Thursday, March 15 2018
Introduction: We learnt how we lost our divine mandate through the first man Adam and how God, through well thought-out plan which could only have been the work of the only source of wisdom Himself, recovered this mandate through the one and only Jesus Christ our Lord and personal Saviour. Man regained his authority through Christ’s complete work on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. We will go further today as we consider the derived benefit of becoming overcomers through this redemptive work of Christ in our study today.
To Overcome simply means to defeat or succeed in controlling or dealing with something: So in other words, we can not be overcomers without facing or having hindrances to our advancements. The word Overcome means nothing without an Obstacle. So how did the obstacle come about? “And I will put enmity (open hostility) Between you and the woman, And between your seed (offspring) and her Seed; He shall [fatally] bruise your head, And you shall [only] bruise His heel.” [Genesis 3:15 AMP] “Therefore rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them [in the presence of God]. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you in great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time [remaining]!” [Revelation 12:12 AMP]
“And war broke out in heaven, Michael [the archangel] and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought, but they were not strong enough and did not prevail, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the age-old serpent who is called the devil and Satan, he who continually deceives and seduces the entire inhabited world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” [Revelation 12: 7-9 AMP] “ among them the god of this world [Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelieving to prevent them from seeing the illuminating light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” [2 Corinthians 4:4 AMP] “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places”. [Ephesians 6:12 AMP]
“having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of legal demands [which were in force] against us and which were hostile to us. And this certificate He has set aside and completely removed by nailing it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities [those supernatural forces of evil operating against us], He made a public example of them [exhibiting them as captives in His triumphal procession], having triumphed over them through the cross.” [Colossians 2:14-15 AMP] “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. And He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last[absolute Deity, the Son of God], and the Ever-living One [living in and beyond all time and space]. I died, but see, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of [absolute control and victory over] death and of Hades (the realm of the dead).” [Revelation 1:17-18 AMP]
“Therefore, since [these His] children share in flesh and blood [the physical nature of mankind], He Himself in a similar manner also shared in the same [physical nature, but without sin], so that through [experiencing] death He might make powerless (ineffective, impotent) him who had the power of death—that is, the devil” [Hebrews 2:14 AMP] “even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” [Ephesians 2:6 AMP] “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” [Acts 2:34-35 NKJV] In order to consistently work in the victory that Christ has won for us, we must constantly walk in this knowledge that we are overcomers with Christ Jesus. Remember that 1 John 4: 4a uses the phrase “….and have overcome them” NOT “…will overcome”. It is a settled matter!!! Does that mean we will not experience set-backs? No. But, we must also be confidence of the truth that; “And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose. [Romans 8:28 AMP] What we consider as set-backs are mostly set-ups for a higher level or platform of operation. Hallelujah!. Remember, without oppositions, victory has no meaning. Conclusion: “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” [Colossians 1:27] This is the mystery: Through the Holy Ghost, Christ indwells us, and we are the Body of Christ. He is the Head, and we are the Body. Now, can your head have one experience and your body another experience? No, it's impossible. In the same way, the Lord Jesus' victory is our victory. When He overcame demons and evil spirits and put them to nought, that's all marked down to our credit. Notice it says, "YE . . . have overcome them ..." (1 John4:4). Then why do people have so much trouble with evil spirits? Because of their wrong thinking! They don't know that in Christ, they've overcome demons and evil spirits. And because they don't know it, they don't act on it. But believers do have authority over Satan. They just need to believe and exercise that authority in every area of their lives, including the area of finances.
Part of this teaching was taken from “THE MIDAS TOUCH” by Kenneth E. Hagin |