“They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you” (Jer 1:19). These words from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah give us an opportunity to think about what is a real victory. Why do people compete, argue, fight, and struggle for victory? How important are such earthly victories and are they welcomed by God?
This is stated in a Facebook post by Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine.
The OCU Primate noted that the Victor is Christ the Savior as the conqueror of sin and death.
“Our God is invincible. The Lord Jesus Christ accomplished many victories and miraculous healings on earth. As the God-man, He became the conqueror of the devil, He overcame death, and through His own death and resurrection, Christ overcame the cause of people’s death – the slavish subjugation of our sinful nature. That is why the Scriptures call this the greatest victory, because not only for someone alone or even for many, death has retreated for a certain time, but for all mankind it has been overcome forever. Therefore, the Lord is for us the Victor of evil and our Savior,” explains the head of the OCU.
God gives all who believe in Him the strength to overcome and defeat evil. That is why faith in the Lord is called victory in Scripture: “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4). That is, faith through Divine grace is able to win, in particular, in the fight against the temptations of this world.
“Jesus Christ is an example of a spiritual Victor for us. He proves that fortitude is very important in any confrontation, that strong-minded warriors are indomitable. On the contrary, even perfect modern weapons in the hands of weak-minded people will never lead to victory,” the metropolitan emphasized.
“The winners are those who follow Christ, those who fight against sin and evil, who defend truth and justice, goodness and peace. Are those who provoke and unleash wars for the sake of enrichment, glorification, or deception the winners? Of course, not. Already at the onset of such a war, they are defeated, they are slaves – of their grave sins, their own passions, spiritual weakness and corruption, their devilishness. Winners are those who resist evil, who protect the weak, defend their homeland, who perform the feat of self-sacrifice for the sake of others because “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15: 13),” he notes.
According to Epifaniy, the authenticity of the victory is mostly determined by its purpose – whether it was gained for the sake of good or for the sake of evil, for the sake of protecting eternal divine values and the Lord’s teachings or for the sake of obtaining earthly temporary benefits and satisfying one’s own lusts or desires. True victory brings good and wellness, while the one unacceptable to God brings destruction, pain, suffering, and necessarily entails punishment.
“Throughout history, after the Fall, mankind has been accompanied by wars. But it’s not the temporary ‘victories’ of dictators, tyrants, or autocrats that live in the people’s memory – it’s real eternal victories for the sake of humanity and life, gained by those whom we call and honor as Heroes. Therefore, one should strive for real good victories, doing everything we can and putting our hope in God, believing in His help and favor. “For victory in war does not depend upon the size of the army, but on strength that comes from Heaven” (1 Mac. 3:19),” concluded Metropolitan Epifaniy.
