“Our struggle,” says the apostle Paul, “is not against flesh and blood, but against . . . the powers of this dark world, against the spiritual forces of evil on a cosmic scale.” (Ephesians 6:12)

We struggle against all sorts of negative spiritual forces in life—temptation, falsehood, hatred, fear . . .—and those forces come at us from both within and without. But we are not left alone! Christ on the cross confronts all the powers of evil, and Christ wins the victory. As Paul said, “Christ disarmed the principalities and powers . . . triumphing over them on the cross.” (Col. 2:15) So as we put our trust in Christ, we can have confidence that Christ will bring us to victory; for as Paul says, “Christ rescues us from the power of darkness.” (Col. 1:13)

We can have confidence that Christ will bring us to victory Click To Tweet

We may face some very dark times in our lives and our world; but in the midst of such times we can look to the cross—we see that Christ came triumphant through the darkness of the cross, and so we can have faith that Christ by His grace will bring us into the light of God’s promises, and we can join then in exclaiming, “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (I Cor. 15:57)

Sunday’s Scripture Readings:
Colossians 2:15
I Corinthians 15:56–57
Colossians 1:11–14, 19–20

About the Author

Dr. David A. Palmer has been the senior pastor at the United Methodist Church of Kent since 1995. He has a B.A. from Wittenberg University, a Master of Divinity from Duke University, and a Doctor of Ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary. A native of Wooster, Ohio, he has served three other churches in east Ohio before coming to Kent. He and his wife, Mavis, have three children.