“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” Rom. 8:37.
By Michael Adekoya – Dear Reader, do you know that there are three major types of people in the world today. You may want to ask, “Michael, what are these three major types of people?”. Well, the straight forward answer is, the conquered, the conquerors and the more than the conquerors. My own question to you now is, which one are you?
For more clarity, the conquered are the unbelievers, those that have not accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Those who believe that there’s no God, they call themselves Atheists. Those who surrender to another religious leader apart from Jesus, those who have another “holy book” apart from the Bible, those who think heaven and hell are fantasies, figment of imagination and unreal. Those who believe that Christianity is brainwashing, white man’s religion. Those who believe like Karl Max that religion including Christianity is the opium of the people. Not only that, the conquered are those who have surrendered to fate rather than having faith in God. The conquered are those that have been defeated, bartered, beaten and knocked down by the circumstances of life. The conquered are those who have given up that they can’t make it again in life. The conquered are those who have given up trying to better their lives. The conquered are those who believe that they’ll die in slavery instead of freedom, as paupers instead of being rich, in sickness instead of being healed, as beggars instead of becoming givers, as tenants instead of becoming landlords, as barren instead of becoming parents, as singles instead of being married and the list goes on.
The Biblical examples of this category of people are the Israelites in the land of Egypt, who loved their chains, who loved being commanded than to be commanders, who loved to be fed more than to be providers. Who loved to be receivers rather than to be sharers and who loved to worship strange gods of Egypt rather than worshipping the living God.
My friend, hope you’re not part of this first set of people – the conquered? Unfortunately, if you deliberately or accidentally find yourself in that category, by the end of this article, if you choose to come out, you shall surely come out, the choice is definitely yours.
The second major category are the conquerors. This particular group of people are those who use their sweats and blood to achieve victories in life. They are those who refuse to bow to the norms, traditions, values, beliefs and worldly principles and practices that keep them down, that hold them captives, that sniffed out their creativities, that prevent them from rising and shining in life. The conquerors are the pacesetters, who do what nobody has ever done, who go places where no one or very few will ever choose to go. Who stand up for their rights, who choose to possess their possessions, who fought for their own freedom and for the freedom of their people. These are those who are ready to die for what they know it’s right and true. These are the people who refused to lie down or give up when knocked down by the circumstances of life. Those who are knocked down but refused to be knocked out. These are those who become stars in life with a lot of scars. Those who have survival stories to tell, they have testimonies to share, they have trophies to display, they have experiences to pass on and those that have become references in life.
My friend, are you one of these? If you are, congratulations, I sincerely salute you, you’re courageous, you’re the Daniel of our days who was ready to go to the lions den rather than praying to another god. You’re the Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego of our days who refused to bow down and worship another image apart from the true and the living God. You’re the Joshua and Caleb of our generation who saw possibilities where others saw impossibility and defeat. You’re the Moses of our era who never gave up his dream as a deliverer having been rejected by the people he was meant to deliver, who eventually faced Pharaoh, the most powerful king of his time to set the people of God free. You’re the John Baptist of this present day who confronted Herod to let him know that what he did was wrong and evil despite knowing the consequences of telling the truth, although he was beheaded but he left a legacy of a conqueror for us to read and to learn from today. But the ultimate Conqueror is our Lord Jesus.
My friend, please permit me to tell you about this “Conqueror” for the next few minutes. Our Lord Jesus, the ultimate Conqueror, He left His throne in heaven to come to this terrible world knowing fully well that He was coming to suffer, to be punished, to be crucified and to die for the sins of His despisers, haters and killers. He knew He was coming to be killed by the same people He has come to save from eternal hell fire. Despite knowing that He would suffer from the hands of those He was coming to deliver from the hands of the devil. Having known fully well that He’d be separated from the love of His Father while carrying the sins of the world on the cross. He still chose to come to save us. He is indeed “the Conqueror”. It didn’t stop there, He was lied against by the religious leaders of His days who should have known better. He was rejected by His own siblings, by His family and by His people, He was misunderstood on several occasions by His students, the Disciples, He was forsaken by them when He needed their support and encouragement most. He suffered the most excruciating pain that no one has ever suffered or could ever experience. He died the most shameful death by dying on the cross. He was buried in a borrowed tomb on Friday the devil thought he has conquered Him but on the resurrection Sunday morning, our Lord Jesus rose up from the grave, He defeated sin, He crushed the head of Satan, death could not hold Him down, He went to hell to collect the keys of death and to set the captives free in hades. He is “the Conqueror”. All other “conquerors”, possibly including you can never be compared to our Lord Jesus. What you might have conquered in life can not be likened to all what He conquered for us. All what you went through can not be put side by side of all what He went through. The impact of your conquests is nothing to the impact of His conquest. I’m not making light of your conquests or putting you down as conquerors, but the conquests of our Lord Jesus was not for Himself, it was for us. The effects of His conquests have both spiritual and physical significances, it has eternal values and it’s universal.
Therefore, my friend, although you’re a conqueror in one area of the other, but have you submitted your life to “the Conqueror”? If not, your conquest is temporary, it’s only in this world, it has no eternal value at all. Well, sorry to tell you that you’re still one of the first category – that is, the conquered if you’re yet to have relationship with “the Conqueror” despite all what you’ve conquered in life. If one is yet to surrender to Jesus and working towards conquering the sinful nature through the help of the Holy Spirit, that you can only receive if you become a born again child of God, you’re still a conquered. The Bible says, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” Rom. 8:6-9.
My friend, before moving on to the last category of people, that is, more than conquerors in part 2 of this article next week by the grace of God. I’ll like to conclude by saying it’s not good to be part of the conquered, don’t settle for defeat in life, desire to move on to the next level – be part of the conquerors but better still choose to be part of the more than the conquerors in life. Also if you’re a conqueror in one area or the other in life but you’re yet to submit to “the Conqueror”, Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, please don’t settle for less, desire to be more than the conqueror. Although, you have a very good Church attendance, you have positions in the Church, you might even be a Deacon, an Elder or a Pastor in the Church, you might be the greatest donor in the society, you may love to do charity, going extra mile to help others, you’re a “do-gooder”, you were born into Christianity by Christian parents, you even have Christian names, you’re are a positive thinker, a goal getter, a die hard person and possibly a rich, educated and famous person. Thank God for all these, my friend, but if you have no relationship with Jesus, you’re still a conquered with a lot of decorations, trophies, accolades and reputations. You’re strongly encouraged to surrender to “the Conqueror” so that you can move on to the next level of more than the conquerors. Who are these more than the conquerors? What have they conquered? How did they conquer? All these and much more we shall find out in part 2 of this article next week by the grace of God. But before then, remain blessed!
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