“The whole world lies in the power of the evil one,” says John the apostle.
That’s an intimidating thought, and there’s
plenty of evidence to back it up. Today, just as in John’s day, there is not a
single nation on earth that orders its politics and governance — let alone
its popular culture — on principles consistent with the will of God and
the character of Jesus Christ. Not one.
As a Christian, no matter who you are and
where in the world you happen to live, you are in enemy territory.
Such a view of things helps to explains why
22% of all North American pregnancies end in abortion (better than the 52% Russian termination rate but horrible compared to, say,
Poland at 0.09%). It makes sense of the 6.8 million Americans convicted of crimes and caught in the web of the U.S. legal system. It explains
the 7% of Americans that admit to having paid a bribe to one of its eight major public services in
the past 12 months, which in turn may help account for the fact that only 19% of Americans trust their government.
Bear in mind these are just the things we
can easily measure. If 6.8 million Americans have been convicted of
crimes, it stands to reason that far, far more Americans have committed them. The
clearance rate for murder is 62%, but for burglary and car theft it is barely 13%,
meaning the conviction rate is merely the tiniest tip of the criminal iceberg. Again,
22% of North American pregnancies end in abortion, but only a tiny fraction of
all sinful sexual encounters end in pregnancy. The whole world lies in the
power of the evil one, but not everything he does is instantly obvious.
83% of Americans may self-identify as
Christians but from the statistical evidence available it would be awfully hard
to argue that 83% of Americans are living like civilized human beings, let
alone Christians. If we are paying attention, it is hard not to see the hand of
the god of this world around us everywhere we turn.
Here’s the good news: “Everyone who has
been born of God overcomes the world”.
The same writer who tells us the whole
world is in Satan’s power assures us that our faith has overcome that same
corrupt world:
“Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
If Jesus is really the Son of God, what
does it matter how much dominion Satan exercises elsewhere, or even all around
us? So what if we live in enemy territory? We have overcome the world. We have
stepped outside and above the existing order of things and belong to another
order entirely. If Jesus is really the Son of God, every word he said is true and by extension every word of the Old Testament is true, which means Christians are the only ones who have a clue how the universe actually operates. If Jesus is really the Son of God, then he has gone to prepare a place for us
just as he promised, and the worst Satan can throw at us is only for a brief, passing moment. If Jesus is really the Son of God, then when sin exerts its influence in my
life, it is only because I have temporarily
forgotten who I am, and that unlike those around me, I do not lie in the power
of the evil one. Sin has no dominion over me.
That’s what it means to me today that I
have overcome the world, and it’s only a tiny fraction of the real implications.
We have yet to even begin to really apprehend what we entered into when we believed in the name of
Jesus Christ.
I know you know this. But isn’t it great?
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