January 31, 2019 WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE WE TO OVERCOME ?
John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world.”
1 John 5:41 “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”
In Christian circles, we hear a lot about ‘overcoming the world.’ That certainly sounds right-like something we should do. In the scriptures there are a lot of admonitions to overcome the world. However, it may be that we do not have a clear picture just what it is about the world that we are called to overcome. After all, God made the world and the earth belongs to Him. Obviously, we are not called to overcome the natural world, but since it is God’s creation, we should be good stewards of it. So what are we to overcome? To answer this question, we have to understand that there are really only two basic influences (influencers) in the world-God and Satan. (Without going in to detail, God created the angel Lucifer, who rebelled against God and was expelled from heaven and cast down to earth, and brought sin into the earth when Adam and Eve yielded to his temptation. This rebellion of Lucifer as well as Adam and Eve yielding to Satan’s temptation was no surprise to God; God had a purpose in all of this.) Satan represents the kingdom of darkness; Satan is shrewd and cunning and deceptive. Satan is all about turning people from God, and his primary tactic is to get human beings to focus on themselves-to get what they want; Satan promises self-fulfillment. Believers are called to overcome this world ‘system’ that has been established by Satan. As alluded to above, the goal of this system is to get individuals to turn from God and focus on self-thereby falling victim to the deception of Satan. We could never list all of the lures of the world system, but to name a few, it would include: making decisions based on what seems best for me; seeking fame and fortune, reputation; doing whatever makes one feel good; focusing on acquiring material possessions; impressing others; and etc. In contrast, in the Kingdom of God, the focus is on dying to self; serving and blessing others; giving; and etc. It is obvious that the two kingdoms are in stark contrast. So, there is a world system, a way of thinking that we as believers are to overcome. The good news is that it is not dependent on our strength to do the overcoming; we overcome by dying and by yielding our lives to the plans and purposes of God, by knowing that we are not our own but that we belong to Him. It is by yielding to the Spirt within us and by working with God as He works in us that we overcome. It is essential that we know our true identity as sons and daughters of God if we are to overcome the ways of the world. We can enjoy the world that God created and we can be a part of His kingdom coming to this world in the place where we live. Great rewards awaits those who overcome this world system that is contrary to the ways of God.
1 John 5:8 “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
Revelation 3:21 “The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with Me on My throne, as I also conquered and sat down with My Father on His Throne.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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