Triumph Over Trouble预览

In All this, We are More than Conquerors!

Our blessings and breakthroughs don’t always come in this life. Hebrews 11:35-40 showcases these heroes of faith: “There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”

They all cry out in Revelation 6:10, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”

In this world, we can punish evil, but we can’t undo it. Jesus faced every kind of sin and evil – cowardice, lies, vested interests, nationalism, racism, corrupt religious and political institutions, and behind it – all the power of Satan himself. The cross was the worst that Satan could do, and it all backfired.

The wounded Lamb was worthy to open the seals in Revelation 5. Colossians 2:15 tells us that at the very moment Jesus was dying on the cross, He was disarming the powers and triumphing over them. Through His death, He took the entire curse for human disobedience (Galatians 3:10-14) upon Himself and conquered it; and defeated sin and death and the evil forces behind them. Without the suffering of Jesus, evil wins. But His suffering makes it possible to end suffering and judge and renew the world without having to destroy us. At the cross, evil is “turned back on itself.”

As John Calvin expressed it, “on the cross, destruction was destroyed, torment tormented, damnation damned, death dead, mortality made immortal.” (“Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering” by Tim Keller, pg 157)

And therefore, as Revelation 7:16-17 exclaims: “Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Through hardship and trouble and persecution, because of who Jesus Christ is and what He accomplished for us, we become more than conquerors, as Romans 8:35 and 37 make clear: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Have these lessons encouraged you to recognize that Jesus Christ has already experienced every sorrow and trouble that you can ever face and triumphed over them? Every day, becoming more like Jesus is infinitely more valuable than the temporary satisfaction from this world’s temptations and counterfeit pleasures.

Thank you for completing this reading plan. We hope it has blessed you and drawn you closer to the Lord. Please join us in our ‘King of Glory’ course to learn more about the heart of our Savior, and visit our website at www.biblword.net.