Article July 17, 2000 Issue

Victim or victor?

You're undefeated with God.

By Clifford Kapps Eriksen

There's a way to be the victor over any bad situation, and we become aware of it by understanding our relation to God. To see how closely we are related to God—as the very image and likeness of Deity—is to unlock the power and authority that God gives us, power and authority over any form of evil.

As with so many other things, Christ Jesus gave all of us an excellent example to follow. He uncovered and defeated criminality, yet he didn't condemn the individuals who allowed themselves to be pawns of sin. For instance, he reaffirmed humanity's obligation to uphold the Ten Commandments, including not committing adultery, yet he saved the adulterous woman from those who would have stoned her to death. Then he urged her forward with the command "Go, and sin no more" (John 8:11). Jesus' unending love, purity, and innocence, along with his refusal to accept matter as the arbiter of humanity's well-being, enabled him to be the victor over the evil others faced as well as that which he confronted.

In order to follow Jesus' example (and get the same kind of results), we need to understand that evil has no power or jurisdiction, in spite of its appearance of authority. Many writers of the Bible glimpsed the fact that God is the one, supreme, infinite creator and Ruler of the universe. Jesus proved this fact through his healing ministry. And he reflected the all-loving, eternally good nature of God.

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