Living Understanding Pt 10: Be a conqueror

Romans 8:31, 37-39              31What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?..... 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Philippians 1:21-23               21For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;

Hebrews 12:18-24                 18You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” 21The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.” 22But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant,…

Who can be against us?

We live in a troubled, broken, sinful world and I imagine that every believer at one time or another has wondered, “Where the heck is God?  How can he allow these things?”  The truth is that since the Fall in the Garden, the evil one, Satan, has had control of the world.  There will always be opposition to believers and to the work of God in the world, and there will always be attempts to convince people that God is powerless to stop evil, or at least to convince them that God no longer loves them.

But nonetheless, Paul wants to remind us that in spite of this apparent opposition there really is no effective barrier to God’s plan for the world.  Nothing can stop God; more than that nothing can change God’s direction.  It’s not as if God comes up to an obstacle and then changes direction to get around that obstacle to further his plans.

Accepting this reality means we can live our lives differently; we don’t have to worry about the obstacle which may be in front of us.  An unbeliever would probably say, “Well, that’s just a Pollyanna attitude.  You have to step up to the plate and take care of business!”  Well, no you don’t.  God works things out.  First, understand that if we live our lives according to Godly principles, that is, we love the unlovely, we care for the needy, we lift the burdens from one’s shoulders, and we help those under the weight of addiction, then we are lessening our exposure to the evils of the world.  Second, let’s realize that if the worst comes, whatever that is, God will help us through it.  Case in point:  I almost always, when faced with an obstacle, assume the worst will happen.  It almost never does, and when I have gotten to the other side of the problem I usually realize, “Well, that wasn’t so bad!”

More than conquerors

By the way, how can we be ‘more than conquerors’?  Doesn’t being a conqueror mean we have won?  And doesn’t winning mean the battle is over?  If we look at verse 35 and also 38-39 we see a list of things that anyone would think would bring our life to an end.  Trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, sword, height, depth, demons, principalities, or powers—all these things could easily slay us. 

      28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

This verse says that anything that happens can be turned to good—that the end result of that thing will be for our benefit.  So having faced an obstacle, we reach the other side stronger in some way.  This means the evil sent to destroy us has in fact made us stronger, in fact, has helped us.  This makes us ‘more than conquerors’!  We have not only defeated our enemy, but we have also turned him into our helper!  But remember it is God doing this not in any way any function of our flesh.  God is our action plan, God is our weapon, God is our success, God is our victory!

Nothing will separate us

Never doubt for a moment that in the sacrifice of His Son that God did not experience angst in the sacrifice of that who was dearest to His heart—His beloved Son.  It seems apparent to me that in doing so he meant that we, his children, forever should have all that we need (not want).  The sacrifice of his Son was for the purpose of bringing us into the Kingdom.  Does it seem reasonable that along the way we could be knocked off the path by some extraneous action of the Enemy?

Understanding that, how can we live in a way contrary to God’s love?  True, we are fragile, sinful children of God, but that is precisely why nothing will separate us.  It is a conundrum to be sure, but the very fragility of our flesh is what was in mind when Christ offered us eternal salvation.  The enemy wants us to believe that when we sin, we separate ourselves from God.  No!  While God cannot be in the presence of sin, he offers us a way around it.  That is the reason for repentance.  We have only to go to Christ, repent of our sin.  He forgives, and it is gone.  Gone forever!  God remembers it no more.   And how many times can we be forgiven for the same sin?  Seventy times 7!  Everyday!  My brother or sister, God will not allow you to be lost.

What about me?

I know you don’t feel like a conqueror.  You feel overwhelmed, perhaps you even feel defeated.  My brother or sister, that is exactly what Satan wants!  He wants you to quit, he wants you to blame God, he wants you to stop trying.  Don’t do that.  Remember, God loves you no matter what.  He will pursue you wherever you go because he wants to spend eternity with you.  With you.  Can you believe it?  Live for it, strive for it, dedicate your life to it.