Get out of the ring

Don’t play the game – you can’t win!

I grew up watching boxing. Rocky (yeah, he’s fictional), Evander Holyfield, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, and old footage of Mohammed Ali and George no Foreman. Then along came Iron Mike Tyson. He was a beast in the ring! Most of his fights ended in Knock Out and some of those within the first 60 seconds!

One year, my siblings and I got boxing gloves. We’d set up a ring and “box” until someone got a bloody nose. We learned to duck, weave right and left, and keep our hands up in front of our faces and try not to hurt each other too badly. Over time, we got stronger, better, and meaner. Someone would inevitably get hit hard enough to fall back, get hurt, and then run to mom and dad.

Our childhood boxing experience was short-lived because of the pain and fights it caused. I was always intrigued and amazed how two people could dance around in a beautiful choreography of light feet and swinging fists. If only we had professional training – we could be one of the greatest 🙂

In sports and life, with the right training, genes, and opportunity, we assume any of us could become champions. In our spiritual lives we equate resisting temptation and sin to building up strength and resistance to beat the enemy in the ring. Like playing a game of strategy like Chess or Risk, we try to out-maneuver the enemy to win the spiritual battles that rage daily.

When we look at our track record, many of us see defeat instead of victory. We see where the enemy has knocked us down and sometimes out. If we can only learn more strategy, get some experience, and keep our head in the game, maybe we can win next time. This is our biggest mistake.

Jesus calls us to walk away from the game – to not even enter the ring. He has stepped into the fight and dealt a death blow to the enemy. We no longer have to play his games. We no longer have to face him. He has been defeated at the cross and the grave.

“You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled 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

Before Christ, we were alone in our battle against the enemy. The result was spiritual separation, disconnection, or death. Then God… (lots of “then God” in Scripture) made us alive with Christ. This means what Jesus conquered on the cross and in the grave became ours. We got to join His winning team without lifting a finger. God then took away our sins – past, present, and future – by nailing them to the criminal’s cross.

This has such massive implications on our daily living as long as we let grace do the work. Paul says right here that God disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He publicly conquered the enemy so we wouldn’t have to. Jesus stepped into the ring and KO’ed Satan and the darkness that invades our daily living.

This is a relief for every follower of Jesus. We no longer have to step into the ring and fight. We no longer have to depend on our own strategies and strength to win. We can seriously hide behind our Big Brother, Jesus. He cleaned up the competition with a single blow on the cross and rising from the grave.

Stay out of the fight. Let Jesus’ victory be enough. Focus on following Jesus and laugh as the enemy tries his best. He lost. Jesus won.

Ray Rhoton