The cross was a huge victory where Jesus disarmed Satan, stripped him bare, stomped on his head, and put him to death. Through the cross, Jesus “broke the power of him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14).
And now, my friend, you are called to follow in His steps. As we believe in Christ and His finished work, we are enabled to run “quickly toward the battle” (1 Samuel 17:48), facing our giants, confident that in Christ, we are already victorious! The cross should convince you that God is for you, friend, so who or what can be against you? Nothing and No one! (Romans 8:31)
Here is a video of Pastor Mike's encouraging and helpful message to The Gospel Church in Long Beach, WA where he helps us understand more about what it means to war against the flesh.
Do you know that if you are a believer, you have spiritual power over sin? Consider this: “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you” (Luke 10:19). Jesus defeated the evil one for us!
Do you know what this means? It means you stop losing the battle to overeating and laziness. You stop being pummeled and kicked, and instead, you stand firm in the Lord. You begin living like a spiritually mature child of God who wins battles! You don’t have to surrender anymore! Why would you? As a believer in Jesus Christ, you have the power of God that raises the dead and the power of God’s Spirit residing in you.
When trapped in gluttony, I tried to fight on my own and lost every time, so much so that I finally gave up fighting. If I had a thought about eating a big and indulgent meal come into my mind, I would just follow it to the gratifying of my flesh. But no more! Now I am living in the victory that Christ secured for me on Calvary, and you can live this way too. Not that we’ve arrived, but “God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).
Now, I have one more question for you to consider as we close out this introductory teaching on the third foundational principle and before we move into developing your plan. How did Jesus win at the cross? I mean, we just read that He defeated Satan and destroyed His work, but how?
Question 6. How did Jesus win the battle? Share your thoughts.
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If you know the answer to this question, then you know how you will win too. Jesus won through death! He won at the cross! And guess what? You’re going to win the same way! “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin” (Romans 6:6-7). I’m not talking about your physical death, but rather about joining Christ at His cross and dying with Him to sin. Now that’s the kind of death that sets us free!
The third foundational principle of freedom is “Warring against the flesh.” Throughout the course, you will see these foundational principles repeated and reinforced in the lessons. Each time we revisit one of the three principles, we will build on what we have already learned and expand them with different Scriptures and applications.
In the next two lessons, we will seek the Lord for His specific plan for your victory!