365 Days of the Great Names of God, Day 143: God Who Wins

God Who Wins

"'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:55-57 NIV)

On Election Day 1948, the Chicago Tribune ran the headline, "Dewey Defeats Truman." Owing to a printers' strike, the newspaper had gone to press earlier than usual and so declared Thomas Dewey the victor in the Presidential race over Harry S. Truman. 

The headline seemed logical: Dewey was the victor everyone expected...the victor all apparent evidence pointed toward. Except that the headline was wrong. When the final votes were tallied, Truman had won one of the biggest upsets in U.S. Presidential history.

Even absent a printers' strike, morning newspapers always go to press ahead of the morning, so if there had been a headline for that first Easter Sunday, it would surely have read "Death Defeats Jesus" or  "Death Wins." Death would have been the victor everyone expected...the victor all apparent evidence pointed toward.

Except that the Easter Sunday headline, written in Saturday's dark, would have been wrong. When the final votes were tallied, the God Who Wins had won the biggest upset in human history. 

In the nights of our own Saturdays, we might also be tempted to write our own headlines:

"Despair Wins."

"Heartbreak Wins."

"Unforgiveness Wins."

"Hopelessness Wins."

But God is still writing our stories. And when morning comes, it doesn't matter how many ballots are cast against us: our past, others' opinions, our own natures, our circumstances, the outcome that seems obvious. On that first Easter weekend, Jesus cast the deciding vote...for us.

Read the headlines today, my friends. Repeat the good news to yourself. Then tell it to someone else.

Jesus is alive.

Love won.

Love wins.