"I have overcome the world"

Duncan Sinclair

Jesus ' words, "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world," are a source of constant encouragement to every student of Christian Science. The words are those of the most Godlike man who ever lived, he who more than any other knew the absolute truth about God and His creation; and what is interesting to note, they were spoken on the eve of his betrayal, when to appearance his life seemed to have been a failure. But the failure was only a seeming; for no life that has ever been lived was so successful as that of Christ Jesus.

How can it be said that the life of Jesus was a success, far beyond that of any other? Precisely because he had "overcome the world," as he himself said. And what is it to have overcome the world? To have overcome the world means to have overcome all error, all material sensuousness, all belief that matter and its phenomena are real. That Jesus did this is shown by every miracle he performed, as well as by his resurrection and ascension. Sickness of every kind, sin of every kind, suffering, sorrow, lack in every form take their rise from the belief that matter is real. Destroy that false belief through the understanding of the allness of God, Spirit, and sickness, sin, suffering, sorrow, lack will be destroyed. That was what the Master did: and that is the way in which he overcame the world. Mrs. Eddy writes, on page 39 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," of his overcoming thus: "He [Jesus] overcame the world, the flesh, and all error, thus proving their nothingness. He wrought a full salvation from sin, sickness, and death."

Christian Science shows how men may follow in the footsteps of the Master, in that it teaches the Science which enables them to overcome the world. Christian Science, based upon the Bible and fully elucidatted by Mrs. Eddy in her writings, reveals the truth that God is infinite Spirit. It reasons that since God is infinite Spirit, what mortals call matter must be unreal, illusory, or false; and it draws the conclusion that because matter is unreal, there can be no reality about any of so-called matter's seeming derivatives, sin, disease, and death. Moreover, Christian Science shows that as one understands these things he is able to free himself, and to help others also to become free, from the illusions of material sense or the flesh, thus in some degree overcoming the world.

Just as Jesus did not reach the climax of his overcoming until his ascension, so the student of Christian Science finds it to be a gradual process. After he has become acquainted with the fundamentals of Christian Science, after he has gained some understanding of the spiritual truths it reveals, he steadfastly endeavors to think and act in accordance with these truths. When tempted to be sick or to sin, he strives to hold his thought closely to the truth, thereby resisting the beliefs of evil. And as he realizes the truth of the allness of God, good, clearly enough, he is able to overcome the error, thus proving its nothingness.

The significance of Jesus' life was never fully recognized until Christian Science revealed the Science which inspired it. But in the light of Christian Science the records of that life which the New Testament contains, become of immeasurable value to the human race; and they will remain with it for all time, affording the one perfect example to be followed in the overcoming of the world. Mere belief in Jesus as a great personality who lived in the world of men and went about among them doing good continually, urging them to love God and their fellow-men with all their hearts, is not of itself sufficient to work out the salvation of a single individual. For that great end all must learn the Science which animated his every word and deed, and made him the conqueror over every form of evil. Only the spiritual understanding which Christian Science gives can empower one to perceive the allness of good and the nothingness of evil, and so to work out his own salvation.

Mrs. Eddy writes (Science and Health, p. 10), "Christian Science reveals a necessity for overcoming the world, the flesh, and evil, and thus destroying all error." The student of Christian Science recognizes this necessity; and because he does so, John's words in Revelation come to him with deep meaning and inspiration: "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son." What a wonderful promise this, to him that overcometh: he shall inherit all things, and know himself as the son of God! But man, the real man,—the image of God,—already is the son of God, already is the heir to the kingdom of God. This scientific fact must, however, be proved or demonstrated; and the demonstrating of it is the overcoming of the world.

Duncan Sinclair

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From the Church Treasurer

April 17, 1926

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