Undefeated

I confess that before this weekend, I had never heard of the racehorse, Frankel. 

But now I have learned that, having won 14 big races in a row, he may well have been the greatest racehorse ever. Finishing undefeated is remarkable. 

I can think of a few politicians who would like that record.  But further comments about political leadership must wait for another day.

Most of us face challenges and difficulties daily, and we too would love to know how to stay undefeated by all that comes at us. 

In Frankel's case, he often seemed to be well off the pace, as the race started, but then he would increase his pace, and come storming through to win by a huge margin. He repeatedly turned a possible defeat into a wonderful victory, and he repeatedly destroyed the quality field in the process. He didn't just scrape home by 'a short head', but by many lengths.

That reminds me of Jesus, and his death and resurrection.

St. Paul tells his friends in Colossae that in his death, Jesus was undefeated. 'God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He cancelled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.' (Colossians 2.13-15)

Jesus' very public humiliation and death was not what it seemed. It looked like a terrible demonstration of his failure. But it was, in truth, a public shaming of the spiritual rulers and authorities that are still active in our world today. All the forces that oppose God's will in this world today need to be reminded, by people like us, that Jesus was undefeated by them, as demonstrated in the resurrection from the dead.

That means that Jesus was undefeated, and that we can share in that undefeatedness (a new word coined by me this very morning!)

St. Paul states this very powerfully, when writing to his friends in Rome. 'Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8.35-39)

If anyone is feeling 'under pressure' today, re-read those last verses, and recall that we are on the undefeated side in the battles we face, and thank Jesus for his wonderful love and victory.

Every blessing,

Richard