I saw a meme the other day that asked if we should be worried that the year after 2020 is 2021. Its meaning was to sound out 2021 as 20 twenty won. In some ways, we can all relate. 2020 was a rough year, and yet if we are willing to admit it, there were probably a lot of good things that happened in 2020. They just seemed to be overshadowed by the continued onslaught of fear-mongering, bad news, and the biggest interruptions and changes to our society and lives that I’ve seen in my lifetime. But where should the believer keep our hope? The answer is obvious, and yet the Bible is filled with example after example of people of faith, forgetting where our victory and hope come from.

1 Corinthians 15:50-58 is a section of Scripture that I want to encourage you to meditate on this week. In this passage, Paul is encouraging us to remember that our lives will be changed by God in the Rapture or in our Graduation from this life to the next. All of this is because of the Victory over death that Christ won! This should keep the believer grounded in the surety that our lives are in God’s hands in 2020 or 2021.

This transformation is a reminder that, as Paul states it, “Death is swallowed up in Victory.” It seems like these days, with death counts, riots, and the uncertainty of the future, some victory is really what we need. Christ offers this victory because He earned it in conquering sin and death for us! This is why Paul could finish this passage out with, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Our victory is through Christ’s victory.

Paul then concludes with, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain.” How steadfast and immovable do you feel lately? Paul’s encouragement is that we can be steadfast and immovable in our faith because of Christ’s victory!

If there is one thing I am convinced that God wants believers to do in 2021, it’s to not let the circumstances and a lingering pandemic, Governmental turmoil, or increasingly evil society to move us to doubt our faith in the Victory of Christ! Our faith and serving Christ in 2021 is not in vain. It is what will proclaim the Victory of Christ to a lost and dying world.