NO GIANT TO FACE ‘CAUSE HE IS ALREADY DEFEATED – Jan. 7
January 7, 2013“Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of host, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head.” 1 Samuel 17:45-46a
Promotional poster featuring Brock Lesnar (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
What if I told you that I have scheduled a cage match to the death with Brock Lesnar? Mr. Lesnar is 6 ft 3 in and weighs in at 267 lbs. He is NCAA wrestling champion and a former heavyweight champion in the UFC. I am 6 ft 1 in and weigh in at 200 lbs. I have not been in a fight since elementary school. I hope that I have people in my life that will pull me aside and say, “that is not a good idea”.
There is nothing about this match up that is a good idea. No one would buy this pay-per-view package to watch a competitive fight. They may buy it more for the value of the Roman spectacle of a person being fed to a lion. Yet, I stand a better chance against Mr. Lesnar than David had in his match up with Goliath.
I have heard many a message using this match-up as an example of how we should face the giants in our Christian lives. I struggle with some of those analogies because it seems like they are over-generalizing a very specific event by a person with a very specific role in God’s redemptive plan. If you are encouraged in your faith by those analogies to face seeming insurmountable challenges in your life, then I don’t want to dissuade you.
However, I believe there is a deeper meaning in this passage then an encouragement for me to face the equivalents of Brock Lesnar in my life. This passage is about David but there was a true and better David that followed him, who better embodied all that David stands for.
The reality is that David trusted God to deliver him; he was willing to sacrifice himself for the name of the Lord. Later on in his life, David, as the Psalmist, recognized that God does not delight in the sacrifice of animals but in the self-sacrifice of every person – God wants all of David and He wants all of you and I.
When David took the field against Goliath, he was foreshadowing the better David, Jesus, who would take on a much more important battle, against a seemingly more impossible foe. Look at the similarities in the events:
Goliath came at David with sword and spear and javelin.
They came at Jesus with swords and spears.
David came to the battle in the name of the Lord.
Jesus came to the battle as the Son of God.
David was not saved by sword and spear.
Jesus was not saved by sword and spear.
David struck down Goliath and cut his head off.
Jesus struck down death and crushed the head of the serpent.
John Piper said it better than I can:
“And so David, in his zeal to obey God, models for us faintly the kind of zeal to obey God that not only led Jesus to empty himself of divine prerogative, but humble “himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:7–8), and in doing so, become the founder and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).”
We need to realize that every person to have walked this planet has faced a foe much bigger and more dangerous than Goliath. Our greatest foe has never been a Goliath type figure of this world. It has been death and eternal punishment for our sin.
Jesus has already defeated our greatest foe.
He has already struck down our Goliath – he has cut the head off of death for you and I. Jesus has crushed the head of our greatest enemy and saved us to eternal life. There is no challenge that I will face today that has more significance to me than the battle that was won for me on a Roman cross by the perfect David – Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, my Savior and Lord.
PRAYER: Father, thank you for saving me. Thank you for defeating my greatest foe. Thank you for giving me a world in which I have nothing to fear. Lord, help me to live in that victory today. Help me to daily understand that there is no Goliath in this world that I have to fear. There is nothing that can separate me from you and you have already secured the victory for me. Thank you for loving me and being my heavenly Father. Amen
Related articles
- Psalm 40: Obedience Better Than David’s, John Piper
A DEVOTED LIFE 
He struck through (Hab.3:14).
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Thanks for the link. I appreciate it very much.
God Bless!
JD
[…] NO GIANT TO FACE ‘CAUSE HE IS ALREADY DEFEATED – Jan. 7 (boyslumber.wordpress.com) […]
Thanks for the link. I enjoy your blog; keep up the good work.
God Bless!
JD
What goes for David and Goliath also goes, with less import, to the many literary metaphors and allusions we are accustomed to using in daily life. One may discover they have a subtler meaning that their linguistic deployment gives credit to.
That is very true. I think many of the lessons that get taught in Sunday School should be reworked to be labout our Savior and less about morality lessons. Thanks for your comments.
God Bless!
JD
I lean very much toward Presupposition in my philosophy, so I would say that trying to teach morality without the grace of god is largely an idle exercise; only when the animating spirit of the Lord is upon us or working through us will we have the correct intellectual and subjective qualities to actually choose the good, which man’s degraded and deluded condition can not bear to do.
I think the early martyrs had a better understanding of the removal of the fear of death…once in a while I still see a Christian who really understands that concept in the middle of all the other feelings surrounding death He removed the sting of death!!!
Yes – I think that you are very right about that needed perspective.
Thank you for the post. Now that you have segued to the topic of UFC, I must admit that I am a fan. I debate this in my mind because of the violent nature of the sport. I do though admire these men as the epitome of athletes. To achieve the highest honors one must be at peak condition in strength, endurance, agility, ability in many aspects of marshal arts. Other than the pre-fight hype, which is basically all for show, there is very little unsportsmanlike conduct which infiltrates in most other contact sports.
I am a big UFC fan. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching pay-per-view fights and re-runs on shows like “Unleashed”. The athletes in the UFC are amazing in their fitness and abilities.
I am aware that many of our brothers and sisters in Christ have very real concerns and problems with the fighting sports and specifically with the UFC. I have even had a brother confront me for inviting friends to my house to watch a fight. He felt that I was participating in an activity that was not glorifying to God. I very much appreciated his perspective and the fact that he would talk to me about it.
However, I examined my heart and my reasons for watching the UFC and I could not see a reason to prohibit it other than not to be a stumbling block to a weaker brother. Therefore, I have been careful about my enthusiasm for the UFC out of a respect for my brothers and sisters in Christ who do have a problem with contact sports. The UFC is not a stumbling block for me but I am willing to give up some of my freedoms in Christ for the love of my brothers and sisters. Therefore, I enjoy the UFC at home with my family and close friends who I know don’t have a problem with it.
God Bless!
JD