Christus Victor: Victory Over Sin
Christus Victor: Victory Over Sin
Romans 3 & 6, Colossians 2
March 30th, 2025
Christus Victor
“An element of the atoning work of Christ that emphasizes the triumph of Christ over the evil powers of the world, through which he rescues his people and establishes a new relationship between God and the world.”
Christus Victor
The evil powers of this world are real and active but not victorious.
We were once slaves to sin but now we are free from sin.
Sin once separated us from God but the victorious Christ has satisfied our sin and restored our relationship with God.
“What you believe about God is the most important thing about you.” A.W. Tozer
Do you believe Christ is victorious?
This morning I want to unpack…
What is sin?
What does sin do?
How did sin lose?
How does sin still lose?
The most prevalent Biblical understanding of sin is to “miss the mark”.
Whose mark? God’s mark. God’s road. God’s goal.
Sin then is the contradiction of God – His word, will and ways.
“Man’s sin lies in his pretension to be god.” Reinhard Niebuhr
“God created us in His image and we have been returning the favor ever since.” Voltaire
“To sin” is to act contrary to God. To “live in sin” is to reject God and become a god unto myself.” Charlie Weir
Romans 3:23 (NIV) 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
What is sin? Sin is missing God’s mark.
What does sin do? Sin sends you down a dead-end road to a dead-end place.
Matthew 7:13,14 (NIV) 13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Life Lesson: Be careful from whom you take life directions. Wrong directions, even given with good intentions, still take you down a dead-end road to a dead-end place!
The Impact of a Dead End
#1 We miss the destination & destiny God has for us.
#2 If we don’t course correct we will be separated from God for all of eternity.
“A good God doesn’t send people to hell.”
God doesn’t send people to hell, He came to save people (John 3:16,17) but people choose hell when they reject God.
Romans 6:23 (NIV) 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What is sin? Sin is missing God’s mark.
What does sin do? Sin sends you down a dead-end road to a dead-end place.
How did sin lose? Jesus nailed it!
Colossians 2:13-15 (NIV) 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
“When you were dead.” We were once lifeless thus powerless to change our condition. Let me also add, dead people can’t save themselves.
“God made you alive with Christ.” Life is God’s Gift. Giving life is Christ’s work.
“Alive with Christ” means to be free from sin. I can’t live in sin and freedom at the same time.
A “canceled the charge” is a reversal of situation. There is no denial that “it” happened, it’s just the consequences have been absorbed by someone else.
“Nailed to the cross.” Jesus killed sin and cancelled death.
“Disarmed.” Satan still fights back but with limited power and zero authority. The Cross wins – Sin loses, again.
What is sin? Sin is missing God’s mark.
What does sin do? Sin sends you down a dead-end road to a dead-end place.
How did sin lose? Jesus nailed it! The cross wins, again!
How does sin still lose?
Christ won once and for all (Hebrews 7 & 10). By choosing Jesus daily.
How do I apply/live in Christ’s victory over sin day to day?
Pay attention to your walk.
Galatians 5:16-18 (NIV) 16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
How do I apply/live in Christ’s victory over sin day to day?
Every day, lay yourself down and pick Jesus up; His will and His ways.
Luke 9:23-25 (NIV) 23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?
How do I apply/live in Christ’s victory over sin day to day?
Know Christ & Press on!
Philippians 3:10-14 (NIV) 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
The more you align with your thoughts, decisions and actions with your new nature the more life you will experience, the more freedom you will enjoy.