Overcoming the World (conclusion)
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19,20 (NIV)
Fulfilling this mission given to His disciples as He was to ascend to heaven is the ultimate overcoming of the world. The Good News has been taught, those who are going to accept Him have accepted, and the end of the age has arrived. But we are not there yet, so we still have work to do.
We’ve been given the gifts, tools, and abilities that we will use to do the work we have been assigned. We are the “salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13a),” we are the “light of the world” (Matthew 5:14-16), we are to love one another as He has loved us (John 13:34,35), and we have received power when the Holy Spirit came upon us at salvation (Acts 1:8). With these tools we can bring the Kingdom of the Lord to earth.
We have talked about “salt of the earth” and “light of the world,” and John 14:24,25 contains a strong and convincing tool, love. “A new command I give you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” The bond of love shown by a group as diverse as the disciples of Jesus shows how to accomplish a task as complicated and important as the spreading the Word around the world. In Acts 1:8, we were told that we will not be left alone to accomplish this task of our lifetimes. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Okay, we’ve been given everything we need to spread the Good News and to make disciples for Jesus. We shall witness to what we have read, heard, seen, and experienced within the Kingdom of God. Even when we do so with all the fervor we can muster, some will reject the message and spend eternity away from the presence of God. That will be discouraging, but I know that the Lord will appreciate our life-spending effort and will express his appreciation to us. “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:21a)
Let’s spend our lives doing the will of the Lord,
Overcoming the World (continued)
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV)
Jesus has called us the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world.” As the light of the world, we can’t hide no matter what we do. Light is invasive. If you walk into a dark room and turn on a light, the light reaches to every corner of the room. To make good use of a light, we place it where nothing blocks it so that we get the most we can from the light source.
God says that we are in that position—on a light stand or on top of a hill. He wants the entire world to see our light, the light reflected from God, the source of pure light. Objects that shine by reflected light take on a unique hew, different from the original light it has received. The more closely we read God’s Word, the Bible, and abide by its teachings, the closer the light we reflect will be in quality to the light shone upon us by the giver of light.
The Lord tells us to let our light shine before others to bring glory to our Father in heaven, thereby pleasing our Lord greatly. Certainly, when we follow the teachings of Jesus, we are blessing our fellow man, and we are bringing peace, joy, and love to those around us. God created the universe for us so that we could live with Him there in peace, joy, and love. Because God has put us in a place to shine before the world, we need to stay as close to Him as possible, so that the light we shine is not impure, but as close a representation of His light as possible. In fact, He tells us in Romans 12:18: “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” There is an inference that it may not always be possible, but we need to try as hard as we can to make it possible. That’s living God’s way. That’s being the “light of the world.”
Overcoming the World (continued)
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Matthew 5:13 (NIV)
Over the centuries there have been two uses of salt, to preserve meat and to flavor food. The human body needs salt to survive. Jesus’ comparison of his disciples to salt makes a lot of sense. We are to provide flavor to the lives of people, and we are to preserve them by introducing them to Jesus Christ so that their eternity is spent in heaven with Him. But let me tell you a few things about salt over the centuries.
Salt can be used as a preservative because it kills bacteria. It removes the water from the meat, and the bacteria cannot live without water. That applies to the Christian because we are preserved to live in heaven by the removal of the penalty for sin which Jesus did on the cross. Sin is the bacteria of our lives that has been removed (killed) by the sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
We use salt to flavor food all the time. When we produced Saguaro Potato Chips, we marketed a potato chip without salt for those who needed to cut out or cut down on their use of salt. The product did not sell very well because most people didn’t like potato chips without salt. They were missing much of the flavor. A salt-free diet is known as a bland diet--not much flavor. The Christian life is definitely not bland. It life offers joy and the feeling of satisfaction for completing a task given by God. One big part of the flavor of the Chirstian life is our praise and worship in song to the King of Kings. The biggest flavor of the Christian life is the knowledge that we will live a live of eternal peace and joy when we leave this earthly life. None of us really knows what heaven will be like, but we know that if Jesus “goes to prepare a place for us,” it is going to be great. After all, He already created the universe, and now we have eternity to explore it.
Centuries ago merchants sold one ounce of salt for one ounce of gold. Wars were fought over access to salt flats. In ancient Rome, soldiers were paid with salt. Salt has been valuable for centuries, but by being the “salt of the earth,” we bring a much greater meaning to its value.
So, let’s go be the salt of the earth, bringing flavor and preservation to those we meet. When we do, they will be blessed and thankful for eternity.
Spiritual Nourishment for Life
While reading some of my notebooks from the past few years, I came across this Word of the Lord, and I want to share it with you.
“Eat my Word. Ingest it. Digest it. Take from it nourishment. When you eat physical food, after you have obtained the nourishment, the remainder is waste. There is no waste when you digest my Word. All of it is nourishment. It is all good food—some is sweet, it brings you pleasure; some is protein, it builds your strength by importing to you the foundational building blocks of faith; some of it is as carbohydrates, it fills you out by providing connections for the building blocks. All of my Word contains the vitamins and minerals you need to remain spiritually strong.
Drink of my Spirit. Spend time with me so I can fill you with the life-giving, life-sustaining and life-enriching flow of my love. Do not let yourself become dehydrated of my love.
Come and be filled, be nourished, be enriched. I am the source of life. I gave the Israelites land flowing with milk and honey. I have prepared a spiritual land flowing with my ‘milk and honey,’ but you have to walk into it as did the Israelites.”
Overcoming the World
“For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” 1 John 5:4,5 (NLT)
Jesus came to earth to save us from our sins, to provide a means of forgiveness, and to promise eternal life with Him. He accomplished all three, and now it is up to us to occupy until His return. He has given us the means to do so, and He has shown us how to live so that sinners would be drawn to Him. We need to do two things: speak His Word and live His Word. When we do this, the lost will be found, the sinful will be purified, and His will will be done.
It's a daunting task, and we have a strong adversary who has been working in the minds of men for millennia. But verse five above says that EVERY child of God DEFEATS this evil world. You and I are included in that group of EVERY child of God if we have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. We are told in Ephesians of the weapons that we have that will defeat the enemy while we are living in his territory. God has given us our weapons: truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, the Word, and prayer. By use of these weapons we “achieve victory through our faith.”
Sounds good, but who is this “we” that is being proclaimed as the victor? It is those “who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” Only those who have this supreme belief can be victors in this battle. If you don’t believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and if you have not asked Him to forgive you of your sins, you will not have victory in this wicked world. So I encourage you to accept Jesus’ offer of salvation and to join those of us who have the victory of living in peace here on earth in preparation of an eternal life of joy in the Lord.
