Conquering the conquered with Jesus

John 16:33

“In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world.”

“In the world you face troubles/persecution”

The world is in trouble, and everyone in it from:

1. The enemy. Satan is our enemy, adversary, deceiver, accuser and tempter. He accuses (Job 1:7, 12; Zek. 3:1, 2; Rev. 12:10), tempts (1 Chron. 21:1; Lk. 22:31) and tries to distract us from the truth.
2. The evils in the world. The earth is cursed. It is filled with death, sickness, diseases, troubles, hunger, anger and so on. Genesis 3:17 tells us that the ground/earth is cursed. All creatures too (Rom. 8:20-21).
3. The evils of the world. We continue to be troubled by the evils of the world. We may be persecuted because of our faith in Christ. This is not new. It has been there since the days of the Romans.
4. From others. We face troubles from our friends, enemies, families and even church members.

“But take courage, I have conquered the world”

Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us to have courage because he has overcome the world because:

1. Satan has been vanquished. Though he may appear strong and powerful, he is a defeated enemy. Yes, DEFEATED, in the past tense! Defeated by Christ in his death and resurrection.
2. Jesus conquered sin. Romans 8:1-3 tells us, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.”
3. Jesus conquered death itself. The last enemy to be conquered is death (1 Cor. 15:26). Jesus conquered it in his resurrection.

Who are you with today? Whose side are you on?