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I Came, I Saw, God Conquered
I Came, I Saw, God Conquered
"John III Sobieski, king of Poland in the late 17th century, is best remembered as the man who saved central Europe from invading armies of Turks in 1683. With the Turks at the walls of Vienna, Sobieski led a charge that broke the siege. His rescue of Vienna is considered one of the decisive battles in European history. In announcing his great victory, the king paraphrased the famous words of Caesar by saying simply, 'I came; I saw; God conquered.'" (Today in the Word, August, 1991, p. 7).
This awesome statement has been true throughout time, whether or not God was actually involved in the Polish's defense against the Turks or not. Especially in Scripture, faithful people have often been stacked against incredible odds. The pattern is the same:
- Noah came; Noah saw; God conquered with the flood (Genesis 6-7).
- Abraham came; Abraham saw, God conquered through Abraham's descendants (Genesis 22:18)
- Moses came; Moses saw; God conquered through the plagues and the Red Sea (Exodus 7-14).
- Joshua came; Joshua saw; God conquered Jericho by the people marching around it (Joshua 5-6).
- Gideon came; Gideon saw; God conquered using only 300 men (Judges 7).
- David came; David saw; God conquered over Goliath and the Philistines (1 Samuel 17).
And then we get to today. We are not fighting any major wars where God is miraculously intervening. But make no mistake; we are in a spiritual battle against sin. It is an intense one. It is a constant one. And when left up to us alone, we will lose the battle.
Thankfully God stepped in with Christ. He died for us so that when we obey His words (Acts 2:38; Mark 16:16; 1 Peter 3:21), we can be saved! Even in our own lives, this pattern still applies: We came; We saw; God conquered sin and death in our lives through Christ blood (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).
