Tuesday, November 24, 2009

November 24, 2009

"But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." I Corinthians 15:57
I love winning. I hate to lose. Most people I know are the same way. I don't remember meeting anyone who enjoys losing. I would not care to meet someone who likes to lose.
When I played ball in high school and college, I played on teams that won more than they lost. I got used to winning and always hated to lose. Even to this day I remember the loses more than the wins.
One of the reasons we won a lot of basketball games in high school was because we had Charlie McKenzie. Charlie was tall and talented. He started on the varsity when he was a Freshmen. He ended up as one of the all-time leading scorers in the rich history of Indiana High School basketball.
I was thankful to have Charlie on our team. Charlie simplified our game strategy, get the ball to Charlie! It worked well! In his four years we went 19-3, 22-2, 18-5, and 22-4.
"Thanks be to Charlie who gives us the basketball victories!" Charlie was a winner and made us all winners! I was thnnkful to have him on our team! He took a losing tradition and turned it into a championship program.
My point is that one person can make the difference between winning and losing if that one person is good enough. And for people who like to win, that is good news!
In the game that REALLY matters, living life, losing should not be an option. It is the ONLY game with eternal significance and you only get to play it once. If you win you win forever or if you lose it is forever.
That is the point of our text in I Corinthians 15. You were born a loser into a losing tradition called the human race. So were we all. You were a loser because you were born a sinner with a sinful nature that separates you from God. If you die in that condition you will lose for eternity.
But God is a winner. And He doesn't want those He loves to be losers. So He needed a winner to change the game. And He needed a game-changing strategy. Being the champion that He is He came up with the most amazing game-plan that could turn forever losers into forever winners.
God's strategy and game-plan centered around His Son, Jesus. He is a game-changer. He is undefeated and can change any loser into a winner. He understood that the key to winning to not just defeating the opposition but destroying it! That is what He did! He had to allow Himself to lose His life in order to win the victory. He laid down His life, became a sinner, died in sin to atone for your sins, and then - in the greatest comeback ever - He arose from the dead to defeat sin and death forever!
If you will get on the same team as Jesus, you will instantly become a winner! If you will team with Him and play by His rules you will live and die a champion!
That is the point of this verse! That is what the Apostle Paul knew when he penned these words. This is why he was so thankful when he wrote - "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Tired of losing? Ready to win? On the wrong team? Need a game-changer?