The Bible is a big book. The world is incredibly complex. Yet to be a true Christian we must BOTH live by every word of the Bible (Matt. 4:4; Deut. 8:3) AND overcome the world (I John 5:4-5). Which altogether seems rather impossible. Which altogether is totally impossible. For us. But not for Christ. Because it is the mind of Jesus Christ in us (Phil. 2:5) which enables us to receive eternal life and inherit all things. Paul beseeches all true Christians to be "confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will finish it" (Phil. 1:6, margin). Our God is steadfast and resolute — trustworthy beyond measure. He is our refuge, our rock, our strength, our fortress. He is our Father. And so when our Father calls us into the knowledge of His Truth — when God joins His Holy Spirit to our human spirit (Rom. 8:16) — then we can be absolutely sure that the Creator is putting the full resources of His entire universe behind us. What God told Jacob, he is now telling us: "Remember, I am with you: I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you" (Gen. 28:15, Jewish Pub. SOC.). And what God has promised all true Christians is eternal life as literal Sons in His God Family! (Heb. 9:15; II Cor. 6:18; 7:1.) Paul knew full well the extreme difficulties of the Christian fight — he continuously experienced both the tortures from without (II Cor. 11:23-27) and the pressures from within (Rom. 7: 14-23). And mentally torn by swirling emotions, Paul was moved to ask, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Rom. 7:24.) His answer came swift and sure: "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (v. 25). And with the certainty of this reality firmly implanted in his mind, Paul confidently proclaimed, "We are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8:37-39 Let's read these all-encompassing verses again in the Phillips translation. Think about them. And believe them. Because the same Creator God who formed atomic nuclei and fashioned galactic nebulae inspired these words. "I have become absolutely convinced that neither death nor life, neither messenger of Heaven nor monarch of earth, neither what happens today nor what may happen tomorrow, neither a power from on high nor a power from below, nor anything else in God's whole world has any power to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!"
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