Faith
that Overcomes the World!
"This
is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith. Who
is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus
is the Son of God"
1 John 5:4, 5.
What
is this faith that overcomes the world? The preface to the
verse above is this, "Whoever believes that Jesus is
the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who
begot (God) also loves him who is begotten of Him (Jesus).
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we
love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of
God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are
not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the
world. And this is the victory that has overcomes the world-our
faith" 1 John 5:1-5.
Faith
in Jesus, this is the victory that overcomes the world. Think
about it…
Jesus is the Messiah! Matthew 1:18-25; Isa. 7:14; 9:6, 7.
Jesus is the Creator! John 1:1-3, 10; Col. 1:16.
Jesus is the Lord of the Old Testament! John 8:58.
Jesus was the Lord that led Israel through the wilderness!
1 Cor. 10:1-4.
Jesus is the Lord! Exodus 6:2-4.
Jesus is the God of all flesh! Jer. 32:26, 27.
Jesus is the Word of God! John 1:1.
Jesus is the bread of life! John 6:35.
Jesus is the light of the world! John 8:12.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd! John 10:11.
Jesus is the resurrection and the life! John 11:25.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life! John 14:6.
Jesus is the Vine, we are the branches! John 15:5.
Jesus is the One who was dead and who is alive forevermore!
Rev. 1:18.
Jesus is coming again!
Matt. 24:30, 31; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 22:12.
In Jesus Christ, you are blessed!
We are
only as strong at that in which we place our faith and trust.
We have the opportunity to put our faith and trust in the
Creator of the Heavens and the Earth (John 1:1-5, 10, 12-14).
How is
this faith demonstrated in the lives of people who seek the
presence of Jesus? Jesus shared with His disciples on His
last evening with them before His crucifixion. He said, "If
you love Me, keep My commandments." And He gave them
a promise, "And I will pray the Father, and He will give
you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the
Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it
neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells
with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans;
I will come to you" John 14:15-18. Christ's promise is
to be present with His disciples of all ages, with those who
trust Him and obey Him, through the agency of His Holy Spirit.
This
message was so important that Jesus stated it three times
during that last supper with His disciples. "A little
while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will
see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you
will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in
you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who
loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father,
and I will love him and manifest Myself to him" John
14:19-21.
Judas,
not Iscariot - not the betrayer, was confused and asked Jesus,
"Lord, how is it that you will manifest Yourself to us,
and not to the world?"
Jesus
replied, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and
My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make
Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My
words; and the word that you hear is not Mine but the Father's
who sent Me" John 14:22-24.
Paul
reinforces this faith relationship with Jesus throughout his
letters and messages. "You are all sons of God through
faith in Christ Jesus" Galatians 3:26.
"For
this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is
named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of
His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit
in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through
faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be
able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and
length and depth and height to know the love of Christ which
passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness
of God" Ephesians 3:14-19.
Being
filled with the fullness of God starts with putting our faith
and trust in God the Father and in His only begotten Son,
Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Christ's promise to His
followers is, "I have come that they may have life, and
that they may have it more abundantly" John 10:10.
What
are these commandments that Jesus asks those who love Him
to keep? A scribe came to Jesus one day and heard Him speak
of heaven and what it will be like. He asked Jesus a question,
"What is the first commandment?" Jesus answered
him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O
Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love
the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the
first commandment. And the second like it is this; 'You shall
love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment
greater than these" Mark 12:28-31. Jesus here is sharing
with us the principle underlying the original commandments
that He gave to the Children of Israel on Mount Sinai. The
first four commandments relate to our relationship with God
(Exodus 20:2-11). The last six commandments address our relationship
with one another (Exodus 20:12-17). Jesus gave the same answer
to a lawyer recorded in Matthew 22:35-40, and He further stated,
"On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
The foundation of God's relationship with us is love.
When
we perceive the love that God the Father has shared with us
through all that He has done for us in and through Jesus,
we begin to comprehend and appreciate the values He shares
with us in the Bible through the lives of those who have put
their faith and trust in Him.
"By
this we know that we love the children of God, when we love
God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God,
that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not
burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world.
And this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith"
Jesus
is worthy of our trust and when we put our faith and trust
in Him, He enables us to overcome any worldly concern or care.
May His
blessings be with you today, every day, and forever.
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