- John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
- I John 5:4-5 “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"
- Revelation 23:21 “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on my throne.” We need to learn what a victorious life really is.
Jesus said, I overcome, yet from the world’s point of view, He was not victorious. He was beaten, misunderstood, rejected, He lived a life of poverty and He died a violent death. He was hunted by the church dignitaries of His generation. He was called a blasphemer and he was spit upon by soldiers, and that is called victory? I think we need to rethink our estimates of a conquering career. He did battle with satan in the wilderness where He was deprived of food and water and His own natural desires. Every desire, be it natural or spiritual was to be used by the tempter as a weapon against Him. Yet Jesus remained unmoved in His obedience and submission to the will of God. He was sinless in nature so that temptation found nothing to lay hold of, nothing to set fire to and nothing to kindle the flame of rebellion against His Father’s will.
In taking our sin upon Himself, He became partaker of flesh and blood and He experienced the weakness of human kind. Yet, He was more than an over comer. He did no sin, no deceit and no guile was found in His mouth. He fought the good fight of faith. You might say, He was a soldier in the army in which He is the captain and the leader. I like what Jesus said in Revelation 3:21 – “To him who overcomes," to overcome means to overcome the spirit of this world – that means we don’t yield to the temptation of this world. We give ourselves wholly to the Spirit of our God who leads us, like Christ in glorious conquest over satan’s darkness, death and destruction. The next thing I like about that verse of scripture is that –“ at the right hand of God” –is not a local designation – it does not denote a physical position. The right hand of God is the instrument of His Omnipresence, His All Powerfulness, so when we speak of Christ sitting on the throne, we throw allegory to the wind. Jesus at the right hand of the Father wields all the forces of divinity. Jesus is exalted and He possesses supreme universal dominion over all things, and we are seated with Christ Jesus in heavenly places! Back to Revelation. 3:21 “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me on My throne, ( and catch this) even as I also overcame and am set down with My Father on His throne.”
The words, even as I also – Those words then begin to dawn on us. Revelation 12:10 says, “and we overcame him by the blood of the lamb, by the word of the testimony and we did not love our lives to the death.” Paul in Colossians 1:12 said that He has made us able, or qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. In Chapter 2:10, He says, "We are complete in Him who is the Head of all principality and power.” John 16:33 says, “These things have I spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” The reason that we can be of good cheer is because He who has overcome, lives in you and me, and that makes us over comers in Christ!
Listen as Jesus prays. In John 17:6 He says, “Glorify thou Me with the glory which I had with you before the world was.” My heart leaps for joy as I realize, here is a man, Christ Jesus, Son of God, He took human flesh, lived in a body and became one of us and as one of us, He prays that the glory of the Father would come in human flesh, the two would become inseparable. Remember Isaiah’s words, arise, and shine, for the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. That glory brings me back to the words, even as I also overcame, has to mean, that I sit down with My Father on His throne, filled with the Holy Spirit I am commanded to bind and loose, set captives free, heal blind eyes, heal deaf ears, cast out demons, cause the lame to walk, preach the gospel, so that we may bring salvation to a lost and dying world. Truly this is the dawn of New Day!
Pastor Danny
