What a strange question to ask, and also a hard one to answer. “What does that word even mean?” you may ask. Well, by definition, “hupernikao” (pronounced hoop-er-nik-ah’-o) is a Greek word that means to “overwhelmingly conquer” or “gain a surpassing victory“.
The apostle Paul uses this word in a famous passage from Romans 8:
“What, then, shall we say in response 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, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are hupernikao [more than conquerors] through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Rom 8:31-39 NIV]
Paul had no problem calling born again Christians “Hupernikao”, those who overcome with a great victory, win by a landslide, blow the doors off the competition, you get the idea. Are you comfortable enough to say “Hello, my name is Hupernikao“?
I’m not sure about you, but I’d like to know what being hupernikao feels like. Most of the time, I’m pretty hard on myself – “I’m not good enough”, “I’m too fat”, “I’m a failure”, “I’m always picked last”, etc. At best, I feel like I eke out some small passable success that goes unnoticed. Can you relate? On a scale of zero-hupernikao, where are you? Most days I don’t feel I even register on the scale, or I’m sitting at zero.
Paul however, paints us a much different picture, one that shows those who are in Christ are able to overcome hardships with an overwhelming victory.
I pray that someday I’ll know what that looks like, because today I’m so lost at sea that it’s all I can do to tread water, let alone swim a lap.
My secondary goal, is to discover how to become Hupernikao – how that works, what it looks like, what it feels like. My primary goal however, and the reason I’m writing this blog, is to invite you on this journey with me. I’d like to partner with you on this trail of discovery and spark some conversations and questions as to how we can become conquerors together.
Here is a brief overview of what this blog “is” and “is not”:
| This Blog Is Not: | This Blog Is: |
|---|---|
| a place for perfect people | a place for people to be perfected |
| a place to nay-say or demean each other | a place to encourage and learn together |
| a place for bragging or pridefulness | a place for offering thoughtful guidance |
I think you get the idea. Please feel free to ask questions, make comments, and engage on this incredibly broad and exciting topic. I can’t promise to have all of the answers, after all I am still learning, but I can promise to respect those who are bold enough to ask questions and seek God earnestly.
~ Conqueror in Training
Beautifully written. I stumbled here on a google search as the Passion Translation references hupernikao. Powerful word! Looks like great stuff here, thank you for sharing!
Thank you needed this for a presentation. 🙏🏽