More Than Conquerors

God’s people have seen the rise and fall many empires. The mighty Egyptians ruled their part of the world for many years. God’s people saw the power of the Lord as his superiority was evident in the Exodus. The Assyrian Empire was feared the world over due to their cruel treatment of those they conquered. In 722 BC the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and took many captive. However, their reign was short lived and the Babylonians came to dominance as never seen before.

Daniel was taken to Babylon, Jerimiah wept for the people of God as the Temple was destroyed in 586 BC. Babylon was a magnificent city, the hanging gardens of Babylon are known as one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. The kingdom was described to be a golden kingdom in Daniel. However, it feel to the Medo-Persian Empire. At the height of influence the empire included approximately 45% of the world’s population. God’s people returned to their homeland and rebuilt the Temple under the leadership of Zerubbabel.

As foretold by God in the book of Daniel this kingdom (and the next two after it) fell. The Greeks rose to power under the leadership of Alexander the Great. Alexander swept through the Mediterranean and went all the way to India before he stopped his campaign of expansion. When he died his kingdom was divided into four parts. God’s people saw the cruel reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes during this period which led to the Maccabean revolt.

The Romans then came into power and brought with them a power perhaps never seen before. At its greatest extent, the Roman Empire reached as far north as the British Isles, into Europe as far as modern Germany, eastward throughout Asia Minor, and around the eastern Mediterranean rim south throughout North Africa.  The Romans conquered, built, and absorbed cultures as they went. When Paul wrote to the Roman believers in about A.D. 57, he said that Christians were “more than conquerors.” With the city of Rome around them I wonder how they took his words of encouragement?  As they gazed upon the palace of Nero did they have any idea what was coming?

As the Romans conquered different cultures they embraced the worship of many gods. Their philosophy was the more the better. Worship who you want, how you want, as long as it does not disturb the peace, cause any problems for the government, or insult the wrong people (sound fairly modern doesn’t it). Thus the gods of Zeus, Diana, Isis, Dionysus, Mithras, Cybele, and many others were common. Sincce the days of Julius Caesar, Judaism had been allowed to exist in the Roman Empire. It was seen as a minority sect which seemed not to cause harm. The coexistence of Roman rule and Jewish rule in Jerusalem as evidenced in the Gospels and Acts is telling of this fact.

After Pentecost Jewish Christians went all through the Roman empire spreading the news of Jesus. This new movement took off in Rome. At the end of Romans 16 Paul mentions by name many believers in Rome. For the first thirty years of Christianity it was looked upon as just another sect of Judaism. There were Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, and several other groups. Thus when Christianity rose up as a primarily Jewish religion the Romans took little notice.

However, as Christianity grew, tension between Jews and Christians increased. It became more evident that Christianity was not a sect of Judaism, but something new. The Roman historian Tacitus recorded a conflict among the Jews in Rome regarding one “Chrestus,” probably a reference to Christ. In A. D. 49 Emperor Claudius expelled all Jewish people from Rome in an attempt to make peace. When he died Nero came to power and he allowed the Jews to return to Rome.

Then in A.D. 64, approximately seven years after the writing of Romans, things became very difficult for Christians in Rome. On July 19, a fire swept through Rome, raging for seven days, destroying ten of the fourteen wards in the city. It was popular opinion that Emperor Nero was responsible, using it as a form of urban renewal, he burned down the slums to build a new palace for himself. Nero used his propaganda machine to blame Christians for the fire and thus take the blame off of him.

For the next four years, until Nero’s death in A.D. 68, Christians were persecuted. Stories are told of Nero impaling Christians on poles and used as torches for his parties. Many were thrown to ravenous dogs in the arenas and used as entertainment in the gladiator arenas. It was most likely during this time that Paul was beheaded and Peter was crucified upside down.

Thus when Paul says to the believers in Rome (and to us today) that we are more than conquerors it is hard to understand in the short run. However as we look around the world today it is evident that God is still in control and his people are victorious. The Roman Empire is no longer in existence, but Christianity is larger than ever. In Romans 8:35 Paul asks, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” The answer is a strong, nothing and no one can separate us from the Love of Christ. Nero may use tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, and the sword, but he will not win the battle. Nero had no power over the church of Jesus Christ. No doubt the Church turned out to be more than conquerors.

When the believers in Rome first heard the words from Paul they may not have understood the persecution that was coming. However, these words no doubt brought comfort to them when the persecution did come. These words have brought comfort to Christians of all ages that have faced persecution. Persecution has been seen throughout the history of Christianity from Nero, to Domitian (Emperor when John wrote Revelation), to Marcus Aurelius in the Second Century, to the Twentieth Century when millions of Christians died at the hands of communists in places like Russia and China among many other places. Persecution is severe today in places like North Korea, Iran, Somalia, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan.

While world empires will rise and fall, we can be sure of two things: nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, and his Church will not only survive, but thrive until his return. As we read the words of Paul we can take comfort that Christianity is growing in places like China, the former Soviet Union and many other places of former and current persecution. While we do not know what tomorrow holds we know that the love of God will never leave us or forsake us regardless of what Satan may throw at us. May we live as a people who have not bowed down to any political, social, or economic system, but rather a people that are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus our Lord.