NIKAO (Prevail)
WRITTEN BY DREW MATZ
What is the Word?
The Christian walk is challenging. The Gospel is pure gift, to be sure. But following Jesus is something difficult that requires us to forsake all other things. Even when we are walking with the Lord, we often stumble and fall. But Jesus is always there to lift us back up, to help us carry our cross and keep the faith. This is what we call prevailing, and the New Testament term for this is nikaó.
How does the Bible use this word?
We sometimes view our walk with Christ as a static, blissful relation. In reality though, it is often way more dynamic than that – full of trials, setbacks, failures, and redemptions as we slowly discover our new identity in Christ and move ever more faithfully into the life that God has called for us. It is in this process that we become victorious, not in ourselves, but in Christ – whose blood sets us free to be people of God. The verb nikaó is highly suggestive of a battle and has undertones of victory and conquest. This is what the Bible means when it speaks of victory – it is Jesus’ victory over sin, death, and the Devil – a victory we ourselves participate in through faith.
Where in the Bible?
We can see that the New Testament is practically permeated with the message of Jesus’ victory over all of the forces of hell. We can see him often talking about his vanquishing of his enemies, and our deliverance through this:
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome (νενίκηκα) the world.
John 16:33
Here Jesus empathizes with the struggles we will have to endure to follow him. Yet he tells us not to be afraid. All of our struggles are in one way or another rooted in our fear of death (Hebrews 2:15). Because Jesus rose from the dead, we are set free from this fear and are liberated from all anxieties that hold us down.
In coming to dwell with us, Jesus prevailed against all the powers of spiritual evil. Paul teaches us how to live in light of this:
Do not be overcome (νικῶ) by evil, but overcome (νίκα) evil with good.
Romans 12:21
For Paul, Jesus’ death implies a complete change in our nature, one that changes the way we relate to God and one another. This implies that we react much differently to evil than others. Instead of the “eye for an eye” philosophy which defined so much of history, Jesus’ followers are called to overcome the darkness with light, to overcome evil with good, and to overcome hate with love.
Victory in Christ
Like all jewels, the victory we share in Christ as Christians is multi-faceted. There are many different ways in which we prevail as Christians. We prevail against sin in our struggle with the flesh. We prevail against evil and injustice by sharing the teaching of the Gospels with others, and we prevail over death in our union with Jesus by faith. In Jesus, we are part of something that even the gates of hell cannot prevail against (MT 16:18).