More than Conquerors, Really?

Are you living in the reality of what it means to be “more than conquerors”

Romans 8:37-38

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced…nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Some days I don’t feel, think or even act like I am more than a conqueror.  Some days I feel as insignificant as a cubicle worker counting numbers who is soon to be replaced by the new and latest software.  Some days I feel that victory is being obtained by those who are more mature, by those who seem more connected, by those who have answers to life’s struggles, by those who have hidden their weaknesses and by those who shout the loudest, “this is the way, walk ye in it”.

So what did Paul mean when he said “we are more than conquerors”?  The word is a conjunction of two greek words huper and nikao meaning “overwhelmingly victorious.”  Nikao is from the same root word as “nike” meaning “victorious in battle”.  Makes me want to go out and buy some new shoes now that I know it is associated with being victorious all the time. 

Still, who did Paul think the foe is that we are able to more than conqueror?  For me, I would quickly think it is the battle between being good or bad, meaning the battle for personal holiness.  When I have obeyed God today….then I am victorious.  And when I choose to follow my own way, reject the voice of the Holy Spirit to resist temptation, then I am less than victorious.  So as I look back on my life, I see the seesaw of the ups and downs of victorious living….BUT

The victory that Paul is talking about is oneness that we possess of the “love of Christ”.  The battle is not about personal holiness.  It is about the overwhelming capacity of God’s love to enwrap itself around, in, and through us, so that we can never be separated from it.  We are accepted, not condemned.  The love that Christ expresses to our spirit right at this moment…is the exact same that follows us from death into eternal life.  We are not going to be “loved” more when we get to heaven.  God has already “revealed his hand” in that he expressed how much he loved us by allowing his own son, Jesus, to be crucified to death in our place.  We never, ever, have to wonder if God loves us.  He has already revealed the extent of that love.

Not only did God show us in the past that He loves us, but He wants us to know the power of that expression of love.  Which brings us back to the phrase “more than conquerors”.  The victory above victories is the ability for us to abide in the love of Jesus.  All evils, persecutions, trials, temptations or any plan of the enemy will ultimately lead us back to God’s love.  When we are attacked, and fail…we experience a deeper measure of God’s love.  When we lose the strength to endure, we are sustained by the immovable foundation of God’s love to uphold us.  The plans of the enemies actually fail, because they all lead us back to surpassing greatness of the love in Christ to not condemn us, but to afford us with full acceptance. 

In some ways this love is more than what we experienced at our conversion.  God showed the mercy of his love, by forgiving us of our past sins.  But this love that overcomes will never leave us again.  The love of God is far more stable than our thoughts and feelings.  Its depth is beyond the deepest valley of uncertainty in the very core of your spirit.  Its future impact extends all the way to your appointed meeting with Jesus at the throne of God.  God loves you!

Christ won the victory of securing you as God’s children.  As we experience and live in that love, we are “more than conquerors”.