6.2 The Overcomer

There are two basic views as to how God will end the age of human folly and begin the age to come. The first view is that He just does it by “divine fiat,” cracking His whip, so to speak, with no personal interaction with humans on this earth, except maybe some Old Testament-type characters. The second but less common view is that He does so in some sort of relationship with “the overcomers.” Yet being an “overcomer” is then perceived as human achievement, of the proving of a “superior” quality of “obedience.”

Both of these are tree of death thinking, with no knowledge of a world of life swallowing up their own false ideas.

Something Entirely Different. The foundation of both of those ways of thinking is the same, that our earth bodies of flesh are the cause of all our troubles, that when we lose them, we lose all propensity to “disobey.” People are convinced that, if we lose our physical bodies, then we will be pure spirit beings exuding only goodness. For this reason, those who perceive the overcomers as those who achieve something, see that achievement as “getting the flesh under control” or “sinless perfection” – i.e., all about self.

This “deeply held belief” is Adam’s original rebellion, “God, I hate the way You made me.” Its foundation is contempt, and its entrance is unthankfulness. May I suggest that a world of Life, swallowing up the false thinking of death, is something entirely different.

The Channel. Through our study of John’s vision, God has given us such a wondrous and piercing view of what He means by “the overcomer” and how He intends to synergeo with us in causing Life to swallow up death-thinking in the minds of all. Yes, God is the One doing the transition from one age to the next, and yes, He is doing it together with His overcomers, and no, they are not “achievers,” but rather believers. – We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power might be of God and not of us.

Human flesh is the channel of God, and that channel happens through “Let it be to me according to Your Word.” Human flesh is God’s way into His creation. Physical death is His enemy and ours.

The Essence. In this lesson, I want to explore the nature and meaning of being an “overcomer,” specifically, one who synergeoes with God in the transition from this age to the next. The essence of such a human quality is found in this line. – This is age-unfolding Life, to know You, the One True God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Knowing the Father – and being known by the Father. This is an essence of Being that contains and describes everything we are and ever want to be. This same knowledge of God is also the only thing that causes the false and foolish imagination of death to vanish and Life to be known by all.

Describing Evil. Now, when I say, “the false and foolish imagination of death,” I am describing evil with power and teeth.

Here are Paul’s lines describing the power of evil. …against the schemes of the devil [the accuser]. ..against the rulers and sources, against the authorities and influences, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against the spiritual evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 5). – Having renounced and stripped away the influencers, the sources, and the authorities, He exposed them as in bold public speaking, having triumphed over them… (Colossians 2). – The weapons of our warfare are …God-able towards the tearing down of fortresses, overthrowing arguments, and every high barrier lifting itself up against the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 10).

A New River Flowing. Through our study of Revelation, three things happened in us simultaneously regarding our being the overcomers. We saw that the river of death feeding this whole false and evil scenario ceases by an ACT of God in power. Bang – GONE! We saw the glory and joy of our weak humanity, that we are channels only, that it is God moving through us that Causes. And we saw that moment of Synergeoing, when we, in our humanity as God made us, with the utter confidence of the Word that is Jesus Sent into us, come together with the Spirit of God in power flowing out.

The river of death fails BECAUSE a New River is flowing forth by a greater CALL of God into the knowledge of all.

For the Sake of the Church. That greater CALL is our own voice, Jesus through us, the voice of many waters. Knowing the Father, we call God into our world. And what is that one moment when we step forth in All-Authority given to us to command God into visibility as Love among us? It is the moment of life or death for the sake of the Church.

In the Netflix movie, Damsel, a strong and intelligent young girl faces a horrifying death. Yet there comes a moment when she turns from being a “damsel in distress” to being a mighty warrior. That one moment is when her beloved younger sister becomes the target of death and only she can save her.

The Development of Goodness. That moment is very satisfying to the audience because her transition is fully justified and yet she never actually loses her femininity or her goodness.
Our “audience,” that is, all creation, will see that our transition into synergeoing with God in power is fully justified, coming entirely out from our love for our Christian brethren in their hour of greatest need. The intent to “burn her flesh with fire” is becoming visible in our world today. The time is upon us.

Yet stories also show us that the development of goodness, inside a weak vessel acknowledging Divine Power with all respect, happens fully before that great moment.

In Every Step. Paul is exuberantly descriptive. He speaks of “schemes, rulers, sources, authorities, influencers, cosmic powers, heavenly evil, fortresses, arguments, and high barriers.” All of that loses its strength in one moment and vanishes away when we call God in Power into our world. Yet it does so because in every step along our way, we have given thanks, in weakness and in tears. In every step, God has proven Jesus faithful and True, His strength made perfect in our weakness. Paul invented a word for this human action of calling God in Power into our world, that word is, the Ekenosis, “out of invisibility,” into Love being seen and known by all.

I want to set out the seven qualities of the overcomer which God proves as Jesus in us before this mighty transition.

Seven Virtues. These seven “virtues” or “doors” or aspects of Kingdom reality have developed slowly over time in our understanding. We are considering them now as the nature of the overcomer, the virtues proven out along the way. These are not “achievements,” but rather, the qualities of Jesus received by and revealed through us.

Working Together. Consider again how this diagram works together. At the center is always Heart, Purpose, meaning, knowing the Father, and everything always passes through that reality first and last.

Then, on the one side of Heart are the male qualities of acting, Word as the Source of everything, Mercy and giving thanks as the Entrance, the throne of God, and the Sacrifice of Jesus, the Blood Covenant, as the Connections between all, as how we see. On the other side of Heart are the female qualities of receiving, God’s Means, giving and reciprocity, human Response, the authority given to every human, authority that cannot actually be removed from them, the authority to receive Jesus and to refuse accusation, and finally Condition or appearance, clothing our brethren with Jesus.

Knowing a Lowly Father. I know what it is to be brought down to humility, over and over again. I once thought God arranged my life in such a way “because I was bad.” Now I know that He was always bringing me to Himself, a God who is meek and lowly of Heart. Even in recent years I have known so much loss of what is important to me inside. Yet I also realize that my choice, in every agonizing moment over decades, has always been that I might know the Father, even when I did not understand.

Three things will take you deep into the Father’s Heart, deep into knowing Him. You must regard His Word above all, planted all through your heart. You must place the Blood as all and connect with all through that Blood. And you must carry your brethren with you inside your heart all the way through.

Being Mercy. The Entrance. This is not our “entrance” into God; giving thanks is God’s entrance through us into our world. This is the throne of God, the judgment we place upon every moment, circumstance, and interaction. What is the “sign” that this virtue has been worked inside of us? That is, what is its end result? – Absolute confidence that God IS – and – no need for any sufficiency in self.

Giving thanks is always out from God. Blessing others is always out from God. It matters NOT what we “feel” like in the moment. Rivers of Spirit are ALWAYS flowing out, regardless of what we think we see. Yet this authority, this Mercy, this entrance of the knowledge of a meek and lowly God, comes by Word and upon Blood.

Fulfilling Every Word. Can you be just like Jesus in this present time? This question splits all into two groups. The larger number, almost all, see themselves and other humans, and thus give their answer. Yet a few, a very few, see God, and thus give their answer. What is the word to me? What do I do with the words on the pages of my Bible? I was nineteen when the words, “the Spirit of Truth will lead you (Daniel) into all truth,” leaped off the page and into my heart. I imagined nothing concerning myself; I knew only a Personal God speaking into me through “Let it be to me according to Your word.”

An overcomer has always KNOWN that God’s word is True, that it gives Life, yet only by the Spirit, and with NO benefit to be gained by “figuring it out.”

Judging by Love. Is the Blood enough for you? Does it settle all? Does it answer all? Does it bring you to silence when you are spit-screaming angry with another person? Why did Jesus die for me? – One reason only, to prove to me that He loves me, that He carries me inside Himself into God. Nothing else could win my heart or yours.

Yet, as you judge yourself by God’s valuation of you, the Blood, so you turn and judge all others by that same Blood. The action of Mercy is – And we also. The lens of Mercy is the Blood. Having crafted by Himself the full cleansing away of all falling short… – This is our judgment; there is none greater.

Reciprocating God. Inside of Word sustaining us, entering into us, revealing the Father to us, is everything that is God pertaining to creation. This is immeasurable abundance, indescribable wealth. God lives, and as Living, God gives, always expecting a return. Yet this return is not “for God,” but rather for the one who has received, that they might place themselves into the very Being and Flow of God.

We return to God what He gives freely to us of Himself by giving Him to others. This giving can include money, but it is mostly giving God of ourselves, yet always expecting a return. This expectation of God is the means by which all abundance increases and pours forth, the incredible display of Value.

Restoring Authority. Just as giving thanks is always out from God, so the right of every human to receive and to refuse is always out from God. Christians imagine that they are “bound to darkness.” They imagine that it is “hard to believe.” Both are untrue.

The entrance of Mercy restores in every human the authority to receive Jesus and the authority to refuse the evil one. The power to receive every Word as Jesus, the power to refuse every voice and feeling of demons, is inherent in every human, essential to our design. In the lonely places, in the hard places, this is what we have done. And now there goes out from us the same definition of right into everyone, that they also might receive and refuse.

Clothing All with Jesus. We started with Father’s Heart of Purpose, but we also finish with Father’s Heart. We return to the Father carrying our brothers and sisters with us, all whom we have known.

I look upon every interaction with others, present and past, I see that person by the Blood, and I clothe him or her with the Lord Jesus. Each is as Jesus to me. In doing so, I place each into their normal condition out from God, entirely free of me, just as they are free of God. Yet, with God, I can lose nothing. And so I wait for their return, coming back to me as my best friends forever, my glory and my reward. As we see in this way those Christians who have done us the most harm, so the circle, the Victory, is complete.

The Defeat All at Once. The most influential book besides the Bible in my life is Hind’s Feet on High Places, the story of Much Afraid. As I have written all these years, this story shapes my thinking. It was only her outward appearance that changed at the end of the story. The big change came inside of her every step of the way as she embraced Sorrow and Suffering that she might know the Shepherd.

The appearance of the Victory, Life swallowing up death, is almost anti-climatic. The defeat of all evil all at once seems to be effortless. Yet the substance of that Victory has formed inside of us as we have placed Jesus upon ourselves, with tears and heartache, every step of His Way.

God Made Known. The shining forth of glory and the character and exact reproduction of God’s substance (from Hebrews 1:3). I have not ever before set forth in words the glory and the character of the Father now revealed through our very human lives in the purity and meaning as found in this description of the seven virtues proven as Jesus in the life of each overcomer.

The Victory is not about the battle, nor about the elimination of evil and death. The Victory is about the Lord Jesus Christ proven faithful and True as every Word God speaks, the character and exact reproduction of God’s substance inside of creation. We are most-favored of God.

Reading for Next Time. The next lesson is titled “Increase and Subdue.” For that lesson, I would suggest that you read Genesis Chapters 1 & 2. As you read, however, take these two words in your mind as the meaning of everything in the text. That is, everything God presents in these two chapters is to give the setting, the means, the dangers, the process of the fulfillment of these two tasks given by God to mankind.

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue; have dominion over… every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Let’s Pray Together. “God, our Father, we are part of You for the sake of our brethren. We belong to You so that we might carry all whom You have given to us back into You. Father, Your Salvation is so beautiful to us. Your costliness is pure and gentle. Your favor is so expected, for Grace is what You are.

“And Father, You have made us just like Yourself, such that being in tune and harmony with You and with Your Salvation is natural and familiar to us. God, our Father, You look upon us every moment. Here we are, with all of our brethren inside our hearts, here inside of Your presence. We see each by face, and we call each by name, that each would be with us inside of Your glory.

 “Lord Jesus, You have loved us with an everlasting Love; You have loved us from the moment of our conception and have carried us inside Your Heart every step of the Way. And now, Lord Jesus, You live as us. You make this same Love for every person You have brought into our lives to be our Love as well. Lord Jesus, we love all whom You have given to us with Your own costly Love. We love them with tears in the hard places of life’s interactions, for our tears have always been Yours.

“Father God, Your people, our brethren in this world, are facing the hour of their greatest need, given over to death in the intentions of evil. Let us be in their stead, here inside of You, that they might enter into Your knowing without shame. This is our heart and Yours, Oh God, and it is True.”