Victory… real, true, meaningful victory:

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ…
2 Cor 2:14

I’m always cautious about taking snippets of scripture because it is so easy to take it out of context.  But that little piece above seems to ring true to me both in context and as an axiom of my faith.  So where do we go with that?  Following closely on the heels of the fragment above:

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.  We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed - always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you.

And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,”we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
2 Cor 4:7-15

Contradiction in these verses?  I think not.  In fact, I think I learn more from scripture by fitting together seemingly inconsistent verses and figuring out how both can be true than by piling up verses that are obviously consistent with one another.

I believe with all my heart and being that I will ALWAYS triumph in Christ.  The problem is that we want to define triumph by earthly/societal/human/temporary definitions.  When we define triumph in Christ in ways that really matter - eternal ways, consistent with God’s kingdom and plan, we can be: hard-pressed on every side, perplexed, persecuted, struck down… and be victorious.  Why?  God’s ways are not our ways.  The first will be last, the wisdom of God is foolishness to the world… right?  So when we focus on our temporary and human battles, we are often seriously NOT victorious per Paul’s description in verse 4.

But eternally, God’s plan will not be thwarted.  We have eternal grace, and carry in our bodies the dying of Jesus that we may also carry His life.  We are assured of victory in EVERYthing that is of eternal importance.  That brings the peace that Paul speaks of even in the difficult situations he describes.  I mean, really… given the incredible gift of grace and love that we have received, these temporary human concerns need not disturb us.