Focus: Our Banner of Victory

Text: 2Cor.2:14

"Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place."

In Exodus 17, Israel fought against Amalek and won. Truly the victory came by God as Moses held up the rod of God in his hand. After the victory God instructed Moses to raise an altar with a flag or banner above it entitled, YahwehNissi - the LORD our banner of victory. Yes, God is our warrior! He is the man of war!

I find it amazing that this name of God, which signifies victory in battle, is connected to the altar, which signifies worship and sacrifice. Think about it, but that will be a subject of discussion for another time.

God fights our battles in our battlefields and gives us the victory to celebrate. He is our defender and protector. Vance Havner rightly said, "Jesus is all we have; He is all we need and all we want. We are shipwrecked on God and stranded on omnipotence!"

God is there for us at all times. I join the Apostle Paul to ask, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" In Christ, God is always causing us to triumph and making manifest through us the sweet fragrance of His knowledge in every place we find ourselves. Is it not interesting that Paul of all people said this? The man who had known pain and peril in his life for the sake of the gospel. The man who was often beaten and battered for his faith in Christ Jesus. The man who suffered in the hands of false brethren and whose body was buffeted and left for dead. A. Bonningram says it better: "It was Paul who had malaria and poor eyesight, who was whipped, imprisoned, stoned and shipwrecked who said, "God has turned my life into a pageant of triumph.""

Regardless of what it may look like on the outside, we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. In Christ we win an overwhelming victory. We don't always look like it, but the reality remains that God is our banner of victory.

According to Paul, we are "being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God" (2Cor.9:11). Someone is thanking God because of you. Someone is glorifying God on account of you. Someone is blessing the Lord because you reside in the neighborhood. You are a blessing. The presence of God in your life is working wonders. You are so rich being in Christ. You are triumphant in Christ. Keep holding the rod of God in your hand and lifting your banner of victory - YahwehNissi.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter