---

Quick Return Home Page

 HIS TRIUMPH-the glory of our hope  

"Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more; but ye see Me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you." [John 14:19-20].

             We hardly need remind ourselves that creation has been made subject to vanity and the bondage of corruption, for we see the vivid evidence of this all about us. But we do need to often encourage ourselves with the fact that God also subjected the same IN HOPE─ hope for the deliverance that should ultimately come, when creation is delivered into the glorious liberty of the children of God. As we have already pointed out in previous chapters, all creation is groaning in travail and waiting for the coming manifestation of the sons of God, for in these sons lies the embodiment of creation's hope for its deliverance. Now, as the sons betoken the hope for creation, it is THE SON who is the hope for the sons, for it is in our Lord Jesus Christ that all of our hope for restoration lies resident. Now when we say that the hope for all the world is found in the sons, that does not exclude our Lord─ we are only emphasizing the point that these sons, when they are fully conformed to His image, become the manifestation of HIMSELF to the world, and thus Christ is glorified and lifted up in a measure hitherto unknown.
            The world shall behold The Christ revealed through the christed-company, with the sons being the many splendored manifestation of Himself. The price of becoming a part of this manifestation is simply that of being a partaker of the fellowship  of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death, until it is "no more I, but Christ liveth in me." [Galatians 2:20]. Our identity erased, His alone to be revealed. Thus, it is not a taking away from His glory, but only an adding, multiplying of His glory. There is a ONENESS which the natural mind cannot comprehend, for self would try to retain its identity, but HE declared it should be this way, "I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you." When we come into the present, into the NOW, into the "I AM," then it shall also be "YE IN ME, AND I IN YOU," all merged into a great oneness which redounds to the glory of God.
            Thus, whatever reality of hope that shall flow through the sons to the world, is that which first we find in Jesus Christ our Lord, for HE is the very center of this hope, "to wit, that God is in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself." [2 Corinthians 5:19]. "For in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition; having abolished in His flesh the enmity...for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace." [Ephesians 2:13-15].
            Therefore, TO LIMIT THE TRIUMPH OF OUR CHRIST IS TO LIMIT ALSO THE GLORY OF THE NEW CREATION OF WHICH HE IS THE HEAD. He is the "firstborn among many brethren." [Romans 8:29]. In whatever measure your unbelief limits the triumph of our Lord, you limit your own hope of redemption from progressing beyond that point. 0, may the Lord now anoint our eyes that we might see more and more of the scope of His victory, to know that IN HIM there are unlimited possibilities, and His triumph knows no restrictions whatsoever. The smaller the revelation you possess, the smaller the arena for His victory to be manifested. As our revelation expands and increases, so also does the arena for the manifestation of His glory in us.
            He is therefore the surety of our redemption, and all that the FIRSTBORN SON receives is to be shared also by His many brethren. "For of His fulness have all we received, and GRACE FOR GRACE." [John 1:16]. The seal of this great fulfillment, however, is not just His death, though we read in Hebrews 9:17, how it takes the death of the testator to put strength into the covenant, for a will is not in force until the maker thereof has died, but the power to carry out that covenant is THE POWER OF RESURRECTION. It takes His death to place that covenant in position to be fulfilled, but it takes the power of His resurrection, THE OUTFLOW OF HIS LIFE TO US─ WARD, to carry out that covenant. Christ not only sealed the covenant with His own blood, but in rising i from the dead HE IS THE LIVING GUARANTEE OF ITS FRUITION .
            "BECAUSE I LIVE, YE SHALL LIVE ALSO." This is the assurance of our victory to be realized in coming days.
            The world, however, has no comprehension of this  victory, nor has it begun to enter into their heart that such could be possible.  Not until the sons of God are made manifest as a living demonstration of redemption shall they have something tangible to see, hear, handle, and know that there is a possibility for them to also partake of such glorious salvation. The sons will become to them the living guarantee, being able to say with authority to them also, "because I live, ye shall live." This very declaration being made by the virtue of the LIFE OF CHRIST which dwells within them.
            "If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up the Christ from the dead shall also QUICKEN YOUR MORTAL BODIES BY HIS SPIRIT THAT DWELLETH IN YOU." [Romans 8:11]. "God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the nations; which is CHRIST IN YOU the hope of glory." [Colossians 1:27]. The hope of our triumph is resident in Christ, and that Christ is now within us─ His Spirit, the anointing of God resident within is the testimony that He lives, and even though we only "have in part" it is the earnest of that fulness which is to come. Not that we would claim to have the fulness yet, but the positiveness of that hour is the fact that He lives.
            "We are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast to the end." [Hebrews 3:14]. This word "confidence" is most helpful, for it is the same word found in Hebrews 11:1, how that "faith is the SUBSTANCE," and comes from the Greek word "substratum." We need to faithfully hold the beginning of our very UNDERGIRDING stedfast to the end. The revelation of God is given to us to be our SUBSTRATUM, our undergirding. Jesus told Peter that the gates of hell could never prevail against the divine revelations imparted from God. If flesh and blood reveal a thing, it can come to nought, traditions break down under the pressures, carnal ideas change with the reversed blowing of the wind, but that which GOD reveals shall stand.
            Therefore our confidence for ultimate victory is only as strong and as broad as our revelation of His triumph of which we are to be partakers. Is it any wonder therefore that some people are reeling beneath the force of the pressures today? They only have a "pin-point" size revelation and are trying to balance themselves upon it, and cannot find enough foothold to stand amid all the turmoil. 0, for an expanded revelation of His triumph that we might have a solid foundation upon which to stand to face all the stormy wInds that blow. That is why God declared through the prophet, "WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE SHALL BE THE STABIITY OF THY TIMES, and strength of salvation." [Isaiah 33:6]. It will take the very wisdom and knowledge of God made real within to give us that firm foundation upon which we might stand.
            We might glibly quote to one another that "perilous times" are upon us, but methinks that we yet fail to grasp the iportent of the path that lies ahead. Yet we are challenged by the scripture, "If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedest, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan." [Jeremiah 12:5]. It is going to take a solid revelation of the hope of His triumph, knowing that because He lives, we, too, shall live, or else we shall find ourselves falling by the wayside, and struggling in waters too deep for us.
            It isn't just a speculating on how great "our" triumphs shall be, but we need to know more of HIS triumph, for our personal victories can be no greater than our vision of HIS. To know that He is GOD, and that there is none else besides Him, but He raiseth up kings, and bringeth them low again, and there is nothing that shall prevail against that which HE has purposed to perform. To know this, then let come what may, we shall have inner peace and rest, knowing that THE LORD REIGNETH, and His kingdom ruleth over all. What through nations may rage as we approach the end of the age, for God is still on the throne. Hallelujah! Yes, we need an expanded foundation upon which to stand─ HIS TRIUMPH FOR OUR HOPE.
            It has been well stated by one that, "all the purposes of God are bound up in the revelation of that purpose, hence the great Satanic warfare to keep that revelation from coming through for our undergirding." This is done by either keeping us in ignorance, or else confusing and grossly adulterating that which would shine through upon our pathway. "Surely the Lord will do nothing but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets." [Amos 3:7]. 0, for an open heaven, with an open vision, that His truth might penetrate deep into our innermost being. Praise God, when "the enemy shall come in like a flood," to distort and mar the truth, "The Spirit of the Lord shall raise up a standard against him." [Isaiah 59:19].
            But God is GOD! And "surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee: the remainder of wrath Thou shalt restrain." [Psalm 76:10].
            And "having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." [Colossians 2:15].
            "According to the working of His mighty power which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenlies, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come." [Ephesians 1:19-21].
            Such is the power that shall bring us into the very fulness of our redemption!
            The resurrection of Christ is the very KEYSTONE of our redemption, and the whole arch of this purpose of the ages would fall were it not for that keystone. If there be no resurrection from the dead we would be of all men most miserable. But now we gladly take the spoiling of our goods, and face the inworkings of the death process, since we know that HIS LIFE shall prevail. For Christ destroyed all the harvests of death by dying, and we shall likewise end all the harvests of the works of the enemy in our own life through this death process whereby "the world is crucified to me, and I unto the world." [Galatians 6:14]. Becoming dead to all of the old order of the carnal mind, we now rise to walk in the newness of His life.
            RESURRECTION─ from the Greek word "anastasis," meaning, a standing or rising up. It is much more than our Latin-derived word "resurrection" which we term to mean the restoring to life again. But the original means THE WHOLE PROCESS OF ADVANCING AND RISING UP UNTIL THE HIGHEST HEAVENS ARE REACHED. Our goal is nothing short than our return back into God from whence we came, and there to find that He has not only brought us to our former estate, but also done better unto us than at our beginning. [Ezekiel 36:11].
            It is not a question of how long one is dead in their sins, for grace is grace, but it is the question of His power, the scope of which we have limited due to the smallness of our revelation of Christ's triumph. People speak of trophies of grace, as though a handful were somehow snatched from the enemy while the rest of mankind is at the mercy, yes, even the terror of the adversary. What nonsense! Beloved friend, CHRIST SHALL EMBRACE ALL MEN IN THE GLORY OF HIS TRIUMPH. "He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the whole world." [1 John 2:2]. His triumph knoweth no bounds, the scope of His victory has no limitations, for HE alone is Victor over death, hell, and the grave.
            Therefore, a revelation of the "ALPHA AND OMEGA," even He who is the Almighty, is in order for our day, that we might know that He is God. "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." [James 2:19]. We have said it so often, we do not serve two Gods, little Jesus and big devil. Nor will we magnify the usurped kingdom of the enemy which even now is beginning to tremble at the threshhold of its downfall. Ah, even the devils know that HE IS GOD, and they tremble, for they know that their reckoning day is coming. Would to God that Christendom had as much knowledge as these devils, and would also begin to tremble in the presence of the King of kings and Lord of lords, yielding their lives unto Him that HE might be all in all in them.
            Beautiful are the words of a chorus:
                        "Thou art King of kings, Thou art Lord of lords,
                        Of the universe Thou art God of all,
                        As the ages pass, and through eternity,
                        We'll share Thy glory, and bring forth praise
                             to Thee."
            Moses caught the glory of this triumph when he also sang out, "For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges." ─and again, "How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up?" [Deut. 32:31,30].
            Yes, The Lord, He is God! And "without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh..." [1 Timothy 3:16]. And what is the world waiting for to see in this day? Another manifestation of God in the flesh─ even made visible in you and me. THE WORD became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. Now, today, God would so indwell His chosen ones, swallowing them up into Himself, that even in this transition process, "the life which I now live in the flesh I LIVE BY THE FAITH OF THE SON OF GOD." [Galatians 2:20]. Thus again an incarnation is taking place, as God indwells these vessels, His glorious remnant, not to dignify this mortal flesh, but that He might change us from glory to glory, until the very atomical structure of our bodies is changed, fashioned anew like unto His glorious body, according to the power whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself. Yes, His triumph IS BECOMING OUR TRIUMPH, and likewise shall the victory of Christ IN His first fruits become the redemption of the whole world, to be witnessed in due time.
            Now we come to the very seriousness of the case, for very few seem to recognize that every overcomer who will share in His glory and throne must take that same path that He trod. There is no one grand leap into the middle of the glory of God. Babylonish teaching has tried to give us that idea, but "It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him." [2 Timothy 2:11-12].  Thus to "him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne." [Revelation 3:21]. The emphasis is clear ─we must overcome EVEN AS He overcame, and then shall we share this glory together.
            Now, the only difference between Christ's overcoming and ours is that the victory has been won before our fight begins. Natural men would then reason, "Why the fight?" And the theologian will argue long and loud about the "finished works." But what we have positionally in Christ MUST BECOME EXPERIMENTALLY WROUGHT OUT IN EACH OF OUR INDIVIDUAL PATHS. It is true, "our old man is crucified with Christ," [Romans 6:6], and "the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world," and all of this must be accepted by faith as a fact in Him, but the OUTWORKING OF IT WITHIN US IS A PROCESS, a long and wearisome process that would spell discouragement except for the fact that BECAUSE HE LIVES, WE SHALL LIVE ALSO.
            Our attitude in the past has not carried enough of the POSITIVENESS OF HIS TRIUMPH. Need we fear the battle when we know the outcome is secure? Ah, but we did not know that the ultimate outcome would be only HIS victory, for we were taught that the devil would reap a greater harvest than the Lord, and we feared lest we would be in his roundup. Praise God for ever more, we can now press the battle to the gate, and know that IN CHRIST we are more than conquerors.
            Christ was able to endure the cross, and despise the shame, because of the joy that was set before Him, (Hebrews 12:2), but how little have we known of the joy that is set before us. No, I cannot tell you how long your hour on the cross will be, but this much we are all learning, the quicker we yield to that cross the quicker its purpose is accomplished in us, and then we shall begin to partake of HIS MORE ABUNDANT LIFE. It is in that "nevertheless afterwards" that we see the peaceable fruit of righteousness, and be persuaded that there is an afterwards, "BECAUSE I LIVE, YE, TOO, SHALL LIVE."
            It is His triumph then that is the very glory of our Hope. We need to begin to synchronize the scriptures, and see the full scope of victory which He has wrought for us, and is now working into us. We have read that "it is appointed unto man once to die," and that "HE tasted death for every man, to deliver us from the bondage of the fear of death." And "the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." Now God hasn't changed His laws─ "the soul that sinneth, it shall die." We have sinned, and we have already died out to the Divine Life and moved into a carnal realm. Now we also must die to that erroneous way of selfhood's rebellion. And since He has also tasted death for every man, blazed the trail through into victory now we can go down into the valley, die out to selfhood, submit to death and by dying gain the victory. There need be no fear that once we have submitted to death that we will forever be in its clutches, because the fact remains, "because He lives, we shall live also."
            Perhaps, because of the extent of rebellion and self-hood in some, it will take them a long time in the PROCESS of dying to that self, before they are purged of all the carnal mind, and every phase of sin and self is removed, but ultimately we know that the last enemy must be defeated, and when all have died to the carnal mind, it will cease to exist, and even the process, the means used, will no longer be needed. "To be carnally minded is death." [Romans 8:6], but when you have died to the carnal mind, it shall no more have dominion over you.
            And this, too, we must consider: If it takes eternity to die out to sin, and to conquer death, then Christ could never be our Saviour, since He was but in the grave three days and three nights. But HE DID conquer, He did taste (experience) death for every man, and He did it in that short span of time. When God moves to bring an end to the reign of death and sin, it will not take Him long to accomplish His purpose.
            How omnipotent is our God! He makes death overcome itself, and He releases a new life for His creation. It is by death that death is rendered powerless. When Christ died He destroyed all the harvests of death, and now HE has the keys of death and hell─ and as He purposes to release men from such bondage, He releases them. It is the glory of God, and His marvelous plan, that, He has planned to allow His sons to also work with Him in this glorious restoration, until "Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them. .." [John 20:23].  "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order." [1 Corinthians 15:22-23].
            I perceive that our constant fighting and resisting of the cross and the process of dying to sin and self is simply a witness against us that we have not fully caught the vision of the triumph of Christ. We would not seek to justify self if we really believed that the sooner self was crucified the sooner we would have the life of Christ revealed in us in His fulness.
            The undergirding of HIS triumph causes us to face the battle with confidence, such as we read in Job 39-21-22, 25, "He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in strength he goeth on to meet the armed men. He mocketh at fear and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword. He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting."
            We fight not against flesh and blood, but against the very cosmic forces of the dark world. Death came as an enemy, but it shall not prevail. All of the processes and forces of evil that are waged against us shall not prevail. GOD IS IMPLANTING A HOPE─ a hope bathed in the very glory of His triumph. As the old path ends, the way of self and rebellion, a new way emerges filled with the glory of His life. How blessed to be able to face the future with confidence— to smell each battle afar, and say, ha, ha, knowing that the battle IS WON IN CHRIST, and now it shall become an experimental victory in us also. Because He lives, we, too, shall live. And when all creation shall see the manifestation of this living victory, they shall be encouraged, knowing that redemption shall be theirs also.
 
 

 
VICTORY OF THE SOUL'S TRAVAIL
 
 
Through the long watches, dark as the night,
Searched we for answers, longing for light.
While He did lead us on to the cross,
Self, and its glory, counted as loss.
Turbulent waters, thoughts in amaze,
Swirling in circles─left in a daze.
Hours of travail gripping the soul,
Battling forces seek for control.
This is the process He has made mine,
While all my being He doth refine.
Union of suff'ring, formed to His death,
Kept by the life of spiritual breath.
Till all His image radiates through
This mind which now He truly makes new.
Satisfied fully, when I awake
And of His nature freely partake.
Then to forget all travail and pain,
Christ in this vessel henceforth shall reign.
Glorious triumph out of the tomb,
Birthing a new man─Calvary's bloom.
Gone are the shadows, new life begun,
Filled with His fulness, one in the Son.
Blessed fulfillment, the promise is true,
He lives, and I live, a life that is new.
 

 ^{_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(1)  Prinzing, Ray and Doris. THE TRIUMPHANT WAY!. (now out of print), Boise, Idaho 83705}

---

Back to Top of Page  Back to Triumphant Way Content list Exit to Introduction Menu  Back to Library  List
  Back to Prinzing Book List  Back to All Things Menu  Back to Reconciliation