When I was younger, my friends and I played a lot of Axis & Allies
and Risk
. These games appealed to us because they provided hours of entertainment and the prospect of becoming “ruler of the world” – albeit in a hypothetical scenario. Still, they kept us occupied (and out of trouble) for hours.
Oddly enough, back then, none of us went to church. We were a bunch of aimless kids who had little parental guidance and certainly wanted no part of religion. Thankfully, Christ eventually pulled most of us to Him.
I have overcome the world. ~ John 16:23
One thing that always stood out in my mind (and I think in the minds of my friends) was that – despite not having much spiritual influence – this world is inherently messed up. Sadly, this realization led to a lot of discontent due to the fact that we all knew there was little we could do about it.
Many have tried to be a conqueror of this world. All have failed. Except for Jesus. Photo Credit: John-Morgan via Compfight cc
How to be a World Conqueror
There have been many men (and perhaps women) who have tried to take over the world and thereby “rule” it. However, none have really come all that close to doing so. None except for Jesus.
And He did it in a much different fashion. When we really consider what our “world” is, we can see what Jesus meant by “I have overcome the world.”
It’s the sum of all possessions, powers and pleasures that this earthly life offers, organized under the influence of Satan and position to forget about God, to oppose His sovereignty, and keep the ear of man bound to menial things.
Thinking back to those days of playing games that evoked world domination, I realize just how caught up in world we were – and perhaps often still are. Our source of discontent had much to do with our positions in life. We were all from families of modest means and there were no real father figures to speak of. Even God seemed to have forgotten about us (in our unknowing minds at least).
While we have all grown older, gone our separate ways, I have to wonder if we truly have overcome the world any more than we had back then.
What about you? Comment and share.