October 11
“This is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5)
At the heart of God’s message to us is the fact that we ARE victorious. We ARE overcomers. We are not trying to earn or gain a hard-fought victory over the world (and all its wicked influences). The victory has already been won. The game is already over. Our Champion has already been crowned the winner – and we ARE on His team. We share in the completeness of His victory.
He came to fight FOR us. He came to BE our Champion. To enter the fray and emerge with the crown. The title. The complete and utter victory.
So if this is true, why do so many Christians still struggle with the same old sins? Why do we continue to fail so miserably to live as Jesus lived? Why is it that our lives are more often defined by our mistakes and failures… than by words and phrases such as “overcomer” and “more than conquerors?” Why do we more often feel like losers rather than winners – the defeated rather than the victorious?
John offers us the answer… Belief. And faith.
Notice the subtlety of the tense used in our verse for today… “has overcome…” NOT “will overcome” or “can overcome” or even “should overcome.” “HAS.” It is a done deal. There is nothing left to contest. The battle is over. The victory already won.
All that is left is for us to enjoy the spoils of victory. To experience the celebration. To raise the “Champion’s banner” and immerse ourselves in what has been won.
What allows us to experience all that Jesus has won for us is clearly defined. It is “our faith.” And “our faith” comes because we believe “that Jesus is the Son of God.”
Our belief in Jesus (Who He is AND what He has done) has provided us the key – “our faith.” And, according to the apostle, it is “our faith” that HAS overcome the world.
Can we imagine our lives completely free from the hold of our addictions? Can we envision our lives completely liberated from the fear, anxiety, and shame that keep us wallowing in the pain of our past? Can we imagine being at peace in the midst of life’s raging storms? Confident, as the world fall apart around us? Full of joy, in spite of hardships, persecutions, and trials?
This is the message of the Bible. Overcoming. This is what Jesus came to tell us – and what He went to the cross to provide for us.
Victory. Liberty. Freedom. Peace. Joy. All already provided. In fullness. All the time. Regardless of circumstances or how we might reasonably feel about our lives. All already ours. Because of our Savior and Redeemer. Because He has offered us the opportunity to share in HIS victory.
Just because we have looked to Him and believed in Him.
The access to all that Jesus has shared with us is simply “our faith.” If we walk in “our faith,” everything Jesus won is our “reality.” Decide not to walk in “our faith” and we are (virtually) no different than those who have not believed in Jesus. Those who are still enslaved to their passions and addictions. Their fears and failures.
The simple and profound truth is that everything that needed to be done HAS been done for us, and already provided to us in the fullness only God can provide.
The only question that remains (for every human soul) is WILL we truly live by “our faith?”
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