The Meaning of the Cross, Day 28

Welcome to Day 28 of our series, “40 Days of the Cross.” Each day we are taking just a few minutes to look at a word which will help us better understand the meaning of the cross. Today’s word is victory. 

We love our little victories in life. Those times we come up against a problem and we conquer it. It gives us that little rush of accomplishment that makes us feel good about ourselves. What we hate is facing a problem that conquers US. Those problems that seem insurmountable. Sometimes those problems are financial and we find ourselves in great debt. So much debt that people have to declare bankruptcy to admit their failure. 

One of those debts we all have is the debt of sin. No matter how hard we work to gain the victory over sin, the debt is too great. No amount of doing good things can conquer the broken, sinful, core of our nature that pushes us towards selfish, prideful, sinful behavior. That sinfulness is a debt that we have no hope of overcoming, no hope of gaining victory. 

Paul wrote a letter to the church in Colossae that was trying to gain victory through meeting the legal demands of the laws of the Old Testament. But Paul told them this was foolish and that the victory had already been won. Colossians 2:14-15 tells that Jesus achieved the victory. That He did so by “canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” 

Our triumph, our victory, was not accomplished by us. It was accomplished through Jesus on the cross. We desire to live lives of righteousness to please God, not to gain victory over our sin. That victory is already accomplished. That victory was won through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. He has gained the victory and liberated us from the debt of our sin. We’ll talk more about liberation tomorrow. 

After we pray today, I encourage you to take a few minutes to contemplate how Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross purchased victory for us. 

Heavenly Father, forgive us for times when we try to gain victory on our own. Help us to see the cross of your Son Jesus as the symbol and the battleground of the victory that was won FOR us. And in the name of Your Son we ask this, amen. 

Thanks for reading today. 

Continued tomorrow