“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5 ESV)
The world is broken. Everyone knows it. There is no one on earth who could honestly say that everything is as it should be. Thorns and thistles infest the ground. Sicknesses ravage the bodies of humans and animals. Corruption and violence run rampant in governments. Parents do not protect their children, and children do not honor their parents. Educational institutions abdicate their commitment to the truth and push their own agendas. Houses burn, thieves steal, and loved ones die.
People are looking for a solution. Some try false religions, some try diet and exercise, and some try substances, but none of these solve the problem. There is still an unavoidable recognition that something is wrong with the world. To those who truly understand this and long for restoration, the gospel is profoundly appealing. The message that there is one who has accomplished redemption and that he has prepared a perfect, eternal inheritance for those who trust in him is a beam of light in the darkness of the world.
The spiritual brokenness of the world surpasses even the physical and emotional brokenness we experience. In fact, spiritual brokenness is the cause of physical and emotional brokenness. The first sin of Adam and Eve brought a curse on the world (Genesis 3). Our sin, and the curse that we incur because of it, separates us from the blessed presence of God.
But there is hope. John says, “Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” This is the solution to the universal problem of brokenness. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we have the only remedy for the suffering we experience. This is why we, like Paul, are constrained to preach Christ and him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2). No amount of blood, sweat, and tears can do anything to heal the diseased root of sin that produces pain in this world; it can only be done though the sovereign work of redemption planned by the Father, accomplished by the Son, and applied by the Spirit.
Those who belong to Christ and are united to him by faith have overcome the world. Not only have they overcome the curse of sin and have received the promise of citizenship in the new heavens and new earth, but they have overcome the devil and all those who are his. The hope of living in eternity with no sickness is a blessing in and of itself, but it is not the ultimate purpose of heaven. It is eternal fellowship and communion with God himself that is the central inheritance of the Christian (Revelation 21:3).
The assurance that we belong to Christ gives us confidence as we go into a broken world to preach the message of redemption to anyone who will listen. It is only in him that we overcome the world.
This might lead some to think that there is no reason to engage in gospel ministry since the victory is already secured. To the one who is tempted to think this way, John Calvin says,
It is, indeed, true, that our warfare continues through life, that our conflicts are daily, nay, that new and various battles are every moment on every side stirred up against us by the enemy; but as God does not arm us only for one day, and as faith is not that of one day, but is the perpetual work of the Holy Spirit, we are already partakers of victory, as though we had already conquered.
This confidence does not, however, introduce indifference, but renders us always anxiously intent on fighting. For the Lord thus bids his people to be certain, while yet he would not have them to be secure; but on the contrary, he declares that they have already overcome, in order that they may fight more courageously and more strenuously.
In this broken world, there are lost souls whom God has elected to save who have yet to hear the name of Christ. There are people groups under the curse of sin to whom the freedom and redemption of Christ have yet to be preached. As laborers go into the field, they go under the victorious standard of the Lamb who was slain, not as an excuse to leave the battle, but as an emboldening motivation to fight with even more vigor.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
We experience the brokenness of this sin-cursed world every day. The burdens and temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil weigh heavily upon us. Yet, in Christ, we have overcome the world and are being renewed day by day. Teach us to walk in the victorious path of faith as we preach Christ to the nations.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Prayer Requests:
- Tuesday: Pray for the ministry of a national church planter, Lohith, as he reaches out to Hindu-majority tribal communities in South Asia.
- Wednesday: Pray for the Mbingo Baptist Hospital to provide care for physical and spiritual needs in Cameroon.
- Thursday: Pray that missionaries providing biblical counseling resources in Mandarin will have wisdom and endurance as they translate much-needed materials.
- Friday: Pray for the students and staff at Chiang Rai International Christian School in Thailand.
- Saturday: Pray for the Goroka Project to receive the necessary funds to continue with facility upgrades to Goroka Baptist Bible College and the Seigu Clinic.
- Sunday: Pray for missionaries preparing to serve in New Zealand to have success in opening that field for church planting.
- Monday: Pray for missionaries serving among unreached people groups in the 10/40 window.
Featured Opportunity to Serve:
Administrative Assistant
Location: Togo
Hospital of Hope, in northern Togo, is looking for a skilled administrative assistant to assume tasks in general office work and data entry for hospital administration. Other duties include scheduling the logistics of travelers and short-term volunteers coming to the hospital.
