Jesus says, “I have overcome this world” (John 16:33)
How did he overcome this world? What did he overcome? When did he overcome? We might have this question when we pass this verse in Bible.
John clearly says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:15-17)
We can perceive from the above verse that world is full of
- Lust of the flesh
- Lust of the eyes
- Pride of life
These were not created by our Father, but it came from the world. All these are just temporary ones that arouses out of our mind in seconds, causes us to do some action which we are not ought to and ultimately ends us with breaking our relationship with God. In other way, we can notice that these temporary actions are just like a passing wind that gives us a mere temporary pleasure. No one gets satisfied doing actions that falls under these category. It creates longings in our spirit.
Remember? When God created the man, He commanded him, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:16-17)
But, “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.” (Genesis 3:6)
Eve’s heart was occupied with,
- Lust of the flesh – the fruit of the tree was good for food
- Lust of the eyes – pleasing to the eyes
- Pride of life – desirable for gaining wisdom
It should have just took few minutes to think and eat the fruit. But the entire mankind lost the relationship with God, received the Curses from Him instead.
It is common for a man to have trouble in heart or temptation. It is how he reacts to them. Is he trying to come out of it? or, is he trying to play around it?
Even, Jesus met the same situation when he was completely worn out (40 days of fasting), the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’” The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
- Lust of the flesh – command this stone to become the bread
- Lust of the eyes – Kingdom of this world that you see will be yours
- Pride of life – Son of God, throw yourself down, Angels will guard you
We can see, in every attempt, Jesus overcome each lust and pride with Verses that God promised us. Yes! That is how Jesus overcame these worldly lusts. He does the will of God.
We, children of God, should always make ourselves aware of this worldly behaviors and keep ourselves out of it. Just like Jesus won these, with his Blood, we can win any tribulation, any troubles, any temptation that the worldly devil brings us! For it is written, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)
Have a victorious life! God Bless You!!
Extracted from a sermon by Bro. Kulandairaj
James' Desk 