"I have overcome the world"

What we learned last time

In our last blog, we explored  what the Bible means by “the world” generally, and in particular the world as something we are not to love and must overcome.

We examined what the world was not, and learned a practical definition of "the world” :

“The world” means the organization and the mind and the outlook of mankind as it ignores and rejects God and lives a self-centered life independent of Him.

Or simply:

NOT God … ME!

And we learned specifically what the things of the world really are from the letter of 1 John.

1Jo 2:15-17
15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

We learned as well that the strategy of the world is  deception. This is the power that drives the world. We saw that in the book of Colossians chapter 2.

We then traced  the roots of 1 John 2:15-17 all the way back to Genesis, the first book in the Bible  – to the fall of man.

The world  entered the human race when Adam and the woman fell as a result of satan deceiving them by his craftiness.

The world will use arguments that sound persuasive in order to try to wrestle your soul away from the simplicity of devotion to Christ.

The world is a system of thinking, powered by deception, that opposes the Lord God and exalts self, yet never truly satisfies, and leads its unsuspecting victims, finally, to death. 

The rest of the story

But this is not the end of the story.

This week we will see  (1) what our Lord Jesus Christ did about  “the world”… and (2)  how we can live in what He did..

Joh 1:9-13
9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even  to those who believe in His name, 13  who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

What a remarkable indictment of “the world”.  When Jesus came, the world did not even recognize Him – even though He was the Creator!

The liar unmasked

As Jesus  walked the dusty roads of Galilee and  Judea,  He came upon hard evidence that what satan told the woman in the garden was  horribly and thoroughly wrong.

It was right there, right in the desperate condition of so  many  people He met during His travels.  Their plight proved conclusively that satan had lied to the woman when he said:

Gen 3:4-5
4  The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! 5 "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Luk  8:40-42
40  And as Jesus returned, the people welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him. 41  And there came a man named Jairus, and he was an official of the synagogue; and he fell at Jesus' feet, and began to implore Him to come to his house; 42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying.

Luk 8:49-56
49 While He was still speaking, someone came from the house of  the synagogue official, saying, "Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore." 50 But when Jesus heard this, He answered him, " Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be made well."  51 When He came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him, except Peter and John and James, and the girl's father and mother. 52 Now they were all weeping and lamenting for her; but He said, "Stop weeping, for she has not died, but is asleep."  53 And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died. 54 He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, "Child, arise!"  55 And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He gave orders for something to be given her to eat. 56 Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened.

Mar 10:46-52
46  Then they came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" 48 Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, " Son of David, have mercy on me!" 49 And Jesus stopped and said, "Call him here." So they called the blind man, saying to him, " Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you." 50 Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. 51 And answering him, Jesus said, "What do you want Me to do for you?" And the blind man said to Him, " Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!" 52 And Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well." Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.

Mat 12:22-23
22  Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. 23 All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, "This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?"

Satan had told the human race that once they disobeyed God , they would not die.  Jesus came across Jairus’ daughter, and the widow’s son, and Lazarus in the tomb.

They all had died.

Satan had said that the day man ate the forbidden fruit, his eyes would be opened. But blind men yelled out to Jesus for healing.  

Their eyes were closed, not opened.

Satan had said that man would be like God.

 Instead, Jesus came across the demon-possessed, and that was the opposite of being like God.

And satan said that man in rebellion against God would know good and evil.

Yet when God came in the flesh, fallen man did not even recognize Him.

The rejection of the perfect One, the Savior, the Messiah by this world is proof that fallen man could not recognize good and was instead full of evil.

“I have overcome the world”

What did Jesus do when He faced the onslaught of the world?

He overcame it!

Mat 8:16-17
16 When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: "HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES."

Mat 15:30-31
30 And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them. 31 So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

Jesus answered back to the world

When Jesus  began His public ministry He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to fast for forty days and be tempted by the devil..

He was tempted in three ways.  The temptations came right along the lines of the things of the world that John warned us about( 1Jo 2:15-17) and satan used to get mankind to fall (Genesis 3).

No surprise here. Satan is not creative.  All he can do is mimic  and counterfeit what God creates.  He is like a squirrel in the trees,  mimicking bird calls.

Lue 4:1-13
  Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. 3 And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." 4 And Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'"

Luk 4:5  And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 "Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours." 8 Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'"

9  And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; 10 for it is written,

'HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU TO GUARD YOU,' 11 and,

'ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP,

SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'"

12 And Jesus answered and said to him, "It is said, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'"

13 When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.

Satan tempted our Lord to succumb to the things of the world:

1. Good for food -  the lust of the flesh
   • “Tell this stone to become bread”
      
2. A delight to the eyes -  the lust of the eyes
   • “If you worship before me, it (the splendor before His eyes of all the kingdoms of the world) shall  all be yours”
      
3. Desirable to make one wise-  the boastful pride of life
   • “Throw yourself down from here; if  you are the Son of God; the angels will guard you”

It worked on the first Adam in the garden.

But it failed completely with the Last Adam in the wilderness.

How did our Lord defeat satan and the things of his world in that wilderness?

He answered back , speaking  the word of God.

He became our pattern for overcoming the things of the world.

Jesus used the book of Deuteronomy, which is the word of God repeated.

 And we gain the victory in our daily lives by presenting ourselves to hear the word of God over and over again.

Joh 16:33
33 "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

Ultimate triumph at the cross

Our Lord Jesus Christ overcame the things of the world in the wilderness.

He overcame the god of this world himself, once and for all,   at the cross.

Col 2:13-15
13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

We too have overcome

And we believers share in Christ’s victory at the cross because we are in a permanent union with the Risen  and Glorified Christ.

1Jo 5:4-5
4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith.

5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Living as overcomers

And we put this into practice in our daily lives by exercising faith in what the word of God has to say about the things of this world.

Gal 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

And at the end of the book of Galatians Paul tells us in no uncertain terms that the world has been dealt the death blow in our lives as Christians.

Gal 6:14-15

14 But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

The cross works to nullify the things of the world: those lusts of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life.  So that we should never boast in anything except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The world is passing away, and also its lust; but the one who does the will of God lives forever!

 That’s what John told us in 1Jo 2:17.

Here’s the will of God:

Joh 6:40

"For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."

As believers in Christ, we have eternal life.  We have been made a new creation.

That new creation survives the destruction of the world. (2Pe 3:12-13)

In fact, we are the first fruits of the new creation that will one day include the new heavens and the new earth.  What a mighty overcoming of the world that will be!

Until the next time, we’re all ….

In His grip,

Pastor John

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