The Bible teaches us that Christ Jesus has overcome the enemy and the world. The gospel of the kingdom, which Jesus taught in the Bible, deals primarily with experiencing overcoming life now. Man has the awesome responsibility of finishing the job of making all God’s enemies His footstool. Certainly, Satan and his demonic hosts are totally defeated in the finished work of the cross and resurrection of Christ Jesus. Yet because man has not fully appropriated the work of Jesus, the enemy is still killing, stealing, and destroying. Many Christians are severely wounded and at least have had their lives partially destroyed by the enemy.
Psalm 110:1-3:Jehovah (self existing, eternal One) said to Adonai (sovereign, ruling, controlling One), Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool. Jehovah shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies! Your people shall be willing (volunteers) in the day of Your power. In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning…
This and other scriptures are very clear that the final responsibility for overcoming power comes from Jehovah. The people of Christ are to be willing volunteers to flow the rod of Jesus strength out of Zion (the purified, holy, bride-Church) in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning.
There is no other method for overcoming apart from the blood of the Lamb and the expression of His strength through His people. There is no enemy or power on earth, which cannot be overcome by the Spirit of the Lord working through His willing and obedient people.
You are greatly blessed to be a part of the awakening generation of believers who are throwing off the old garment of a defeated life, which only hopes to escape. We are putting on the new garment of praise and power of the overcoming life in the beauty of holiness. The morning is birthed. Let it be birthed in your heart. Pray for the Morning Star to arise in your heart. The freedom of the kingdom of God is available. Let’s get in on it. Let’s go on to all the fullness of the kingdom of God lifestyle, the overcoming life.
All the relics of religious rules, traditions of man, and our striving to keep them will never overcome. The law has no power to fulfill itself. Christ Jesus is the One who fulfills the law. The power of the law is to make us aware of our sin. The law that is set into nature brings forth the natural penalty of our sin. The law kills; the Spirit brings life (Romans 3:20, 2 Corinthians 3:6, Galatians 3:13-14). Trying hard with all our strength can make us very tired, but it will not enable us to keep the rules and overcome.
Only as we are willing to die to our self-life and our own strength, take up our cross, and trust in His life can the Morning Star (His own law-fulfilling life) be birthed in us. Then, we can begin to live righteously by His strength. Overcoming is a natural result of the Spirit of Christ Jesus living in our mortal bodies.
Our method is not to try to know rules and keep them. It is not to strive to know about God and about His Word. Our method is to know God Himself in intense, personal intimacy. We must know Jesus, the Word from God. We seek the God of the Word, not just the words about God. The overcoming life is intimacy with Christ Jesus and Father God by the Holy Spirit in a personal, intimate, real, penetrating, covenant relationship as the bride of Christ.
By His death we are forgiven. We overcome by His life in us.
The penalty of our sin was paid by His death on the cross, which reconciled us to Holy God. Our life is being saved, healed, made whole and we are now being delivered by the indwelling resurrection life of Christ Jesus through the Spirit.
Romans 5:10:For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Two aspects of our redemption are referred to in this and other verses. One is through the death of Jesus; the other is by the life of Jesus. The cross of Jesus provides reconciliation. His resurrection life saves (heals, makes whole, delivers, protects, and preserves) us as He lives in us.
The Greek word translated saved is sozo (sodezo) which means to save, deliver or protect. It is also translated heal, preserve, do well, to be whole, or to make whole.
Romans 7:23-25a: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 8:9-11, 14,16-17: But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
Speaking of those who are not entering into the overcoming kingdom of heaven lifestyle, the Lord said in Matthew 7:23, And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me you who practice lawlessness!
We may know Him to some degree, but does He intimately know us? Unless we are related to Him as His bride and his life is actually within us, He does not know us in the sense of this verse.
Paul in Philippians 3:7-16, speaks of suffering the loss of all things, and that he counts them only as rubbish that I may gain Christ, and that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
As we are conformed to His death now in this life, we may attain His resurrection life now in this life. Verse 16 says, to the degree that we have already attained let us walk. Suffering plays a part in being conformed to His death and attaining His resurrection life. The important thing for us is to press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Intimately knowing Him and being known by Him is the power for the overcoming life.
ENDURE TO THE END
Overcoming means we must finish the course. We have not totally overcome until we have overcome to the end. Overcoming is the victory of finishing.
Years ago, I heard a story that supposedly took place some time in the early 1900s. Several schools had come together for a track meet and field day. The grand finale was a mile footrace four times around a quarter-mile cinder track. The runners all got a good start and were still running as a pack together after the first lap. A careful look at the runners revealed that one boy was having a harder time keeping up with the pack. His face was showing signs of stress more than the others. In the second lap the boy began to fall behind the pack. The third lap saw the pack spread out as the strongest runners begin to pull away. This one boy was now almost half a lap behind the last runner.
When the crowd cheered the winners across the finish line, this boy was far behind on the backside of the track. It was obvious to everyone that he was badly fatigued and could hardly keep going. Suddenly, the crowd moaned a little as the young man stumbled and fell on the track. Every one watched as he struggled, got up on wobbly legs, and with bleeding knees and hands, continued to try to make it around the track. All the other runners had finished. Only the one wobbly runner remained on the track. He was finally rounding the last curve and headed toward the finish line when, apparently, he got a second wind and began to run a little better.
He crossed the finish line and immediately collapsed face down on the track. Those nearby ran to him and rolled him over. A doctor arrived and began to do what he could. The doctor called for a stretcher and moved the boy from the track to a shady spot on the grassy infield. As the young man began to recover, the doctor working over him asked the question that the crowd had been asking each other. Son, why didn’t you just step off the track? There was no chance for you to win the race. No one would have paid much attention if you had stepped off the track on the back side.
The boy replied, You see, Sir, it was this way. A bad sickness hit my school, and all of our best runners that had trained for this race were too sick and weak to come. I was the best my school had to send. Sir, I couldn’t let it be said that my school could not even finish the race.
You are the best God had to send to accomplish the purpose of your life. Only you can do and be what God has sent you to this race of life to do and be.
God is not so interested in our being first across the finish line. His primary concern is not that we run the race of life with perfect form. He does not count us out if we fall down on the track. The only way we can lose is to step off the track. No matter how far behind we are or how many times we fall, we can, we must, get up and keep moving toward the finish line. God has a significant purpose for our lives that may not be fully known to us now. Who knows what future multiplied results may come in the generations ahead from your overcoming and finishing the course God has set for you? Who knows what eternal matters may be affected?
We are not in competition with our brothers and sisters to be as good as or better than they. The race is not against others. God just wants us to be all we are meant to be. We are not here to please the crowd; we are here to finish the course and to hear, Well done, good and faithful servant.
In the following verses, the Greek word translated endure is hupomeno (hoop-om-en-o), which means,to stay under or behind, remain, undergo, bear trials, have fortitude, persevere.
The Greek word translated end is telos (tel-os), which means to set out for a definite point or goal, the point aimed at as a limit, by implication conclusion or termination, literally or figuratively result or purpose.
Matthew 24:12-14: And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Matthew 10:22: And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
1 Corinthians 13:7-8a:(Love)bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.
In contrast, a different Greek word is used in the following verse, which simply means is or are.
Mark 4:17: And they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.
Overcoming (subduing, having victory) means being delivered from some things and being delivered through some things. To strive to be delivered from all tribulation and persecution may be an unfruitful endeavor. Also, who can explain why some are delivered from having a divorce and some are delivered from the devastation through and after a divorce? Both the one delivered from getting sick and the one delivered through a disease are overcomers if they endure. Perhaps it would be best to seek to know God’s plan and purpose in each situation.
Overcoming may mean having victory in and during the fire. It means living in Him, in His peace and joy, for example, even in the midst of divorce, slanderous attacks, defaming accusations, and vile insinuations regarding our moral character and inner motives, even by those we may have loved the most.
Paul and many other men of God have been overcomers while in prison, being stoned, mocked, and falsely accused. Many have been free in prison while many others have been in bondage walking the streets. Overcoming has to do with peace that passes understanding. It does not always mean a change in our external circumstances.
Overcoming and enduring to the end often eludes Christians. Though we strive hard to learn and obey the apostles doctrine, we may experience a breakdown in our fortitude. Many are called but few are chosen. Only the finishers are chosen to receive the promises to the overcomers.
We will overcome only by our covenant relationship with the Overcomer. Only as we are braided into one with Jesus, will His strength become ours. We trade our strength (weakness) for His strength to overcome and endure. We must intimately relate to Him continuously if we are to overcome consistently.
The impact and results of overcoming in an individual’s life can be tremendous. For many it is difficult to even imagine the beauty of walking in daily peace, joy, and prosperity of spirit, soul, and body. The end of financial stress, marital stress, and other forms of stress seems an unattainable dream to many people who have come to accept stress as normal life.
The frustrations of life endured by mankind are generated by man’s lack of walking in God’s ways (kingdom living). The mountains of frustrating problems and insurmountable obstacles will melt away as the power of Christ by the grace of God flows in and through the individual’s life. The corporate effect of many individuals overcoming and living God’s way will impact everyone and everything on the planet.
Keep on Pursuing Love
It Will Never Fail,
Ron McGatlin
http://www.openheaven.com
basileia@earthlink.net
Radical Disciples - A Remnant Revolution 