Survivor or Overcomer?
1st John 5:1-6
Perhaps you’ve heard of the TV series called survivor. This program has aired 510 episodes and is now in its 34th season. When I read that this week my first thought was, that’s pretty remarkable because I’ve never seen a single episode. I don’t know about you but I do know somebody’s watching the show. In fact 50 million people watch it. But in case you’re like me it’s about a group of people who volunteer to be marooned on an island---the island is apparently a really tough place to survive and the last person who is voted off the island wins $1 million.
What does it really mean to be a survivor? In our world today we talk about all kinds of survivors... Survivors of abuse, cancer survivors-and the list goes on. It’s a great thing to be a survivor but let me tell you something-I want to do more than just survive. The Bible actually never uses the word survivor but it uses a word I like much more— overcomer. And the word in the Greek is NIKAO. In case that word looks familiar to you it is where we get our word Nike. It means to overpower, to win, to be victorious; to get the victory. And all of that is much better than surviving.
What John does here is that he shows us exactly how to get the victory, how to overcome and he does so by answering several questions. The first question is this… what is it we must overcome? 1st John 2:15-16. What John is telling us here is that the world is our enemy. Now be careful here and realize what the world is. We’re not talking about people of course, were not talking about the planet Earth---it’s not our enemy---in fact the Bible teaches us to take care of it. What John is talking about here fall into three areas:
(1) The lust of the flesh.
(2) The lust of the eyes.
(3) The pride of life. So let’s look briefly at each one.
(1) The lust of the flesh refers to passion. We are all passionate about something but John warns us because this is an area where all of us have to be careful. We tend to think immediately that John is referring to a desire that is sexual in nature. I’m not saying that it is not-I just want us to understand that is not the only reference here. What John is telling us is this... When you become passionate about something in life, be sure it lines up with God’s purposes for your life. Those are the things we should be passionate about. The lust of the flesh refers to passion.
(2) The lust of the eyes refers to possession. When we see things and we immediately think, I have to have that. I have to have that now. I can’t wait another day. And the lust of the eyes can be very dangerous to your bank account. Especially if you have a credit card in your hand when you see this particular thing. Jesus reminds us not to lay up, set aside treasures for yourself but we sure do it. Jesus said to focus on things that will last-for eternity. The lust of the flesh refers to passion. The lust of the eyes refers to possession.
(3) The pride of life refers to position. Our position in life. This is who comes first and guess what-it is almost always us who comes first. At Christmas we often describe joy as being Jesus first, Others second. Yourself last. Then we sit down and write out our Christmas list. Our want list comes first because we usually put ourselves first. John would tell us to rethink our position in life, don’t be so full of pride so full of yourselves….. Step down a notch or two and lift Jesus up a notch or two. Jesus said to be of good cheer because he has already overcome the world. The good news is we too can be overcomers. What is it we must overcome? The world.
The second question is this how can we become Overcomers? Let me remind you that in this life we will face powerful opposition. We will face powerful spiritual warfare. We will face tribulation. Jesus promised it. This is what Helen Keller said, the marvelous richness of human experience would lose something of rewarding joy if there were not limitations to overcome. The hilltop hour would not be half as wonderful if there were no dark valleys to traverse.” The truth is that it is the difficulties in life that give us the opportunity to experience and understand what victory really means.
Fortunately John says we have three resources—all three are necessary if we want to be over comers. First, he tells us it requires a new birth. Verse four. We must be born of God, as Jesus told Nicodemus as John reminds us here, we must be born again. Born of water. Physical birth. Born of blood. Spiritual birth. There is not a single lost person who can say that they live a victorious life today because they lack this ingredient. John is not saying that just knowing Christ will automatically fill your life with joy but he is saying it is the starting point. Without him our lives are running on empty.
Second he tells us it requires a belief. Verses 4-5. You do not become an overcomer by trying. You become an overcome her by trusting. By exercising faith. It is what…
• Abraham did when he went to the mountain to sacrifice his son
• Peter did when he stepped out onto the water
• Joshua did we placed his foot into the flooded Jordan River
• Mary did when she agreed to bear God’s son
None of these decisions were easy and the decision you and I are called upon to make are also not easy. If they were we would not need faith. Third, he tells us it requires the blood of Jesus. Verse six tells us that if we want to overcome sin; if we want to defeat death, there is only one way-it is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The Bible says there is no forgiveness of sin without the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Fortunately these are not three different requirements. They are actually one. New birth, belief, the blood all take place at the same time. We are born again because of our belief in the powerful blood of Jesus Christ.
But these are not three separate things that we must do! They are all part of a decision. We are born again when we by faith accept the payment that Jesus made through his blood.
John tells us in Revelation 12:11, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” We can overcome the obstacles that we face in this life through the strength that we receive in the Lord. The believer is reminded in 1 John 4:4, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” If you have been born again, you have already been made an overcomer in Him. We have already been given the victory
through the blood of Jesus Christ. Our challenge now is to live in the light of the victory that has already been won. Zig Ziglar puts it this way. He had some friends over to watch the Dallas Cowboys play ball. In this particular game the Cowboys were behind the entire game but not by much. As the game was drawing to a close. He told his friends he was still confident that his Cowboys were going to win. Even down to the last minute.
And to their amazement the Cowboys did win. They asked him, how can you be so confident? He said we are watching a recording, not the actual game. So I have already seen the final score. If you have read the last page in scripture you know that we win. It is already a fact. We are overcomers now; right now because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
