February 26, 2011

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:21

There is a good reason that the writer of Romans admonishes you not to allow yourself to be overcome with evil. Here are three of them:

Lucifer was overcome by evil and lost his exalted place in Heaven:

"How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” Isaiah 14:12-14

Ever since he became evil he has spread evil like a plague and is totally dedicated to overwhelming the world with evil:

“You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Genesis 3:4-6

Once sin spread to the human race, Adam and Eve, the first parents contaminated the human nature with evil. Since then every person who has ever been born has been overcome by evil. You were born evil. I was born evil. It is our default position. Unless something dramatic is done, all of humanity will be hopelessly overcome by evil.

God sent Jesus, His Perfect Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin - without a sinful nature! That enabled Him to become the sacrifice to bear the penalty for our sins. He Who was Holy absorbed our evil and became evil for us:

"Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. " Matthew 27:27-31

These three portraits of evil remind us of how hideous it is. They remind us of how powerful it is. So powerful is it that only God Himself can overcome it. What makes you think you can mess with it and get away with it?

Only the Second Adam could overcome the evil created by the first Adam. He is your only hope to be an overcomer!