I was listening to the radio and heard a particular song that sparked a particular train of thought. It made me reflect on the comforting fact that Jesus is the ultimate conqueror. He conquered sin and death, emerging victorious from the grave. Christians “know” this to their bones, and even folks who only attend church on Christmas or especially Easter have heard this so often that it may begin to lose its meaning to some. I think it can become easy to disconnect that truth from the application it has on our own everyday lives. Beyond the eternal salvation it enables us to hope for and live for… Do we really consider how it affects, or can affect, our day-to-day life on this earth?
How often do we remember that the Holy Spirit, living in us as given by Jesus Christ Himself, can make us conquerors with Him as well?
I believe we can choose to live as conquerors even here on earth. Even before the day that the Lord calls us home and we are able to come into the full presence of our King and Father because of the sacrificial love of His Son for us. Yes, even before that day, I believe that Jesus is able to make His followers conquerors on earth, too.
Now hear me out. Some of this conquering is tangible – as we choose to think, speak and act in accordance with God’s Word, and as we resist the temptations to live contrary to what pleases Him. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” We are not helpless beings swayed back and forth by external forces under which we have no control. No! The Lord has given us His Spirit, through which we have power to overcome struggles, temptations, trials, persecutions. Through His Spirit, He has given us the ability to show love in ways which He alone can portray. He has given us a capability to control ourselves, our fleshly desires, our sinful human natures, our basic and selfish needs, in order to live fully for Him. Without the gift of His Spirit, without accepting Christ, this is not possible. We could still display acts of power, love and self-discipline but they pale in comparison to what the Lord can do through us when we stop trying to do it all on our own.
Did you notice that how I am describing the tangible aspects of a “conqueror” does not align with the worldly definition? I am not describing a “conqueror” as one who somehow wins this game of life, who acquires all the goods, who gains the favor of everyone they come across, who has the perfectly put-together life and family, fame or beauty or 20 championship rings. God’s view of a conqueror is completely and utterly different than the world’s view of a conqueror. Read about how Jesus, the Creator and Author and Ruler of all things, lived his life while here on earth. He didn’t live at all like a conqueror from a worldly perspective, did He? Mark 10:45 tells us, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” And Luke 22:24-27 is another reference to the dispute which arose among some of the disciples as to which was considered to be the greatest. Jesus then said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” Ironically, by taking the lowliest position imaginable, by dying on a cross and by enduring a battle in the grave, Jesus emerged as the most worthy to be honored, for all time, to be seated at the right hand of His Father in heaven. That is what the ultimate conqueror looks like. So please don’t confuse my true meaning when I say that you can be a conqueror in this world, as well. I don’t mean that you will own kingdoms and rule anything at all, even your own life necessarily, but that you can conquer the strongholds of sin and emerge no longer a slave to such things.
Consider your life and what you have either been put through, or put yourself through. Maybe much of your pain was caused by someone else and you truly have experienced being a victim at some point in your life. Perhaps, as you really dig deep and reflect, your own poor choices are what have caused you the biggest heartbreak and suffering. Whether or not you were a main cause of the pain you have experienced in your life, if you are reading this, you have endured. You have kept on keepin’ on. There is a major difference between someone who has tried to stick it out on their own, and someone who has given their struggles to God. If you have overcome past events, worries and struggles without fully giving them to the Lord, you may have psychologically worked through these things but my guess is that there is still pain there. When you think about that one person, that one thing, that one event, you get sad. Or angry. Or frustrated. Or have that useless, life-draining conversation with yourself that begins with “If only I had done this” or “If only it had happened this way instead.” In fairness to yourself and to avoid such futility and waste of time, please stop. Stop trying to figure it all out on your own, to come to your own solution and force a sense that you’re past something if you’re not. When people give their cares and concerns to the Lord, there is a form of submission that usually accompanies it. A gratitude. A sense that we don’t deserve our version of a picture perfect life, anyway. We don’t deserve to be able to bring our concerns to the Ruler of the universe but Ephesians 3:12 tells us that in Christ Jesus and through faith in Him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence. We cannot comprehend what the Lord may have for us but we know that the Lord has plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future, as stated in Jeremiah 29:11. It may not be the future we planned or even necessarily what we wanted, but it can prove to serve the kingdom and be fruitful, nonetheless, if we turn it over to the Lord.
I should add that some of this conquering is an intangible victory. And that aspect has to do with attitude. 2 Corinthians 4:8 is where Paul and Timothy state, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” They absolutely refuse to lose heart. Not when they know the Lord is on their side. No matter the situation or hardship, they know and trust the Lord’s plans for them. As Paul says in Philippians 4:12, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.” They are able to have a deep sense of peace due to their obedience. When we are not obedient, we have reason to worry! We tend to mess up our lives big time when we aren’t living in obedience to the Lord. Yet Acts 17:27 tells us that God is not far from any one of us. We always have the option to return to Him, to allow His full and better reign over our lives, to be used in powerful ways for the glory of our Heavenly Father.
Romans 8 includes some wonderfully encouraging reading about the Spirit of God and how we are able to discern whether we are being led by Him or by our fleshly beings. I personally love this entire chapter. In relation to the topic of this post, verses 26-39 tell us:
“The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither 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.”
It is up to us. Will we allow the Lord to use our lives? Will we maintain the right attitude, harbor a servant heart, act and think and live for the glory of God? When you asked Jesus to be your Savior, His Spirit came to reside in you, in your body as a temple of the Lord. Do you even know what power that gives you through Christ? Do you realize the freedom you now have from the bondage and chains of sin and evil and hate? You are able to choose in ways which others just aren’t able to without the power of Jesus in their lives. It may be a tough road ahead, and I don’t know what you may be facing, but from a sister in Christ know that YOU ARE A CONQUEROR through our Lord!
1 Corinthians 15:57, HLC
sacred strokes 