Victory.

And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. – 1 John 5:4b

There is an old hymn found in the This Far by Faith hymnal, “Victory is Mine”. After spending the morning researching the backstory for this hymn, I came up empty. The hymnal lists both the text and music as traditional. However, it wasn’t a total loss, I did find a very stirring recording of the hymn by Gospel singer, Dorothy Norwood. If you’re not familiar with the lyrics to the hymn, they read:

Victory is mine. Victory is mine. Victory today is mine.
I told Satan, “Get thee behind.” Victory today is mine.

The hymn continues repeating the same pattern substituting another of the abundant gifts (joy, peace, love, hope, faith, happiness, etc.) that God graciously gives us in place of “victory.” The song proclaims the good news by reminding us that there are many things that God has given to us that are greater than any power that attempts to overthrow God’s work in us. The powers and principalities that try to overwhelm us are themselves overwhelmed and defeated at the foot of the cross and from the empty tomb.

By faith, we live. The writer of Hebrews teaches us that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb 11.1) It was our ancestors in faith that model for us trusting perseverance. Their faith models for us the victory that we have now received in Jesus. By faith, they lived and were instruments of God’s tremendous power in the world, and yet they “never received the promises, but from a distance, they saw and greeted them.” (Heb 11.13) By following their examples, we, too, are invited to “run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of our faith.” (Heb 12.1-2) By faith, we will endure.

Our faith in Jesus, the crucified and risen Lord, will see us through this life. When the world weighs us down, Jesus lifts us up. When we feel like we can’t go on, Jesus carries us. When we are lost and do not know the way, Jesus is our light and the way. When we are broken and unloved, Jesus abides in us and loves us. And when we feel our past choices have sullied our future and defined our present, Jesus washes us clean in the power of his blood.

The victory of the cross and grave grants to us the gift of faith. We receive through hearing and cling to the good news that Jesus has conquered the world and all other powers that lay claim to his beloved people. This victory has seen us through hard times, it remains with us now, reminding us that we are loved and never alone, and it will continue to hold to us through whatever may be ahead, until this earthly pilgrimage is complete, and we rest with the one who claims us by his cross.

And so we can sing boldly:

Faith is mine! Faith is mine! Faith today is mine!
I told Satan, “Get thee behind!” Faith today is mine!