Overcoming the World
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Meditation
Meditation
Before we come around the table to celebrate the Great Thanksgiving, I want to take a few moments to consider the words of John from :
“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (, NRSV)
I want to focus on the last sentence of that fourth verse: “And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith.”
Now, there are two words we need to understand to make sure we properly understand what John is saying. The first word is WORLD. What does John mean when he speaks of the world.
God created the heavens and the earth and everything in them. He created the world. And when he finished creating them and rested on the seventh day, he looked at all he created and said, “It is very good.” So I hardly think that John could be referring to God’s beautiful, orderly, creation.
Actually, what John is referring to is this worldly system we live in today. He is referring to all the values, beliefs and morals of this world that are different and opposed to God’s values, beliefs and morals.
It is the world we live in today. A world that exists without any reference to the existence of God or his will. And it is a world we are commanded to come out of and instead to live in the light of God’s love because we are born of God, we are children of God, and no longer children of this world.
The second word we need to understand is CONQUERS. The word conquers mean to overcome or to defeat. It is a military word. It speaks of begin victorious over the enemy in battle.
Now you might say, “Well, I don’t feel like I am at war with the world. They do their thing, and I do mine. But the word conquer is an active verb, not a passive one. We are not talking about being on the defence, we are talking about being on the offense.
We are not supposed to set back and let the world go to hell in a hand basket, we are supposed to offensively stand against the world. The Great Commission, recorded in , says “Go into all the world (all nations) and make disciples...”
The promise given to us this morning is that through our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we will be victorious over the world: “And this is the victory that conquers (or over comes) the world, our faith.”
The reason John can make such a bold promise? Because Jesus has already defeated the world and sits at the right hand of God. And we can proclaim the same words the Apostle Paul proclaimed: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13)
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