Who
is he that overcomes the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of
God?
—1 John 5:5
Christ spoke strongly about the world hating
Him. His kingdom and the kingdom of this world were in deadly hostility. John
summed it up: “And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth
in wickedness” (1 John 5:19); “Love not the world, neither the things
that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not
in him” (1 John 2:15).
John also taught us what the real nature and
power of the world is: “the lust of the flesh [with its self‑pleasing],
and the lust of the eyes [which sees and seeks the glory of the world],
and the pride of life [with its self‑exaltation]” (verse 16). Eve, in
Paradise, had these three marks of the world. She “saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired
to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6). Through her body, eyes, and pride, the
world acquired mastery over her and over us.
The world still exerts a terrible influence
over the Christian who does not know that, in Christ, he has been crucified to
the world. (See Galatians 6:14.) The power of this world proves itself in the
pleasure of eating and drinking, in the enjoyment of what is to be seen of its
glory, and in all that constitutes the pride of life. Most Christians are either
utterly ignorant of the danger of a worldly spirit, or they feel themselves
utterly powerless to conquer it.
Christ left us with a far‑reaching
promise: “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
As the child of God abides in Christ and seeks to live life in the power of the
Holy Spirit, he may confidently depend on the power given him to overcome the
world. “Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believeth that
Jesus is the Son of God?” This is the secret of daily, hourly victory over
the world and all its secret, subtle temptations: “I live by the faith of
the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
But it needs a heart and a life entirely possessed by the faith of Jesus Christ
to maintain the victor’s attitude at all times. My fellow believer, take time
to ask whether you believe with your whole heart in the victory that faith
gives over the world. Put your trust in the mighty power of God, in the abiding
presence of Jesus, as the only pledge of certain, continual victory.
“Believest thou this?…Yea, Lord: I
believe” (John 11:26–27).
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