The Christian faith is not simply a title or fraternity or social club—though sadly many who profess to be Christian live it out that way. As God intended it, the Christian faith is power to overcome the evil of this world, beginning with one’s personal salvation, which is to be restored into a right relationship with God the Father, through faith in Jesus the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
God of the Christian faith is three persons in one, with each having His own distinct role in all that exists. Beyond faith in Jesus for salvation, we must also have faith in God’s character, will, intentions and power for our victorious lives on earth, in order to wield effective faith—that is faith that overcomes evil.
Biblical Understanding of a Victorious Life
To understand what the victorious life on earth is, let’s consider the beginning. God, the Creator of all that exists, originally fashioned humanity in His image, fully empowered to wield His imparted authority over the earth and all that is in it. However, the first man and woman were deceived by the enemy of God, who enticed them to reject God. In so doing they rejected all that was good and holy and embraced all that was wicked and evil.
But God’s love for each individual represented in all the offspring from the first man and woman, is so great that even though He’d been rejected, He revealed a plan of redemption for all mankind. The moment the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve, admitted their sin—their rejection of God and all that was good—God cursed the enemy known as Satan. Then He explained the future difficulties Adam and Eve had brought onto all Creation, and every human being ever to be born. But more, moved by His great love, He revealed His plan to personally redeem humanity from the ravages of sin, restoring to those who decide to choose God, victory over evil.
With this victory power restored, Believers—those who place their faith in Jesus Christ—have the ability to subdue evil and overcome many, though not all, of the ravages and sufferings that exist on earth. All of life on earth, has been subjected to a fallen nature, ever since the first man and woman rejected God. However, from the moment God made His promise for redemption, the earth and all that’s on it is in God’s process of restoration.
A victorious life on earth is not one that is devoid of all pain, sickness, disease and suffering—that’s life in heaven. A victorious life on earth is one that intentionally seeks God the Father’s direction in order to do His will on earth as it is in heaven. This will include overcoming all sorts of evil, for the benefit of humanity, also bringing glory to God. This was the example of Jesus, the very One who proclaimed “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Jesus’ life, death and resurrection makes victory over evil, personal breakthroughs and hope, possible. Praise God!
The above is an excerpt from chapter one of Pam’s second book in the Faith to Live By series. An earlier post on this blog provided excerpt from the Introduction. We’d love to get your comments and feed back. Simply click on the title and the comment box will open. You can also learn more about her book writing journey on her dedicated Facebook page Readers can get some behind the scenes realities of writing and publishing. Authors can find much helpful information.
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