A Victory Story Series

A Victory Story Selected Texts

1. Victory now sanctification (hagios): to make holy

Positional: occurs at salvation 1 Peter 2:9 1 Corinthians 6:11

Progressive: the process of growing in and becoming more like Jesus

Colossians 2:6-7 John 10:10 Titus 3:5-6 Ephesians 5:18 To be

Perfected: when we are in the literal presence of Christ, perfected and complete.

2. Victory forever glorification: the final removal of any effects of sin resulting in the eternal state bliss for every believer

There will be no sin

There will be no effects of sin

There will be a new physical reality

There will be unrestricted intimacy with the Triune God.

We love happy endings, right? Here are a few great story endings….(montage of these clips: Wonderful Life (from 6:25 to 7:08 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrmUipa1kc4) Rocky (3:08-3:26https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSK-Iv3gh9I)…Beauty and the Beast (2:02-2:22 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RyNu_Gg2uQ) …Princess Bride (1st 12 seconds of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUEdyXoMkgA)…Shawshank Redemption (:058-1:15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRBl0GPBm4o)

We LOVE happy endings. And you know: There is a universal desire for happy endings.

God’s story is a story that has the BEST happy ending. We’ve been talking about how God’s story in the Bible has four acts: Act 1, Creation: everything created for man’s own good and God’s own glory. Act 2, Fall. Every ounce of disease and death, both with our bodies and with our souls, is traced back to one single event when humanity believed that they knew better than God. Act 3 is all about Rescue and Redemption; how God became one of us so that He could rescue us from the penalty of our willful disobedience. And what a rescue it was..and is. Last week we had ?? people in our three services rescued and redeemed by placing their faith and trust in Jesus alone for their salvation!

But now that leads us to the 4th and final act: Victory. Nobody wants to lose; nobody likes defeat. We have this universal desire for happy endings. And through Jesus Christ, we are now set up for victory now and victory forever.

Let’s look first at victory now.

1. Victory now

This is the idea of sanctification (generally): setting apart something and using it for its original purpose

This stool was created to be sat upon, right? So when I sit on it, I am sanctifying it.

It’s a stool whether I sit on it or not. So it is set apart, meaning that it’s not a drum or a guitar. But it is fully sanctified when I sit on it.

sanctification (biblically): set apart for and being transformed into the image of Jesus. We were created in the image of God, right? But we were in a wreck and the image has been tragically distorted. Like a car that’s been in a wreck (pic attached), we can tell it’s still a car, but it’s tragically distorted. A wrecked car can be taken to a body shop and restored (pic attached)

Humanity has been in a wreck. That was Act 2: the Fall. We were created in the image of God but the Fall and our own choices have tragically wrecked us. But those of us who are in Christ have been hauled into God’s body shop and He is in the process of restoring us into His image. That’s called sanctification. The Greek word for sanctification (hagios): to make holy. Sanctification has two dimensions:

Positional: occurs at salvation From the moment that you are saved, you have been set apart. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9

In Christ, we are holy. IN fact, that’s why we are called saints: set apart ones. If you’re in Christ, you are accepted and set apart and holy in God’s eyes. How so? When He looks at us He sees the blood of Jesus and based on that He accepts us as holy. “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:11

But even the best of us don’t ACT holy all the time, right? My sweet Sue is close to perfect, but even she doesn’t act holy ALL the time! So now we examine progressive sanctification.

Progressive: the process of growing in and becoming more like Jesus If positional is all about spiritual birth, then progressive is all about spiritual growth. This is becoming holy. We’re holy positionally, but becoming holy experientially. “So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7 being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude.” Colossians 2:6-7 Live in Him. Be rooted in Him. Grow in Him.