Christ Has Overcome the World

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." ESV John 16:33

Occasionally I hear somebody talk about working their way through college. And I commend them, because it is an admirable undertaking. I did it myself; stretching a four year degree into ten! But hey, I finished with no regrets and my diploma makes no mention of me savoring the experience over time.

This past week, I jokingly told my Sunday School class that I could also say that I worked my way through High School. And there really isn’t much of a joke there. Throughout High School, I participated in what was then called the Distributive Education (DE) program. In a nut shell, I checked out of school at lunch and went to work three years running.

Now, I am sure that I missed some social activities and some academic opportunities by doing so, but the DE program enabled me to get some fantastic, real-world job experience, not to mention some extra cash at a young age. It also allowed me to test my experience by competing with other DE students on a local, state and national level.

I actually won a state DE competition held in Montgomery in the Petroleum Marketing division. And with the help of grants from Chevron USA and Sibley Oil Company, I was able to travel to Anaheim, California and compete on a national level. (I’ll leave it to you to figure out what brand of petroleum I was marketing here locally.) Anyway, I didn’t win in California, but it was a nice trip for me, mom and Dr. Blackwell.

As I think back on it, the state victory was a culmination of my skills, talents (obtained through experience) and a desire to win. You might say that I overcame or was victorious over the competition in part because of my real-world experiences.

There is a lot of talk in the Gospel of John and the Epistles of John about overcoming. In First John, three characteristics of an overcomer (meaning one who overcomes the evils, trials and tribulations of this world) are presented: Belief in Jesus as the Christ, genuine love for God and obedience to His commandments.

The connection to our verse today is that through faith we share in the overcoming nature and power of Jesus. Our text tells us that Jesus has overcome the world. And Jesus has overcome the world in every sense of the word. He overcame temptation from Satan himself, He overcame persecution and He even overcame death; rising from the grave after three days! Talk about overcoming!

John tells us that Christians are to “take heart” over Christ’s overcoming. Why take heart? Because, as we abide in Christ by believing, loving and obeying, our faith is strengthened so that with the passing of each day our experiences with Christ better equip us to overcome the world through faith in Christ. Does that make sense? Our experience with Christ increases our faith in Christ so that we overcome the world through Christ.

The world comes at you fast, but take heart, Christ has overcome the world.

-Ken Askew