“These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me you might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Dear Ones:
The calling of God is one that brings the believer face to face with a victorious, and triumphant life, that of the Lord Jesus, which should also be revealed in us. In the book of Revelation, in every church that is addressed there, the Lord concludes with the same charge: “to him that overcometh.” Why does He say this? The answer lies in Christ who IS the great overcomer, who has overcome perfectly and forever, the world. It is by virtue of this union with Him, by the Spirit, that the believer is brought into contact with this victorious, overcoming life. John the Apostle wrote, “…as He (Christ) is, so are we in this world.” (1 Jn. 4:17) The believer is an overcomer by virtue of his union with Christ. However, the practical application of this truth and reality must be appropriated by faith. What then are the specific elements of this life of appropriation, where Christ’s victorious life becomes our own, “on this earth, as it is in heaven?”
We begin with the finished work of Christ on the cross, and the blessed declared outcome of that work in the soul of the believer. Paul writes: “But of Him are ye IN Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” (1 Cor. 1:30) It is God who has accomplished something for us that we could not accomplish for ourselves. He has, by a sovereign act of His will and power, literally placed us IN Christ, in a position of oneness, a living union with Him by the Spirit. It is an inseparable union whereby our souls and spirits have become NEW, a new creation in Christ. That which is uniquely extraordinary is that we are joined to the perfect Christ, in whom dwells all the fullness of God. Paul writes that we are “complete in Him. ” What does this mean? Basically it means that all that He is, we have become, not as God, but as those who have been redeemed, saved, and sanctified, made new in Him. All the resources of Christ are ours. Peter put it like this: “…His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” (2 Peter 1:3) It is as we come to see and to grasp the truth of our inseparable union with Christ, that we are enabled by His “exceeding great and precious promises,” that we are able to become partakers of the divine nature by the Spirit. The knowledge of the truth according to Christ is the first things. The second thing is the “laying hold” of eternal life, Christ’s victorious life, by faith. It is as we trust God to strengthen us by the Spirit, that we able to increasingly receive all from Christ.
In John’s gospel, we find that a great deal of attention and place is given to the subject of our union with Christ, and the life of abiding in that union, so that Christ may abide in us. (Jn. 15) In what is called, Jesus’ High Priestly prayer in John 17, the Lord Jesus again deals with this matter of union, first and foremost that which existed between the Father and the Son. He then prayed for “…all them also which shall believe on Me through their word. Jesus’ purpose was singular, “…that they may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us.” (v.20,21) The perfect realization of this oneness will be revealed when the believer goes to be with Christ. The manifestation of this oneness today is known by increasing faith. The objective is the experience of the overcoming life in a perfect way. Limitations are those only imposed by a lack of vision, and faith, to receive from Christ all that He desires to give.
Dear Father, Reveal to us the possibilities of overcoming, while abiding in Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad