Archive for January, 2005

Romans 8:37 –   “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Conquerors are people who get something by force.   The Lord calls Christians to be “more than conquerors” because instead of trusting in our strength, we trust in the love of Jesus.  His love is greater than all the armies of the world.

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Romans 8:37 – “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us”

Conqueror:  one who faces an adversary and defeats him; historically, the term is usually applied to military men who have defeated a kingdom and assumed control of it. 

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1 Samuel 16:1 - The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel?  Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem.  I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”

When the Lord rejected Saul as King of Israel, the prophet Samuel grieved over his fall or apostasy for a long time. We also grieve over those who drift away from the Work of God.

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John 4:46-54 - Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.  When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”  The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus replied, “You may go. Your son will live.”  The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living.  When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.”  Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.”  So he and all his household believed.  This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.

This man was a person with a high social position and political power. He was surely more wealthy than most of the common people. But he had a need – his son was dying. No matter what benefits we have in this world, we all have needs and problems that bring us to the Lord – problems for which this world has no solution.

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Luke 19:1-9 - Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.” Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

When Jesus stays in the house, there is salvation and transformation.

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John 1:37-42 - When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.  Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”  They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”  “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”  So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus.  The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).  And he brought him to Jesus. 

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Romans 8:37 - “… in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us”

In this world, we have many trials and temptations.  Often we feel that the trials and temptations are overwhelming. When Paul wrote this letter, Christians had much more serious trials than we face today.  Not only did they face unemployment, sickness in the home, marriage problems, and other difficulties that we face today, they faced familial and societal rejection and utter poverty; they confronted death of the most painful and humiliating kind—being eaten alive by lions in the coliseum before thousands of cheering spectators.  In spite of this extreme picture of defeat, these believers could go to their death knowing Lord’s promise—we are “more than conquerors.”

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1 Kings 18:5-6 - ”Ahab had said to Obadiah, ‘Go through the land to all the springs and valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our animals.’ So they divided the land they were to cover, Ahab going in one direction, and Obadiah in another.”

This was a dark time in Israel’s history. Through the prophet Elijah the Lord had declared that there would be a drought in the land. No rain nor dew would fall. The result was a nationwide famine.

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