God has called us to overcome. The word overcome means to conquer. God wants his people to be a conquering nation who reveal his kingdom to this world. He doesn’t want us to be overcome by problems, but he wants us to overcome problems and reveal the victory of Jesus Christ.
Jesus wrote to seven churches in the book of Revelation (Revelation 2-3). Each of these churches faced problems: one had lost their first love, others were persecuted. Some were attacked by false teachings and deceiving spirits. Other churches were spiritually dead, loved money, and were lukewarm.
Jesus is not afraid to rebuke churches that deviate from him. He doesn’t pretend everything is ok about a church when it’s not. He said, “as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten” (Revelation 3:19). Jesus measures all churches by the sharp sword of his word. When God rebukes us, it’s a sign of his love, because he is calling us back to himself.
The seven churches in Revelation represent different churches throughout history. Many of the people in these churches did not overcome. They were swamped by problems and did not fulfill God’s plan. Jesus himself said so. Jesus wanted them to know the truth about their condition. There is no point in living in deception.
A faithful remnant of people out of each of these churches overcame. They fulfilled God’s purpose and resisted the pull of the world. In the midst of great trouble they stayed faithful to God and obeyed his word. Great promises were given to these overcomers – spiritual privileges that were only for them, not for everyone else.
It’s possible for us to be overcomers. We can overcome through the power of Jesus Christ – the one who has already overcome everything. In ourselves we have no power to overcome anything, but through Christ we can overcome it all.
Jesus Christ is the great conqueror. He demolished sin on the cross, he crushed the head of the devil, he stripped the principalities and powers of all their authority. Jesus Christ has overcome the world (John 16:33).
Jesus Christ lives inside of us by his Holy Spirit. Through him we can overcome everything. We can get victory over sin. We can triumph over the devil. We can overcome the world (1 John 5:4). To overcome the world means to not be dragged down by the pull of the evil of the world, but to ride above the world in spiritual victory.
Christ in us is the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).
Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).
Jesus has given us power to trample on serpents and on scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing shall by any means hurt us (Luke 10:19). This promise is ours when we live in Christ and walk in the Spirit.
God loves us. It’s a good thing to be loved. We are accepted. We can relax. Jesus loved us when we were still sinners. He loved us when we were enemies of God. How much more does he love us now that we are reconciled to God?
By the power of God’s love we can overcome.
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:31-39)
We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. This is our spiritual reality. This is our identity in Christ. Let’s live in this.
Lincoln House Churches 