The Victory That Overcomes the World!

"Not through learning and discussion is the soul enlightened. Search the Bible in a new way… Not for the discussion of a theory, but in order to receive life for the soul!"

~ Ellen G. White

Recently I overheard my mother talking on the phone with one of her close friends. Her friend was in great distress because her elderly father was deteriorating rapidly and his final battle before death was terrible and heartbreaking for everyone to witness. This particular disease was such that the sufferer would have to undergo a great struggle before being consumed by death. So I heard them talk about the agonizing trials that lay before him and they went on to talk about how this was everyone's lot in life. Suffering, the tussle with aging and death, these were things most of us are destined to experience. And I thought that life in this world was indeed hopeless and lamentable. Such great suffering and perplexity had no solution or remedy. The brilliant achievements of humankind, our innovations and our great advancements could do absolutely nothing to mitigate such terrible anguish. How unbearable and distressing all of it was, and yet how inescapable!

Then into my mind flashed the words that I had recently pondered upon quite frequently, mulling over the great depth of meaning that lay hidden beneath its apparent simplicity– "Faith is the victory that overcomes the world!" 

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith.

~ 1 John 5:4

But this was the very first time I had experienced its application in reality. My torment over the damning agony of human suffering had led me to ask for a remedy. How could we rise above the bondage of this world?

There was only one satisfactory answer– by FAITH! But of course such an answer will seem to most people to be a bit of high-minded and impractical, idealistic nonsense. Have many of us perhaps been often guilty of making light of faith? It is not something that the world respects or values. After all, what is so great or awe-inspiring about faith? It doesn't need great intelligence or wisdom or strength to have faith. Even a little child, the poorest of men and the most ignorant people can have great faith. We tend to equate faith with simplicity, childishness and weakness. But probe a little deeper and see now the great wonder behind faith! This faith that seems so insignificant, even laughable to some, is the only thing that is capable of overcoming the world. As my thoughts proceeded in this direction, I also realized that faith which is so unappealing to men, is actually powerful even beyond the scope of our comprehension. And I will attempt to show why this is so.

Yes. Faith, for all its apparent simplicity is something strange, mystical and magnificently powerful. To make this clear, I will now skip to the moment when I first began understanding the deep meaning behind faith. One morning I got up and began to wonder how it was possible for me to so firmly and vividly believe in what my eyes had never seen, nor my senses ever experienced. How did I come to believe in God, in a realm beyond the world we live in and life beyond the grave? How could people, myself included, who had been born into this world with no knowledge or awareness prior to those imbibed after birth, who from that point onwards have known and experienced nothing but the conditions, circumstances and sensory inputs of this world and whose entire existence is confined to it, possibly possess such a real and living belief in what they had never seen or touched or heard? Even more surprisingly, how do we come to give a transcendent importance to that ethereal realm over the only one we've ever known and experienced? It must be noted that this was not an instance of doubting or rethinking my faith in God. What perplexed me was how I was able to transcend the limits set by the world that I was born and confined in (that should have prevented me from having any awareness or belief of a realm of existence outside it) by believing in all that I did. It was then that this great truth dawned upon me- "Faith is the victory that overcomes the world!"

Do we now realize what faith is capable of? By faith alone can a man rise above everything that the world has entangled him in. His senses and experiences, the limits of empirically verifiable knowledge, sin, suffering and finally death, can be overcome through faith. So then if it is something so powerful that it can overcome so much including mortality, I realized that faith could not be something that is merely human. It had to come from something or somebody who was already far above the power of the world and not subject to it in any way. Faith had to be divine. Faith had to come from God Himself. He alone could be the author and perfecter of faith.

But now we must proceed from this to the next inevitable conclusion. Faith is not something that exists independently. In fact faith is synonymous with dependence and is in practice, the very embodiment of it. The idea of faith might be an abstract concept, but in practice it must rest on something or someone! Faith is defined as "complete trust or confidence in someone or something." Therefore, this faith that I speak of can accomplish so much and overcome all the tribulations of this world only because of the One upon whom it rests! It is thus the very nature and character of God which gives this great overcoming power to our faith. In the Bible, the God of our faith is described as "The Father of the heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows." Again, as written in the lines of the famous hymn, "On the Rock of Ages founded, what can shake thy sure repose?" Yes, it is He upon whom our faith is founded Who turns the weak, faltering and needy trust of mortals into a powerful instrument that is capable of defeating and transcending the world. His nature and character, as intimately revealed with amazing depth and clarity in the pages of the Bible, enables us to trust Him and His promises, while being fully persuaded in both heart and mind. 

This brings us to another aspect of our discussion. It is not any faith that can overcome the world. It is only the faith that rests upon the true and living God. This knowledge must make us very wary of any notions we might have of faith in a vague, universal power that does not have a specific name, nature or character. It is the revealed nature and character of God alone that can rationalize faith. To glorify faith (in any deity, a vague power, or other spiritual ideas) indiscriminately, is utter foolishness and great folly. It is a terrible and costly mistake. Faith cannot stand on its own. If faith (however firm and unshakable and admirable it may seem in itself), is directed towards the wrong or false deity or power, it cannot do its possessor any good whatsoever. Thus faith must always bring our attention to the object or person upon whom it rests, and never to itself.

"Trust is a fickle thing if the object of our trust is a fickle thing. One who trusts in God & the true God alone will never see disappointment!"

~ Anonymous quote

Therefore let me bring your attention to the object of the faith that I testify to. Of course, in this short piece of writing I cannot delve so deeply into His nature and character so as to get even close to doing Him justice, but I might perhaps shine some light upon the greatest act of love that He performed for humankind. 

I think this would be done best if I proceeded from a recent experience that I had. I was in a state of deep emotional anguish since I felt that I was unable to give someone who I loved very much what they needed the most. This particular person had been deeply affected by a severe mental disorder. Because of it and some other unfortunate circumstances, her life had been greatly impeded and stunted. She never had a chance at what I would call a full and complete life. There were so many unfulfilled longings and ambitions, experiences and privileges that she had been robbed of because of this sickness. I wondered at the purpose and meaning of this state of affairs. All this suffering seemed so pointless and purposeless. How could it be remedied? This person would soon fade away and be engulfed by death and I wept for what seemed to be a wasted life. Because her high spirited and dynamic personality had such great potential, but her illness and peculiar background had never allowed her to do all that she was capable of, become who she was meant to be or have the rich experiences that she craved for in life. 

Then I looked at my own life and realized how different it was to hers. I had so much, both tangible and intangible and my whole life lay in front of me with so many blessings and a great deal to look forward to. And at that moment, in that fit of grief I truly wished with all my heart that I could exchange my life with this person so that she might experience all that she had been deprived of. Not just my life, but also all the privileges, blessings, gifts and opportunities that I had and enjoyed. I was so moved with compassion at that moment, that I was willing to give her my life and my future. But my heart was filled with great agony and helplessness for I knew my wish was futile. I was powerless against fate and the order and working of the world. 

But then I heard a voice whispering in the stillness of my heart– "You don't have to sacrifice your life, because I have already given away my life in exchange for hers…" Not only for her, but for innumerable multitudes of people who had lived and died in the past, and for those whose lives were still unfolding in this world. And at that moment, I had a glimpse into the very heart and mind of Christ, the thoughts that must have run through it when He loved us, agonized over our fate and decided to give His life away… 

These are the lyrics of a beautiful song about the great sacrifice of Christ…

"Long ago, a Father and His Son

Saw the children lost in sin…

Can you see the tears in the Father's eyes,

As Jesus says to him-

"What if I give all I have,

What will that gift do?"

"My son that gift will change the world,

It will free the multitudes!"

He didn't close his eyes or turn away,

I can see him standing tall,

He saw the need and I can hear him say,

"What if I give all?""

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life!"

~ John 3:16

Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.

~ John 10: 11,17.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

~ John 15:13

Just for a moment I had felt a very tiny portion of that vast and fathomless love which had moved God to give His life as a ransom for many; the love that stirred Him to such pity, pain and agony over the human condition so marred and torn by the curse of sin; the love that wanted to rescue us from its chains to enjoy forever all the blessings and glory that are part of His heavenly life! 

Jesus said, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it in all its fullness and abundance!"

~ John 10: 9,10

Horatious Bonar once wrote a beautiful hymn about the great exchange that took place through the Crucifixion – God's life for ours…

Upon a Life I have not lived,

Upon a Death I did not die,

Another's Life; Another's Death,

I stake my whole eternity!

Not on the tears which I have shed,

Not on the sorrows I have known,

Another's tears, another's griefs,

On these I rest, on these alone.

O Jesus, Son of God, I build on what 

Thy cross has done for me;

There both my death and life I read, 

My guilt, and pardon there I see…

As long as one accepts the free gift of that divine life that had been given in exchange for ours and receives the great and precious promises that await their fulfillment in eternity, it does not matter what one suffers in this world. Faith in the finished work of Christ on The Cross, is the victory that can overcome the world! 

Jesus said, "I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have tribulation and distress and suffering, but take courage, I have overcome the world!” 

~ John 16:33

And therefore, the greatest tragedy you can suffer in this world is not poverty, sickness, senility or the loss of a loved one. The greatest, most irreparable tragedy in a person's life is to die without faith in Jesus Christ and what He has done for me and you. 

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

~ Romans 6:23

The gift of abundant life that Jesus came to give to those who believe in Him is a promise for the age that is yet to come. It awaits its true and complete fulfillment in eternity. 

If our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.

~ 1 Corinthians 15:19

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.

~ Colossians 3:1- 4

For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

~ Romans 8: 24, 25

Therefore, faith is the instrument and means by which we are able to overcome this world; Hope awaits its fulfillment in a realm outside what is presently seen and is thus the goal of faith; and finally, love gives us the reason and purpose for transcending this world. Love, in fact, provides meaning to everything we do both in this age and in the one to come, because love itself comes from the Divine and endures beyond our mortal lives. Love is why we go on; love is what propels us forward; love is why we want to be immortal and live forever. 

And this is why the Bible says that after all things have passed away, Only these three will still remain; faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love!

~ 1 Corinthians 13:13