A Victory Won For Us

'And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow. I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.’

Joshua 24:12–13 (ESV)

As we enter victory, we must remember who won the battle. When we return to Eden, the beauty of the restored garden will not be of our own strength. We enter glory, even obtain glory, but never achieve it. Glory is given us by the Father, through the Spirit, and the Son suffered torment in order to purchase it for us. We can enter heaven knowing it is ours, but we can never claim any merit of our own. Our swords drew no blood and our bows fired not one piercing arrow. Rather, it was the blood of Christ that won our victory, his side pierced with a spear, not darts.

God declared his victory to the Israelites through the mouth of Joshua, and our forgiveness declared through the words of the Son. Like hornets, the angel armies drive away our foes. We dwell in the house of the Lord, a glorious metropolis built by no human hand. We eat of the tree of life, but we took no part in its sowing, watering, and tending. All the splendor of heaven is gifted to us, and we need not fight a single battle in order to obtain it, for the battle was won in the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus.

Non Nobis Nati