Conuquerors and Cowards

Revelation 21:7-8 reveal two groups of people: conquerors and cowards. I am glad the bible uses those words so I can't take credit for the alliteration. Conquerors have great promise: they can lay claim to God as being theirs and they have God calling them sons. To be a son is a great thing (I will try to remember to post about this at another time). These great promises are made more clear because of the contrasting statements concerning those God calls cowards (vs. 8). Being called a coward by anyone hurts, but being called a coward by God has dire consequences. The outcome for cowards is not good. I will let you read it for yourself.

What makes us cowards rather than conquerors? Cowards have no faith. There is a list of sins that is included in this cowardice, but primarily, they are faithless. They won't face their own broken humanity and realize that they need a savior. This is true cowardice. They won't believe that God is good and that through his grace they can truly be conquerors.

You may begin to think that conquerors are buff warriors with brilliant character. That would not be accurate. They are men and women who realize they are broken and can only be made whole by Jesus. Conquerors are weak and fragile recognizing that their strength and their hope is in God, not in their ability to keep the rules, nor in their disability to do so. The gospel writer, John, says that we overcome the world by faith.

Conquerors simply believe God. We believe him when he says that we are in need of a savior. We believe him when he says that we are no longer children of wrath, but beloved of God. We believe that we are free from the law of sin and death. We are made alive in Christ.

Believe him today. "For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith."--1 John 5:4 (ESV)