“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 3:21).

The Bible makes it clear that Jesus has overcome death and the grave. Consider the following promises: “When He had by Himself purged our sins, (He) sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3). “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). “Death is swallowed up in victory [from the same Greek root word as ‘overcome’]. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? . . . Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 15:54–57). “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (I John 5:4,5). “And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: . . . Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world” (I John 4:3,4).

In the book of Revelation many hope-inspiring promises are given to those who overcome: they will “eat of the tree of life” (2:7): they “shall not be hurt of the second death” (2:11); they shall “be clothed in white raiment.” To the overcomer Jesus says, “I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before His angels” (3:5). See also 2:17; 2:26; 3:12. “For the accuser of our brethren is cast down. . . . And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Revelation 12:10,11). Through Him, our destiny is sure. CJH