Bible League: Living His Word ...for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.What does the word "world" mean in the Bible? Sometimes it just refers to the earthly portion of God's good creation. This is the sense Paul used when he referred to the "creation of the world" in Ephesians 1:4. In our verses for today, however, the word has a definite negative connotation. It refers to the earthly portion of God's good creation in so far as it has been taken over by Satan and infected with sin. "World" in the first sense of the term is not something that needs to be overcome. It is simply the place of our habitation as human beings and it is good. "World" in the second sense, in contrast, needs to be overcome. It is the second sense of the word Jesus used when He said "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Jesus is not saying that he had overcome the earthly portion of God's good creation, but that He had overcome the power of sin and the devil at work in the earthly part of God's good creation. The reason Jesus came to earth was not to destroy the earth, but to destroy "the devil's work" in the earth (I John 3:8). The whole point of Jesus' mission is to purge the earth of evil so that God may dwell with His people on earth (Revelation 21). It is through our faith in Jesus Christ's overcoming of the world that we overcome the world. Because of our faith, we have already overcome the world. We are already new creatures in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17). We are already the righteousness of God (II Corinthians 5:21). We have already overcome Satan by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11). And we continue to overcome whenever we resist, counteract, and destroy the works of the devil in our lives. In fact, whenever we resist the devil he will flee from us (James 4:7). In Christ, you are an overcomer. Indeed, you are "more than a conqueror" (Romans 8:37). Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading2 Samuel 7, 8, 9 2 Samuel 7 -- David Plans a Temple; David's Prayer NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Samuel 8 -- David Defeats the Philistines, Moabites, Syrians NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Samuel 9 -- David by Ziba Sends for Mephibosheth NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Luke 19:1-28 Luke 19 -- Zacchaeus Converted; Parable of the Ten Minas; Triumphal Entry; Driving Traders from Temple NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion So don't go to war without wise guidance;victory depends on having many advisers. Insight In any major decision we make concerning college, marriage, career, children, etc., it is not a sign of weakness to ask for advice. Instead, it is foolish not to ask for it. Challenge Find good advisers before making any big decision. They can help you expand your alternatives and evaluate your choices. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Romans 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.We go to Christ for forgiveness, and then too often look to the law for power to fight our sins. Paul thus rebukes us, "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" Take your sins to Christ's cross, for the old man can only be crucified there: we are crucified with him. The only weapon to fight sin with is the spear which pierced the side of Jesus. To give an illustration--you want to overcome an angry temper; how do you go to work? It is very possible you have never tried the right way of going to Jesus with it. How did I get salvation? I came to Jesus just as I was, and I trusted him to save me. I must kill my angry temper in the same way. It is the only way in which I can ever kill it. I must go to the cross with it, and say to Jesus, "Lord, I trust thee to deliver me from it." This is the only way to give it a death-blow. Are you covetous? Do you feel the world entangle you? You may struggle against this evil so long as you please, but if it be your besetting sin, you will never be delivered from it in any way but by the blood of Jesus. Take it to Christ. Tell him, "Lord, I have trusted thee, and thy name is Jesus, for thou dost save thy people from their sins: Lord, this is one of my sins; save me from it!" Ordinances are nothing without Christ as a means of mortification. Your prayers, and your repentances, and your tears--the whole of them put together--are worth nothing apart from him. "None but Jesus can do helpless sinners good;" or helpless saints either. You must be conquerors through him who hath loved you, if conquerors at all. Our laurels must grow among his olives in Gethsemane. Daily Light on the Daily Path Psalm 18:8 Smoke went up out of His nostrils, And fire from His mouth devoured; Coals were kindled by it.Jeremiah 3:23 "Surely, the hills are a deception, A tumult on the mountains. Surely in the LORD our God Is the salvation of Israel. Psalm 18:2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Isaiah 12:6 Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. Psalm 34:7,17 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them. • The righteous cry, and the LORD hears And delivers them out of all their troubles. Deuteronomy 33:27 "The eternal God is a dwelling place, And underneath are the everlasting arms; And He drove out the enemy from before you, And said, 'Destroy!' Hebrews 13:6 so that we confidently say, "THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?" Psalm 18:31,32 For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God, • The God who girds me with strength And makes my way blameless? 1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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