FIGHTING THE WAR THAT’S WON

1 John 5:4-5 NLT
[4] “For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. [5] And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.”

How is it possible that we must continue to fight a war that has already been won? Let’s look at it like this. We fight this in the spiritual dimension against an enemy that is inside us. This means that every child of God must overcome the enemy within to participate in the victory Jesus has already won over the enemy who rules in the world around us.

Jesus promised us His peace because He has overcome the world. What does He mean? Representatives of “the world”, ungodly society under the rule of Satan, subjected Jesus to the worst form of insult, humiliation, torture, and execution any human has had to suffer by a trial that mocked justice and a death by crucifixion. During the entire process, they tried their level best to get a reaction out of Him. They beat Him, they mocked Him, they taunted Him, they challenged Him to defend Himself but all they got was a prayer of forgiveness.

Throughout His life and even during those terrible hours before He died, He kept His eyes and heart on the Father. His passion was to do the Father’s will, whatever it cost Him.

Peer summed up His last hours like this:

1 Peter 2:23 NIV
[23]”When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”

Paul’s summary is equally beautifully expressed:

Philippians 2:6-8 NLT
[6] “Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. [7] Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, [8] he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”

Colossians 2:14-15 NLT
[14]”He cancelled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. [15] In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.”

The Father’s final act of approval on His perfect life and atoning death was to raise Jesus from the dead and to elevate Him to supreme ruler of the universe.

Philippians 2:9-11 NLT
[9] “Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, [10] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Now, says John, if you believe that Jesus is God’s Son and if you trust in Him, He will give you the power to overcome the world as well.

What does that mean? The “world” is made up of ungodly people who live in rebellion against God, in a world system that is run by ungodly people. Their desire is to get us on their side. Our old nature, still at work in us, is in cahoots with the world. Although Jesus won the war against the world and its evil systems, we still have the battle against our old freshly nature going on inside us.

The only way to overcome our sinful desires is to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us.

Galatians 5:16-18 NLT
[16] “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. [17] The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. [18] But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.”

Since we are no longer slaves to sin, grace enables us to overcome our fleshly desires by pointing us to Jesus and by living and obeying Him.

We win our battle against the flesh one moment at a time, one choice, one decision at a time until His righteousness in us is confirmed forever when we see Him