More Than Conquerors (Romans 8:37) James Bi | June 1, 2025

Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast.

We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the spirit of the Great Commandment.

Thanks for joining us today.

Thank you, Redemption Newmarkets.

So per on a personal note, this actually has been a quite a hard week in our family.

My wife has been sick.

But I just want to say that your worship this morning was a bomb to my soul.

I felt truly nourished just by singing with you all this morning.

So thank you.

And in the grand scheme of things, I'm really thankful for your church and thank you for the partnership that we have in the gospel.

And as the as Paul writes in Philippians chapter 1, verse 6, and he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.

Philippians 1:6

And it isn't that what we all want.

That one day will be completed when we see our Lord Jesus face to face.

What a glorious day that will be.

So the scripture uh the sermon today is from Romans chapter 8, verse 37.

Romans 8:37

But for our scripture reading, I would like to read a little longer from verse 31 to 38.

So if you have your Bible with you, could you would you turn it to Romans chapter 8?

Romans 8 · chapter mention

Verse 31 to 30.

Oh, actually, sorry, verse 31 to 39.

Alright, so if he found it over there, so here is what the Holy Scripture says.

What then shall we say to these things?

If God is for us, who can be against us?

He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?

It's God who justifies.

Who is to condemn?

Christ Jesus, the one who died, more than that who was raised, who is at the right hand of God who indeed is interceding for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long, we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor power, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And this is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to you, God.

Let us pray again.

Father, we thank you for your word.

And Lord, we thank you for your spirit that can give us the eyes to see and ears to hear.

So, Lord, would your spirit, would your power be work among us today, that we will hear your word and your will for us, so that we may see Christ and we may praise him, and we may learn to live in obedience according to his will.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

So if I show you a swoosh mark, what do you think of?

Nike, right?

Most of you will know the simple swoosh symbol because it has become one of the most recognizing icons in the world.

But did you know that the logo was designed by university students and the founder of the Nike paid her a handsome amount of$35 for the work.

Now Nike is a now Nike is a global empire with multiple stars from different sports representing the brand.

And as brilliant as the logo goes, the success of Nike as a company is found in its core message that has been ingrained in our mind.

Just do it.

You have the speed, you have the strength, you have the athleticism, and you are a victor and a winner.

So just do it.

And this is actually in sharp contrast to another symbol in the world, if not at least equally recognizable as the Swush, and that is the cross.

Yet, the cross is a symbol, an instrument of torture, and a symbol of shame.

It is reserved only for the worst criminals and the lowest people.

Cursed is the one hung on the tree.

Even the scripture affirms that.

Yet on the cross, the shamed one is glorified.

The cursed one becomes the conqueror over sin, over death, over Satan, and the power of the world.

So today in our text, in Romans chapter 8, verse 39, it will focus on our new identity in Christ as a conqueror over Satan and the power of the world through the love of Christ.

Romans 8:39

So as we study this verse in Romans 8, verse 37, we will explore other passages in the Bible to develop this theme of Christ the conqueror over Satan and the power of the world, and how we, as Christ's follower, are given with the same identity by our union with Christ.

Romans 8:37

So let us first acknowledge the reality of being a Christian in this world, and that is our first point today.

The reality of being a Christian is that we will face persecutions and trials from the world.

Verse 37 begins with, No, in all these things.

So what do all these things refer to?

When you read phrases such as in all these things, the first thing you must do is go to the prior verses to see what these things are.

So in verse 36 it writes, For your sake, we are being killed all the day long.

We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

So in this verse, Paul is speaking on the reality of persecution and suffering among God's people since the Old Testament time.

It's like before you're getting married, people will always tell you, hey, it will always be rosy and sweet in marriage.

There will be challenges and conflicts.

Likewise, Christians should not be caught off guard by the reality of suffering and persecutions when we come to faith.

It was never promised that when we follow Jesus, life will be smooth sailing.

In fact, we should expect persecutions and suffering because of our faith.

Verse 36 is a quotation from Psalm 44, verse 22.

Psalms 44:22

But here is one key difference between the original text in Psalm.

In Psalm 44, the psalmist expressed his agony in the midst of his suffering, and he is perplexed to why God would abandon him.

But Paul, on the other hand, in this text, having seen the resurrected Lord Jesus, that he can stare into the face of hostility against him and declare that Christians are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus who loves them.

Furthermore, in verse 35, he asks the question: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulations or distress or persecutions or famines or nakedness or danger or sword?

What does he say?

No, none of these things can separate us from the love of Christ.

And they are what makes us the conquerors.

But more on that later.

So the point is this: Christians must expect sufferings and persecutions in our time.

I know that's not much of the case here in North America, and I don't think we should adopt a victim mentality that perceives everything as persecutions.

But yet, that is the reality for many Christians in parts of the world, and just as it has been to Christians throughout the church history.

In fact, the prosperity and the peace that most of us experience today is not the norm for Christians.

And I was dare to say it may even harm our faith.

The allures of prosperity and peace can lead us in making this world the permanent home.

And our striving was no longer for the kingdom of God, but for the kingdom of ourself.

And we become self-dependent and even self-absorbed when we are rarely challenged by external circumstances.

You know, I've seen studies show that our brain adapts to changes and new comfort measures by forming relative comparisons.

So as we quickly get used to the standard of the current world and comfort and convenience, we will never truly be satisfied.

We will keep looking for more, and that actually lowers our tolerance for the uncomfortable.

So the little setback can make us become extremely frustrated and even fragile.

So as we are spoiled with the riches of the world, we do not even consider ourselves to be rich anymore.

And let me be clear, there's nothing wrong with prosperity and peace in itself.

In fact, it is our Christian duty to pursue that for our family and for our society at large.

But as we obtain more wealth and security than any other previous generations, we must guard our hearts that we do not make them an idol and pursuing them at all costs.

Or worse, practicing our faith as a means of obtaining them.

See, we must prepare ourselves to lose everything one day if God wills it.

And he can take away our wealth, our health, or even our loved ones.

So is your faith dependent on these blessings that God has given you?

Or will you bless God when He takes them away?

And for some of us, we simply don't know the answer because we haven't suffered or lost much.

For some of you here, you have experienced suffering.

Unexpected death in your families, unknown or untreatable health conditions that have tormented your physical body or your mind.

We were children who whose hearts are so hardened towards God, despite your best effort to raise them in the fear of the Lord.

In my church, many people are in their 20s or 30s, and honestly, we haven't experienced the worst things that the life can bring us.

But some of you have.

And I believe it is critical that as Christians, we must prepare for suffering.

Tragedy can come to anyone, and we must not assume the trajectory of our life to always be upward.

And as Christians are falling out of favor with the mainstream culture, we don't know, frankly, how long until we face real hostilities that we can no longer avoid.

I'm not a prophet, and I don't know when that will be or what it will look like.

But I do know from the scripture that following Christ will require us to forsake our lives for the witness of the gospel when that time comes.

For your sake, we are being killed all the day long.

We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

And on that day, we must declare with confidence in Romans 8:37.

Romans 8:37

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

And what else can Christians expect to face in this present age?

Two verses after verse 37 also give us many causes that will threat to tear us apart from the love of God.

So let's read verse verse 38 to 39.

Neither life, a death, or life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor heights, nor death, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So there are many elements here in these two verses, and Paul is escalating the challenges that Christians face, from physical ones, from verse 35 to higher hierarchies of supernatural powers.

Those that exist now or ever will, and they are the unseen powers from high or from below that accumulates in the inclusive verse, nor anything else in God's whole world.

And the two elements I want to emphasize here are angels or rulers.

Both words are often used in the New Testament, referring to the unseen divine beings.

And they operate in a ways that are mysterious to us.

And yet the scripture speaks of this reality of a cosmic battle that's taking place in our time.

Ephesians 6 verse 12 says this.

Ephesians 6:12

Against the spiritual darkness, spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

See, the challenges a Christian that we face are not merely physical forces through tribulations and persecutions, but there is a greater battle that's unseen to our naked eyes, which is the devil and his power in the world.

C.S.

Lewis writes this in the screw tape letters.

There are two equal and opposite errors in which our race, which is human, can fall about the devil.

One is to disbelieve their existence, and the other is to believe and feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.

They themselves, the devil, are equally pleased by both errors, and they hail a and hail a materialistic or magician with the same delight.

So in some developing countries or in the New Age beliefs, people see spirits everywhere and they interpret everything as an act of the spirit.

But on the other hand, in a materialistic world like our world, we mock the idea of spirit altogether.

And we rationalize everything because we have been so dependent on our own intellectual ability and willpower.

But a wise believer will recognize the threats around them.

They expect sufferings to be a reality for many, including themselves.

And they understand that remaining faithful to the gospel will require sacrifices and may invite hostilities to themselves or their family at a heavy cost.

And they are aware that the temptations and the spiritual battles in such great intensity that they can only resist by spiritual weapons such as prayer and the word.

With the power of the Holy Spirit and the mutual aid of other believers in the local church.

So wise believers are ready to face all these trials and challenges because they are assured of their identity, which is they are more than conquerors.

And that is my point too.

The identity of all Christians is this they are more than conquerors.

So the phrase more than conquerors in verse 37 is actually just one word in Greek, and it's literally translated as hyper Nike.

And those who are familiar with the brand Nike will know this.

The word Nike is the name of the Greek goddess of victory, Nike.

So Apostle Paul is calling all believers hyperniki, super victors, more than conquerors, as ESV translates.

So in the face of sufferings and persecutions and attacks from the devil and temptations within Christians, we are not barely just getting by.

We are not grim stoic and respond to every trial by shutting down our emotions.

But we are super conquerors.

We are more than conquerors.

I like taking walks in our neighborhood every now and then, and right now everything is blooming and vibrant.

But it wasn't always like that.

Just a few months ago, you can still see dried-up leaves still hanging and dangling on a tree.

You know, they're being blown a fro by the wind with the lightest touch, they will fall.

And cushions.

Does your faith feel like that sometimes?

That we have grown weary.

There seems to be little victories in our spiritual lives, that we're still sinning the old sin over and over.

Our relationships with our loved ones have been deteriorating.

And people we have grown close to and loved have left us.

And the places in our lives that are supposed to be secure and safe now are full of conflict and strife.

And the most frustrating thing is all these things are taking place even without any substantial sufferings and persecution.

And yet, the scripture says that we are more than conquerors.

Not that we will be conquerors one day in the end.

I mean, that would actually make more sense, right?

In light of the state of our faith at times.

But that we are more than conquerors right now.

And that is our identity.

So what do we do with this discrepancy of our current state of faith?

I mean, what does more than conquerors even mean?

You have probably heard of the saying, what doesn't kill you can only make you stronger.

It sounds cheesy, but in a sense, that's kind of what it means to be more than a conqueror.

What Paul is saying here is not only do the various hardships and trials are not going to hurt you, but also they will help you to grow in your maturity and faith.

A conqueror is the one who defeats the enemy, but the one who is more than a conqueror will use the enemy as a helper to help them to respond to future challenges with greater hope and faith.

And that's how we become more than the conquerors.

So when trials and sufferings come, Christians, we do not run or hide, but we lament.

By running to God and crying out to Him, the trials and tribulations will lead us to reflect upon our sins, our idols, and they point us to the only hope that we can cling on to.

That is God Himself.

And we affirm the truth of God to ourselves and we wait patiently for God to deliver us from the valley of shadow.

So we do not simply get by with the trials in the end, but that we will grow in our faith along with the peace and security and even joy in the promise of God in every season.

And the promise of God is, well, there are many, but in Romans 8 verse 28 it says, and we know that for those who love God all things work together for good.

Romans 8:28

And this echoes Joseph's words when he was betrayed and sold to Egypt as a slave, that he said to his brothers, You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.

What is evil against you right now can also be what is good from God.

So the world says what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

But as Christians, even what can kill us can only bring us closer to the Lord.

As Philippians, as Paul writes in Philippians 1 4 21, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

There's no ultimate loss for Christians.

Even death, sickness are ultimately means of delivering us to Jesus, whether in faith and sanctification right here in this world when we are alive or when we see him face to face one day for eternity.

There is no loss for Christians.

And this is how we grow to become more than conquerors despite the evil in this world and the sins in our lives as Christians.

And this is who we are in Christ.

More than conquers is our identity.

And there are seasons when we don't feel like one.

But our feelings do not dictate our identity.

And do you know what else does not dictate who you are?

Your life circumstances.

Whether you are experiencing turbulent storm or endless drought, they do not tell you who you are.

Whether you have achieved many envy-worthy accomplishments or you're going nowhere in your life, they do not tell you who you are.

It does not matter what your reputation is among your families, your friends, your co-workers, or how much possessions you have or you don't have, they do not tell you who you are.

But you are more than a conqueror through him who loved you.

And that's the word of God.

And that's what we believe, what we hold on to.

This brings us to the last point.

The power of the Christians is this Jesus who loved us.

The keen eyes will notice here in verse 37 that the verse doesn't say him who loved us, loved in present in the past tense.

Sorry, the word says loved us, loved in past tense.

But does it mean that Paul is only saying the love Christ had for us in the past?

No.

What Paul is doing here is showing the readers that the whole demonstration of Jesus' love for his people.

John 15 verse 13 says this greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friend.

John 15:13

So on the cross, Jesus laid down his life for his friends.

Yes, his friends.

He calls you his friends.

And those who depend on Jesus only for their salvations and who follow his commandments, Jesus calls you friends.

And he gave his life to us because of his love, unconditional love for his people.

And that love is inseparable from anything in all creation.

And what did he do?

What did he accomplish on the cross that give empowers us to become more than conquerors?

Well, on the cross, Jesus paid for the penalty of our sin as the sacrificial lamb to satisfy God's wrath over our sin.

And thereby Jesus fulfilled the justice of God to judge all sins.

And Jesus also fulfills God's mercy to save humanity.

And in addition, on the cross, Jesus overcame sin, overcame death, as well as Satan and his power in the world.

And we are more than conquerors because Jesus has first conquered Satan and death.

And his victory is granted to us because we are united with Christ by our faith.

So whatever that Jesus obtained is now ours because we are one with Jesus.

And Jesus is our champion.

And he fought before us and behalf of us.

And he has defeated the ancient enemy of God and claimed a victory for us.

And Jesus, this and this victory is foretold in the very beginning of the Bible from Genesis.

In Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, God says this to the serpent who is the devil, that I will put enity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring.

Genesis 3:15

And he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.

So this redemptive plan of God is from the very beginning.

And that has foretold this cosmic battle between the offspring of Eve and the serpent.

And the serpent will injure the offspring of Eve.

But the offspring of Eve will obtain the final victory by crushing, crushing the serpent's head.

And that's Satan's total defeat.

And in Exodus, God demonstrated us to his power over God's enemy when he delivered Israel from the persistent and deadly pursuit of Pharaoh and his army.

And in Exodus 15, Moses and the people of Israel sent this praise to God after they crossed the Red Sea while Pharaoh's army and chariots were buried and sank in the depths of the sea.

Hear this cry of triumph from verse 36 in Exodus 35, 15.

Yahweh, the Lord, is a man of war.

Yahweh is his name.

And the flood covers them, and they went down in the depth like a stone.

Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, and your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.

And our God has been called many titles, and one of them is men of war.

If he desires, he can effortlessly wipe away the mightiest army in the world and bury them in the depths of the sea.

And there's no power in this world that we should fear because this God fights for us.

And he fights before us.

Our God is merciful and compassionate, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness from one generation to another.

But he is also a God who is mighty in power, and he leads and protects his people, those whom he loves, by shattering their enemies.

Psalm 2, verse 1 to 6.

Psalms 2:1–6

We want you to ask this question.

Well, God responds in verse 4.

He who sits on the throne laughs.

The Lord holds them in the region.

Our God laughs as the world's attempt to dethrone his rules.

And how does the world respond?

In verse 12, it says, Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.

And blessed are all who take refuge in him.

And this is a warning to all those who oppose him, but it's a comfort to those who take refuge in him.

So do your heart oppose the ruling of God?

Then you must be warned that God's wrath is on you because of your sin and your pride.

That you may think you can control your life by your strength, and you think you can overcome all obstacles if you just work a little harder or a little smarter.

But when life comes at you with all the violent forces that you can no longer handle, how will you respond?

Would you curse your fate and seek escape through the means of this world?

Or would you and would you still be so proud to be the master of your own life and refuse to come to God?

Or on that day will you finally acknowledge your own weaknesses, that you will see that you have sinned against God and against others.

And the world is broken, not because someone else's fault, because of your sin and the collective sin that we commit as a human race.

So I want to urge you to come and see the cross where Jesus was hung, the His blood gushing from his wound, and that blood can cleanse you of all your sins.

Come and see the empty tomb today where Jesus' body was laid, but there is no more.

Come and see his victory over death, our final enemy, and come and see his friends, his church, rejoicing this day with new with the new life that Christ has given for us with his life that we will sing praise to his name.

And come and see the rulers and the authorities are now disarmed and put to open shame.

Colossians chapter 2, verse 15 says this that he, Jesus, had disarmed the rulers and authorities, and he put them to open shame by triumphing over them.

Colossians 2:15

Christians, in the face of rampaging evils and injustice in the world, in the face of changing culture against Christian values, in the face of your own stubborn sin.

Do you see that your Lord Jesus has not only conquered them all, but he has put them to open shame?

That the serpent's teeth has been pulled out and his head has been crushed.

And the devil no longer has any power over us, over you, because we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, and we are no longer slaves to our former masters, to our sin.

Because Jesus has broken the shackle, that He has freed us and given us the power to become more than conquerors before all our enemies.

I know it doesn't feel like it, and I'm not speaking this from my own personal experience, but I am appealing to you today from the word of God.

And listen to these words from Revelation chapter 12, verse 10 to 11.

Revelation 12:10–11

And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of God and authority of Christ has come.

For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accused them day and night before our God.

And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.

For they loved not their lives even unto death.

Salvation has come to those who weep and mourn over their sins.

And the power has come to those who acknowledge their own weaknesses and powerless of their own humanity.

And the kingdom of God has come to the world, and the people from every nation and tribe have come to worship the Lord as you are doing today.

The authority of God's Messiah, Jesus Christ, has come to rule over our hearts, to rule over our family, and his church and his people.

Because on the third day, the immovable stone rolled away, and Jesus, with scars in his body, walked out of the tomb.

And on that day, the devil, the accuser of our faith, has been thrown down from his lofty place.

And Satan could no longer tempt the Son of God away from doing the will of the Father.

And he could not hold Jesus down in his death.

And he could no longer accuse the believers.

But the object of our faith, Jesus Christ, is interceding for us at the Father's side as our high priest.

And a follower of Christ Jesus, we are no longer slaves to sin.

Because we are more than conquerors.

By the blood of the Son poured out for us because of his love, we are now slaves and bound servants of Jesus Christ.

And as his friends, as his servants, as his slaves, we have no longer, we have no more fear of death.

And no more fear for anything in all creations because God's love has bound us to Jesus and nothing can separate us from that.

Nike tells us, just do it.

But of course, with the help of their product.

And I know that even their most expensive running shoes will not make me a winner in the Toronto waterfall, a waterfront marathon is fall.

But I can put my trust in the cross that what once was a symbol of death and shame has now been transformed by Jesus into the symbol of atonement and victory.

And the death of Christ on the cross and his resurrection from the tomb has dealt a deadly blow to Satan and as his followers.

We though can still expect persecutions and trials in this world, but our identity is sealed by Jesus as the ultimate conquerors.

Because our power does not come from us, but from the Son of God who claimed this victory for us.

And he loves you with his life.

Let us pray.

Father, we thank you so much for your boundless love, Lord.

The love that you have demonstrated on the cross when you humbled yourself, when you obeyed the will of God, even unto death.

On that cross, Lord, you paid the ultimate sacrifices for our sin and the penalty that we deserve, that is death, that you took upon yourself.

Lord, we love you.

Thank you for doing what we cannot do.

And Lord, we thank you for the new life you have granted to us, the new life that you have earned as Son of God.

The life that's utterly transformed, the life that's full of vigor and power that's over our sin.

That one day when we die the physical death, we will still live.

For you lived and you are living.

So, Father, we pray that we would obey your word, that we will not consider ourselves as victims, as useless in this world.

But Lord, we will consider ourselves as more than conquerors, and that we will live in the triumphs over our sin one day over our death.

In Jesus Christ's name we pray.

Amen.