We all like to be rewarded. Yet, even some Christians live life as if it were a drudgery with no reward in sight. Many Christians live defeated Christian lives, never realizing the wealth that is theirs because they don’t understand Christ has already overcome the world for us. Being an overcomer is there for the taking and the rewards are great for those who will persevere and obey.
The overcomer is one who triumphs over sins that are easily given into, such as laziness, or bad habits. These would be sins that the author of Hebrews calls “sin which doth so easily beset us.” We are to also overcome the world and the temptations it brings to allure us away from serving
Hebrews 12:1 “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,”
We are overcomers if we believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Those who truly understand, that Jesus is the payment for the wrong we have done, that He, and He alone, is enough to satisfy the wrath of God against our sin, will overcome this world.
I John 5:5 “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”
If you overcome the world, and the temptations to sin, you will eat of the tree of life. This tree is in the middle of paradise. Paradise refers to Heaven, a place where the Savior will receive those who have overcome the world and stayed true to Him. Jesus will receive the overcomer into a world of happiness and permit him to taste the fruit that grows thereon the tree of life. He will rest in a place of total enjoyment. I imagine this is what the Garden of Eden was like before Eve ate of the forbidden tree.
Revelation 2:7 “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”
The overcomer will also not experience the second death. The second death refers to the final punishment for those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Death does not mean we cease to exist, but we will be cut off from God and eternal life. Those in Hell will experience perpetual death, but they will never die. They will desire to cease to exist, but that will not happen. They will experience eternal death! Those who have overcome have to need to fear physical death because they will not experience the second death.
Revelation 2:11 “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.”
The overcomer will also be given true spiritual food. A food called manna that nourishes the soul. Manna was the food that God provided for the Israelites in the wilderness to sustain them. A pot of Manna was placed in the Most Holy place in the temple, as a reminder of God’s provision. In Heaven, this food will be given to us in the immediate presence of God! This will be part of our reward for being victorious over sin, and enduring the persecutions and trials of this world.
We will also be given a new name. When we are physically born our parents give us a name that they like for whatever reason. It may be a family name, a biblical name, or just something they heard and liked. Most of the time there is no significance to it. However, when we overcome this world and reach Heaven, God will give us a new name. I will get a name known only to me and the Lord. This will be a shared secret between me and the Lord.
Revelation 2:17 “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.”
The next promise to the overcomer is in Revelation 2:26. Those who stay true to the end will reign with Christ forever. Their reward will be “the morning star,” Jesus himself!
Revelation 2:26 “And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:”
Revelation 2:28 “And I will give him the morning star.”
Rev 22:16 “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.”
As an overcomer, we will also sit with Jesus on His throne. He was an overcomer of this world and death. He now sits on the right hand of His Father on His throne. We will join Him one day as we inherit all things. Forever God will be our God, and we will be His children.
Revelation 3:12 “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.”
Revelation 3:21 “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.”
Revelation 21:7 “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son”
Life for the Christian is not always easy. This world is the opposite of who we are and what we represent. We are in warfare daily fighting to win those who don’t know Him and fighting to stay true to the end. Multitudes will fail, many will turn back and make shipwreck of their faith, forfeiting their inheritance. But those who maintain a steady warfare and achieve victory will be conquerors in the end!
What a great day that will be. With all the promises that are made to the overcomer, why would we ever want to go back to the old sinful self? Why would anyone not want to become a child of God? For those who stay true to Him, there is everything to gain and nothing to lose.
Hallelujah, what a reward when we overcome!
