HE HAS OVERCOME!

HE HAS OVERCOME!

John 16:33

33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

          We who believe in Jesus have been made citizens of heaven. This inner spiritual transformation has made us foreigners in our native world. That world is now hostile toward us because we no longer conform to their standards of thought and behavior. To the world, we have become like a cancer that must be rooted out. We are friends of Jesus and can never again be a friend of the world. The world, then, has become to us a very unfriendly place and it is sometimes confusing when we look to the world for comfort.

          The word tribulation has retreated from common usage and is now isolated in the language of religion. We still understand it, we think, but enclosed within the word is many more ideas that are more familiar to us. The Amplified New Testament actually lists these for us as: “tribulation and trials and distress and frustration.” It is an army of relentless irritants bent on stealing our peace.

            The encouraging words of verse 33 immediately follow an attempt by Jesus to explain His approaching passion and death. Jesus’ sufferings would insure peace for the disciples. Jesus speaks as if the conflict were already over and He was the winner when he says: “I have overcome the world.” Literally He meant “I have deprived the world of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.”

          The promise of verse 33 is a prelude to Jesus’ High Priestly prayer in chapter seventeen. This chapter is filled with intercession for believers. He prays that we might be one with Him. He prays that we might be kept from the world and He prays that we might be sanctified or kept apart from the world. It is this very sanctification that causes our conflict with the world and holds us up in the midst of it.

1 John 5:4-5

4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Dear Lord, the world is a very unfriendly place full of tribulation and trials and frustration. Thank you for overcoming the world for me. AMEN