kindred spirit with Brock Purdy, the past four-year starting quarterback at Iowa State, my alma mater., and now the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. I commented to one of my guests that I was trying to pretend I already knew the outcome so I could just enjoy the plays without the accompanying tension and anxiety. Yeah, not successful in that! We’ll get back to this in a moment.
In the past day or so, God has been bringing to mind a very familiar scripture text that I don’t believe I’ve ever included in a blog post.
Here’s the full text from Romans 8:37-39:
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Let’s focus on that first sentence for now. The “all these things” phrase is referring back to a previous verse with a frightening list of likely challenges we may face at some stage of our lives – tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, sword. Ugh! Not very encouraging on the surface, until we look at it in the proper context.
A much more encouraging phrase in that same sentence is “more than conquerors.”
According to Webster, a conqueror is described as, “one who wins a country in war, subdues or subjugates a people, or overcomes an adversary … Generally, conqueror is used to mean the winner of a war or the leader of a vanquishing army.”
Those are powerful words! How many of you have ever described yourself as a conqueror? Or even had the remote feeling of being a conqueror? My only recollection of using that descriptor is when I’ve solved a tough crossword puzzle, or mastered a difficult piece of music. Not quite on the same level as a vanquishing army leader!
And yet, in our verse, we are declared not just conquerors, but more than conquerors. Hard to wrap our heads around that one, isn’t it? If we continue reading, we realize the only way we can achieve such a guaranteed victory is “through him who loved us.”
One of the many themes running consistently through the Bible is this – we can accomplish nothing in our own strength, but through God’s power, we can achieve anything. That’s simplifying it a bit, but I think you see the gist of this.
It is God who is fighting the battles of this life with us and for us.
He goes on in that text to list every spectrum of possible challenges that we could face, capping it off with “anything else in creation.” Absolutely nothing separates us from God’s love. And it’s that love that declares us more than conquerors.
If we take a few moments to truly let that promise sink deep into our minds and our hearts, it’s astounding.
So, let’s go back to the scenario I painted in the first couple of paragraphs. Clearly, life isn’t merely a sporting event or random contest, but I think the same general concept could be applied.
God has promised us, unequivocally, that he has already won the battle. He has secured our victory. He is the conquering King and he’s bringing us along for that incredible celebration when all those who have put their trust in him will reign with him forever in triumph.
It’s the kind of glorious hope that helps me keep moving forward, day after day. But this can be much more than just a hope for the future.
Just as with our pre-determined sporting event, we, too, know what the guaranteed outcome is. Are we living our lives like we believe that? I know I often fall short by stressing over the challenges of this life.
This is not to minimize the impact of our trials, but to change our perspective through those trials, knowing all that awaits us in the throne room of God.
I want to rest in the assurance that, ultimately, I don’t face any losing battles because God has gone before me, and marches with me.
But thanks be to God!
He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:57