‘ To Him Who Overcomes...’ ( 5)

CHILD of God, the reason we must make all efforts to overcome Satan, sin and temptations is because Jesus overcame them all. Jesus defeated sin, pain, death and Satan when He died and rose again. The decisive battle of the ages is over. Therefore, weep not, child of God, for Jesus has prevailed over Satan on your behalf. Let us not undermine or negate the victory of Calvary. Rather, we must uphold the victory, and triumphantly display the banner of the hardearned victory before the whole world. We must enforce our hard- earned victory through the blood of Jesus Christ.

The victory of Calvary remains the greatest motivation for overcoming the devil. At Calvar y, Satan’s power was eternally broken. What does this mean for those of us who follow Jesus Christ?

“There is, therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” ( Romans 8: 1).

• “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” ( Romans 8: 31).

• “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies!” ( Romans 8: 33)

• “[ Neither] angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all Creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ( Romans 8: 38– 39)

• “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” ( 1 John 4: 4)

• “They [ the saints] have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony,” ( Revelation 12: 11).

• “For by You I can run against a troop. By my God I can leap over a wall.” ( Psalms 18: 29 NKJV).

• “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith,” ( I John 5: 4 NKJV).

• “And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen,” ( Romans 16: 20 NKJV).

• “The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted.” ( Psalms 18: 46 NKJV).

The implications of Christ’s victory at the cross are too numerous to mention. Christian Cheong in his article, The Call to Overcome, argues that worship is key to overcoming:

“No matter what the world’s problem is, or for that matter, what is the church’s problem, or what is your problem, the most important and needful thing is for you to look up, and see God in all of His glory. It is no coincidence that the problems of the seven churches in chapters 2 and 3 are followed by a majestic vision of Him Who sits on the throne in chapter 4 and the Lamb who was slain in chapter 5. The vision of God in chapters 4 and 5 is the answer to the problems posed in chapters 2 and 3. You can overcome, because God is on the throne, and the Lord Himself has triumphed ( 5: 5). The vision does not just tell us we can overcome. I believe it is telling us HOW we can overcome. We are to follow the example of those in the throne room and worship

Him. Everyone worships Him! In other words, we will find the love, the strength, and the hope we need to overcome the challenges of this world when we WORSHIP God. They were doing that continuously, with songs of praise. Everything is centred on the throne amid the room.”