THE believer’s victory is consequent upon the sacrificial and substitutionary death of Christ who gave himself in our place to pay the penalty for our sin, and the sacrifices we make because of our faith in Him. As we face the battle with Satan, we should not exercise fear or try to escape from it, but we should loyally serve Christ, who alone brings victory (Romans 8:34-39), for we overcome the Devil by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony.
To overcome is to conquer, subdue, precut some sort of battle or contest. Overcomers are those who overcome Satan and other battles
The Blood: Literally, it is the life of a living thing- animals and human beings. Biblically, the blood of Jesus is spotless and sinless. It is only Jesus blood that has the requisite quality for our atonement and redemption. (Lev 17:11, Deut 12:23, Hebrew 9: 13-14)
The Lamb: Biblically a lamb symbolises gentleness, Christ is the Lamb of God (John 1: 29,36). A perfect sacrifice, offered to God to take away the sins of the world
Overcoming by the blood means: Overcoming the enemy or any battle with the use of the power both in the name and blood of Jesus shed on the cross of Calvary for the remission of our sins.
CHRISTIANS’ ARCH-ENEMY:
There are three things that are enemies of the Christians. They fight tooth and nail to prevent the believers from reaching the purpose of God for their lives and stop them from reigning with Christ at the end of their race. The enemies are:
- I) The Devil: The Devil is God’s enemy, and he constantly tries to hinder God’s work. But he is hunted by God’s power and can do only what he is permitted (Job 1:6, 2:8). As the arch enemy of believers his intention is to make believers lose focus on God, their relationship and become his cohort. His I intention is to depopulate the Kingdom of God and turn people to His kingdom, making them the agents of darkness
- ii) Flesh/Sin: The flesh is that which is contrary to the Spirit (Galatians 5:17). The flesh and the Spirit are two opposing forces that exist within a believer. If the flesh prevails on a believer, the result will be devastating because such believer would become carnal, and eventually become the enemy of God. Those who live in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:7-8).
iii) Worldliness: Friendship with the world, immorality, occultism, love of money, pornography, negative aspect of technological device, gambling, betting, pride etc. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life are common features of worldliness. If a believer’s life is driven by any of these three features, there is the tendency that such is worldly. Worldliness is one of the vices of the devil to capture the believers. Any believer that lives after the flesh shall die. Flesh is an enemy every believer should seek to overcome through living in the Spirit (1John 2: 15-17, 1 Timothy 6:10, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 18)
THE EXPECTED LIFE OF OVERCOMERS
- I) Holiness- Hebrews 12:14, 1 Corinthians 7:1, 1 Peter 1:15-16.
- ii) Faithfulness- 1 Corinthians 4:2
- ii) Righteousness- Acts 20:34-35
- iv) Humility- James 4:10, Colossians 3:12
- v) Love of the brethren-Hebrew 13:1
- vi) Fear of God- Nehemiah 5:15, Psalm 89:7, Eccl 12:13-14
vii) Bible based life- Colossians 3:16, 1 Timothy 3:16
viii) Prayer- Ephesians 6:18, Acts 6:4
THE BLOOD AND THE EFFICACY OF THE POWER
Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Rev 1:5: “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.”
Rev 3:9: “Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.”
The scripture says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Sin is the barrier to man reaching the level God purposed for him. Two things are necessary if man will show forth the glory of God in life. First is to have his sin forgiven; second, is to become acceptable to God. You cannot be in right standing before God if you have not been forgiven of the inherited Adamic sin. Man’s effort to have forgiveness of sin has always been mainly through offering of sacrifices, but this has failed to have him yet acceptable to God. He still lives in sin. God’s way out is to come down by himself to offer a once and for all sacrifice with a sinless blood. We are talking about Jesus Christ here who was without sin. The Bible has said it that the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent. For it pleased the Father that in His all the fullness should dwell and to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in Heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross” (NKJV) that is the answer to the efficacy of His blood. (Col 1:19-20).
Anything on earth, on the ground, in the air, in the water, all are subject to the authority of Christ Jesus. That bloodshed on the cross at Calvary has power to neutralize, spoil, and destroy every other power. That is why we have the forgiveness of sin through the blood of Jesus hence is we have salvation through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are justified by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ. Your faith cannot work but by the power in the blood of Jesus.
It protects from all agents and power of darkness, death and disaster. God did that for his people the Israelites when all the first born of Egypt were to be destroyed, the angel of death saw the blood and he passed over them. No death for Israel but for Egypt the people were dying house after house, so that there was wailing and mourning in all the land. When you have the blood of Jesus you are sure of divine protection. You are marked out from danger and evil; they cannot touch you.
Eucharistic power: The power of the Passover in the death of Jesus Christ is Eucharistic. He gave his disciples the bread representing his body and wine representing his blood shed for the atonement and remission of the sin of mankind. Any one that is able to drink of this blood by accepting him as Saviour and Lord surely has his sin forgiven and totally remitted. By this the believer is transformed for he has been given power to become a child of God. He is washed, he is sanctified as the righteousness of Christ is imputed upon him. You too need to have this precious blood to transform your life.
THE POWER IN CONFESSION
You have to confess by your mouth. Confess what you want to be and you can be. Confess you salvation that’s what we did before the baptism during which we renounce the devil and accept Jesus as our personal saviour and that’s the power of salvation.
The 12 spies demonstrated confession both positively and negatively in Exodus 13: 14. Of the spies that were sent to spy the Promised Land at that time, ten confessed negatively that they were like grasshoppers to the inhabitants of Canaan. The other two — Caleb and Joshua were positive, saying that they were well able to take the Land of Promise. Their confession brought death and life respectively. We die or live by our confession. Confess the word in any situation and circumstance of life. If you say “Oh I am finished; oh I am finished then you are telling the devil that you are finished. Why should you be finished? Nothing makes you to be finished.
But when you say Satan you are a liar, then he is a liar. Confess the word of God in any situation you may find yourself. Whether life or death, it is well and that is what you should hold; it is well with your soul today. Confession of the blood of Jesus would give us confidence and victory.
Also there is danger in engaging in other blood and sacrifices: it is dangerous, it is condemnable, it is not for your good to trust, to use, or to sacrifice blood. Those who are sacrificing human beings are going against the Lord. Those of you who are still sacrificing goat, sheep to make sure that you are successful, it is dangerous and condemnable. Therefore, in this last days don’t sacrifice any other blood, Jesus has paid the price once and for all. His blood is ever flowing still. Whenever Satan threatens you, you call Jesus’ name; he will not just be moving away because of the blood of Jesus Christ, he will fly away immediately. There is power in the blood of Jesus.
Therefore, don’t accept another blood, don’t use another blood. You see what Psalm 16:4 says: “Those who are looking for other gods their sorrow shall be multiplied; those that hasten after other gods their sorrow shall be multiplied. Their drink offering of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names from my lips”. Because the blood of animals cannot remove sin but can only cover it that’s what they were doing in the Old Testament. It doesn’t remove the sin but rather cover sin to make God to overlook it.
It is forbidden to eat blood (Ex 23:18, 29:12; Act 15:20, 29). It is forbidden for you to prepare blood in your pots, in your plate to eat. No. It is against the Law of God to eat blood. It means those of you that are still going to buy blood in the market it is an abomination,
You must know that other sacrifices apart from Jesus’ is unacceptable. It is only the blood of Jesus that is acceptable. When we kneel down and pray on the blood and the name of Jesus yes we have everything from God.
HOW TO OVERCOME BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB
Have faith for forgiveness, healing and deliverance. By having the blood of Jesus Christ, we are overcomers. A repentant sinner receives redemption because he repented and changed. You don’t go back to sin; you get redemption. That is the doctrine of The Church that there is justification and sanctification of the believer through the finished work of Christ. Forgiveness, sanctification, and justification are received and so God has given this to us as a weapon.
You can see David with catapult stoning Goliath while the man was laughing, and he said, “You this boy, you are coming to me with catapult and stone? Am I a dog?” But the young man said, “You come to me with your weapons and you are causing me by your gods, but I come to you by the Lord of hosts, the Lord of Israel who you are defiling. In the name of that Lord of hosts I come to you”. Many of you often forget the Lord God of hosts when trouble comes. You forget the name of Jesus, and you start saying you will die: Why would you die? You shall not die but live since you have the One who has swallowed up death in victory.
God has given us a weapon and that is the name of Jesus Christ, the Blood of Jesus Christ. You get the victory through that blood for the Lord has given us the victory. By that blood Jesus Christ has made us more than conqueror. Do you want victory the blood has been given to us free of charge? You and I don’t pay money for it? Jesus didn’t take any money but he died for us. Declare it now: I am more than a conqueror.
Thus, when you trust in the blood of the lamb, your victory is guaranteed over sin, Satan, flesh and the world; you receive redemption as a repented sinner and also forgiveness, justification and sanctification by which you are made righteous. Hallelujah.
READ ALSO: Ooni of Ife, wife welcome twins
