1 Kings 18:20-40; 1 John 5:1-8

May 2, 2021

  • What does it mean that we can conquer the world with Jesus?

Back in 1999 when I was working in a hospital in India as an exchange chaplain, I found a painting hanging on the wall of a hospital that vividly depicts the scene that I read in 1 Kings 18.  The picture captivated me with its mighty Elijah calling a stream of fire down from heaven.  It is a rousing story, dramatic, and would make for a great movie.  That’s why I felt the need to read the whole section of this chapter.  God through Elijah squares off against the pagan god Baal and the hordes of priests that secure its worship.  The entire Jewish Kingdom is corrupt with the worship of this empty idol.

Elijah is determined to set everyone straight as to which God is the true God.  You heard the story.  Elijah creates a situation that gives the enemy every possible advantage, plenty of time, and all the same situation that he has to show the people of Israel who the living God truly is – the ultimate showdown.  There is no doubt who is victorious, though, once God’s fire pours down, and the pagans are destroyed.  The powers of evil are conquered.  The worldly authorities are undone.  Isn’t it good to be on the righteous winning side?

When the book of Romans says that we are more than conquerors through the one who loves us, I call to mind something like that scene with Elijah.  We are victors in the midst of strife, Christian soldiers moving onward, we have “victory in Jesus”- as all these hymns celebrate.  This is the spirit of the Easter season.  We have won, we have conquered, because Jesus has overcome the grave.  Now, we must somehow conquer the world with the victory of Jesus.  This is the spirit of the evangelistic crusades of the 20th century.  By the grace of God in the Holy Spirit, we were to win souls, beat the devil, and make the world Christian.

I don’t know about you, but I am skeptical that much of that worked.  Church attendance has gone dramatically down, at least in America.  Christians are more divided even amongst themselves.  The world does not seem more Christian.  There was a lot of cultural momentum back in the 20th century crusade days, but where did that go?  Did we fail?  Did we somehow lose the victory that we were given?  Have we let Jesus down?

I miss my younger days when Frank Peretti books were popular, spinning tales of angels and demons actually engaged in warfare over our souls, when the forces of evil were confronted by the forces of good, and the righteous always won in the end.  If you ever read any of those books, they were exciting Christian pop culture back then when things seemed simpler.  It was easier to see the winners and losers, and there was a sense of gratification in God’s victory.  When I look around today, though, I do not get the sense that we are living into the promised victory.  If we are supposed to be conquerors, we are not winning at very much.  This is more like every game night that I play with my daughters.  In my head, I know that I just might possibly win, but in my heart, I know the truth.  I don’t stand a chance.

There must be more to this idea of our sharing in Christ’s victory.  I don’t want to look out there in the world and see all that we are up against and wonder where God’s strength might be hiding.  If we are truly victors in Jesus, more than conquerors in Christ, then it would be fairly useful sometimes to see that.  After all, something needs to carry us through the dark nights and the troubling times when the world seems out to get us or when our lives might be hanging in the balance.  As nice as it would be for Elijah to show up and build an altar and call down fire from heaven, I am not going to hold my breath for that kind of victory.  Thankfully, we have another option in John.

John’s audience was pretty similar to us.  They were just regular people living in a difficult world full of worldly things and trying to honor Christ Jesus with their conduct.  Honestly, their concern was hardly trying to vote the nation into Christian faith or to enact a Christian policy political action committee.  There were not even churches like we think of churches today.  People had no authority.  They were worried about making it through the day in one piece.  This was a time of religious persecution, and your life could be on the line if you crossed the wrong person’s path.  They needed a victory even worse that we do.  Their situation was much more precarious than ours.  Where was Lord Jesus when they needed him?

John gives a great answer here.  The answer can only be and is entirely framed by love.  Imagine for a moment being married for 72 years.  Most people would be doing well to live that long, let alone be married for that long.  I know someone who seems to be a 12 year man: he was married once for 12 years, then again for 12 years, and is now on his third marriage.  I hope his current wife is watching the calendar.  This is not the case for the couple who has been married for nearly 72 years or any other couple who has stuck it out for many, many years.  The longer I am married, the more I come to realize just how hard it is.  And there is only one way that it lasts – love.  I do not have to tell you that I am not talking about the love you find in romance novels or Disney movies.  There is another, deeper, more meaningful and lasting love that comes from the One who is love, from our true Father in Heaven.

John’s letter here is the exact same letter that tells us that God IS love (chapter 4).  And if you love God, you are a child of God and will love other children of God (this is not rocket science).  You will do the kinds of things that God wants us to do and live in a way that honors God (because you love God).  AND HERE IS THE KEY – if you are a child of God, you are already a conqueror, one who has overcome the world.  You have already won; you are a conqueror now; you are victorious in this very moment.

There is a love that gives our lives meaning, that gives our relationships meaning, that gives our work and service meaning. It enables us to live together in greater ways than we ever could without it.  It is God-given love that colors our lives, gives us grace to forgive, and helps us to see joy.  This love gives us a life that lasts forever.  If you hold to this love, believe in this love, have faith in this love, then your life is a victory.

To be honest, as exciting as it would be to square off against the forces of evil on the mountain top and call down fire from heaven, I am not so sure I have the courage to do that.  I’d probably rather be the guy digging the ditch around the altar.  That’s good – Pete the ditch-digger for God.  I can work with that.  So it is probably a good thing that I don’t have to actually fight anyone to gain the victory of Christ in my life.  It turns out that I just have to live as a child of God through my days.  If I am going to live as a child of God, then my life is about love and believing in that love.

As messed up as the world seems sometimes, maybe even all the time, it is a world that has already been conquered in Christ.  Jesus is already Lord.  We will never have to conquer it, again.  We just need to live out the love that gives us the victory.  So where is your love shacky?  Where is your love struggling to live out our victory in Christ?  Where is your love challenged to really be as loving as it should be?  Where is your love avoiding other children of God?  Where is your love lacking the faith that is given in Jesus?

The victory is truly already ours, my friends.  The love of Jesus has won and conquered this world, even death itself.  We are held in his love for all time, literally for all time, and nothing in all creation can separate us from that love.  If we put our faith in this love, we will see this victory in our lives, as well.  God’s love can overcome anything, even our stubborn hearts.  To God be the glory.  Amen.