Greater is He

1 John 4:4-6 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
 
JOHN has been writing about the ongoing struggle between the truth and the lies. Jesus’ church has been assaulted from false teachers pretending to be Jesus’ true teachers. And the world’s culture was dominated with beliefs in the Greek and Roman system of multiple gods. Then there were the philosophies that taught every person has the answer to the truth within themselves. In short, little has changed. The amount of noise against the gospel remains loud and overwhelming.
   Yes the devil influences people in power to wield his deadly venom. He forms words and schemes in people’s minds to assault God’s truth on every side, especially in the church. When we hear and see the evil that is in the world, it is easy to assume the devil is winning the “War for the World” that has raged between God and Satan since Satan’s rebellion.
   But the devil is not as great as the Spirit. This is our Father’s world. Once again John reminds us Jesus has given you and each child of God a Helper to know what is true. How great is the assurance to know you have heaven’s power to defeat the enemy. 1 John 4:4 The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. This is one of those powerful verses we have likely heard. It is easy to memorize and a great defense against challenging circumstances that will assault your faith. When the world boasts it knows more about God’s world than God’s Word knows, you can thank God his power is in you to know what is true.
           Rejoice! Tthe LORD God has granted you a special gift of knowledge. We are from God, his dear children whom he has welcomed into his house. The Spirit is in us. There is no power in the world greater than the Spirit of God. He has transformed you to be a sanctified temple of the living God. He has set you apart from the devil’s delusions, so  you will know God’s life-building words.