Be of Good Cheer, I Have Overcome the World.

Be of Good Cheer, I Have Overcome the World.

Jesus’ word in John 16:33 is one of the most liberating messages mankind could receive. The time had come, as was prophesied by Isaiah in Isa. 61:1-3, “To proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; . . . to console those who mourn in Zion.”

Paul writes in Rom. 8:19-21, that all creation eagerly waits for the glorious liberty of the children of God. We can ask, “What is the liberty that all of creation longs for?” It longs for freedom from what we are enslaved to, freedom from the pain that sin has brought into mankind, into society, into families and marriages, freedom from our sinful nature. It longs for freedom from the spirit that is at work in the sons of disobedience.

There is a loud cry for freedom in the world today, but it is a false freedom. People want freedom to have their own opinions, to do what they want and to live how they want. The human will is unable to create perfect unity, peace or freedom for mankind. We can see how the world strives to make it happen, and enormous resources are spent, but to no avail. Hopelessness and chaos prevail, and the god of this world has blinded the people.

What can truly set us free is God’s will, and this will works through the word of the cross. It is only by following the prophetic word that we can be part of liberating all creation. Peter writes in 2 Pet. 1:21, “For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” Here we see that human will can’t accomplish anything in the kingdom of God.

God said to the prophet Jeremiah, “‘Is not My word like a fire?’ says the Lord, ‘and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?’” Ch. 23:29. It was the word of God that Jesus lived every single day, which crushed and destroyed, so what was divine could be revealed. Obedience to the word of God led Him to the day when He could say, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. And that is precisely the reason why He came in flesh and blood like the children, and He humbled Himself, taking up His cross daily, so that He could send the Spirit of truth to His brothers.

Now the time has come for the same word to crush the mountains of flesh in my life, all that is hard and that is all about me, myself and mine. For that to take place, I have to humble myself under His will, which brings me into the sufferings of Christ. This is precisely where liberation takes place. When I suffer with Him, I will also live with Him.

This is the freedom such ones long for, all those who want to follow Jesus. This is what discipleship is all about: coming to freedom yourself and then helping to set others free; leading the elect to Christ and to His body—those who have a heavenly calling!