12 August 2016

We Have Overcome!

My family and I have been keeping tabs on the Olympic competition in Rio.  It is a rare opportunity to see the best athletes in the world competing for Olympic gold and global acclaim.  One thing spectators can count on is surprise victories and stunning defeats.  There are always compelling stories about athletes who will never grace the platform but have sacrificed much in pursuit of mastery and excellence.  Behind every athlete is a long story of training, overcoming injuries and long odds to earn the chance to compete.  Some fail to make the semi-finals, and others win multiple medals.  While the medal counts for certain countries stack up, there still remains countries that have never won a single medal.

Until the Olympics in Rio, one of those countries without an Olympic medal was the island nation of Fiji.  They had been widely tipped to have a superb team heading into the Games, and they lived up to the hype in claiming a gold medal with a decisive victory in the final.  The moment I savoured most was when after the game the team circled up and sung a hymn.  At first I couldn't understand the words.  But as they harmonised the words suddenly came in English:  "We have overcome!  We have overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of the LORD!  We have overcome!"  It was an emotionally moving moment for me, and I've been singing the song to myself through the day.

I didn't win a gold medal, but I felt like I could rightly sing that song of praise to God with them.  No one can take a gold medal or any accolades from earth when their life ends, but that is a song those men who trust in Christ as Saviour and I will be singing to God for eternity.  Jesus is the One who has overcome the power of sin, death, Satan, and hell through His death and resurrection.  All who repent and trust in Him enter into His victorious life granted for eternity.  In Jesus Christ we have a prize greater than medals, crowns, kingdoms, or all the fame and wealth on this planet combined.  The twenty-four elders are described as singing to Jesus Christ in Revelation 5:9-10, "And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth."  People from island nations and every corner of the world will one day lift their voices in praise to God, harmonising together as one for the glory of our Messiah and King, the One who has overcome.

The rugby pitch can be a violent place, but for a few moments yesterday it was a genuine slice of heaven.  I don't know anyone on the Fiji rugby team, but I imagine there were Christians among them.  If that is the case, then Jesus was out on that pitch.  Jesus explained in Matthew 18:20, "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."  As their words rose up to heaven, I celebrated with them our shared victory we have through Jesus.  How sweet He is!

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