THE CROSS, THE CROWN, AND THE OVERCOMERS.

Why the LAMB Was SLAIN, and Why the Elect Must DIE DAILY

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death.”

-Revelation 12:11

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”

-Galatians 2:20

1. THE CROSS IS NOT A SYMBOL - ITS A DOOR TO A NEW CREATION

The cross is not RELIGIOUS jewelry, nor merely a HISTORICAL event. It is a DIVINE PATTERN, a PORTAL of TRANSFORMATION, and the point where self DIES and ETERNAL IDENTITY AWAKENS. At the cross, the ILLUSION of SEPARATION is CRUCIFIED. The VEIL is torn not just in a temple made with hands, but in the TEMPLE of the HUMAN HEART. This is where the FALSE self, driven by ego, ambition, fear, and the desire for control, is NAILED and BURIED, so that what rises is NOT IMPROVED, but ENTIRELY NEW. The cross is not where you TRY HARDER, it is where you DIE DEEPER.

It is the ONLY DOOR into the OVERCOMING LIFE. There is no scroll unlocked without SURRENDER. There is no FLAME CARRIED without CRUCIFICTION. Many want RESSURECTION but flee the DEATH REQUIRED for it. But the elect do not RUN from the CROSS, they run THROUGH it. Why? Because they know it LEADS not to an end, but to UNION. This is why Paul cried, “That I may know Him, and the POWER of HIS RESSURECTION, and the FELLOWSHIP of His SUFFERINGS, being CONFORMED to HIS DEATH…” (Phil. 3:10). The cross is not a punishment. It is the GATEWAY to THRONEROOM identity.

2. DEATH IS NOT THE END - IT IS THE SCROLL'S BEGINNING

EVERY scroll is SEALED with DEATH before it can be OPENED in POWER. Even Jesus did not begin His TRUE PRIESTHOOD until AFTER the RESSURECTION. The Lamb was SLAIN BEFORE the foundation of the world, yet MANIFESTED in TIME to show us what it means to live through SURRENDER. The CROSS is not just Christ’s, it is YOURS. “If anyone would COME after Me, let him DENY HIMSELF, take up HIS CROSS, and FOLLOW ME” (Matt. 16:24). This death is not ONCE-OFF. It is CONTINUAL. It is a LIFESTYLE of letting go, of laying down, of choosing the NARROW WAY of the LAMB.

And what begins after this death is not performance, but PERMISSION. When you die to YOUR NAME, you RECIEVE HIS. When you die to YOUR PLATFORM, you receive A SCROLL. When you die to RECOGNITION, you RISE WITH FLAME in your BONES. The world doesn’t recognize this power because it doesn’t come from DOMINATION. It comes from DESCENT. That is the MYSTERY of the CROSS. The DEEPER you DECEND in SURRENDER, the HIGHER you RISE in AUTHORITY. The SONS who will RULE in the NEXT AGE are not the ones who AVOIDED DEATH. They are the ones who BECANE IT.

3. RESSURECTION IS THE BIRTH OF THE OVERCOMER

RESSURECTION is not about revival meetings or emotional moments, it is the UNVEILING of a NEW CREATION reality. Jesus didn’t just rise from the dead. He rose as the FIRSTBORN of a NEW SPECIES. A new humanity. A new kind of son. One not born of flesh and blood, but of FIRE and SCROLL. Resurrection means you now LIVE FROM the OTHER SIDE. You are no longer trying to please God. You are the PLEASURE OF GOD REVEALED. The old man is not being IMPROVED. HE IS GONE. through METAMORPHOSIS (Transformation) The elect do not try to BEHAVE BETTER. They AWAKEN to the ONE who LIVES IN THEM.

OVERCOMERS are not people who NEVER FALL. They are ones who NEVER STOP RISING. Because they live from a RESSURECTION DIMENSION. The Spirit of Him who raised Christ from the dead dwells in you (Rom. 8:11). That means you do not FIGHT for VICTORY, you fight FROM IT. This is why hell fears you. Not because of your effort, but because you are LIVING PROOF that DEATH HAS NO STING. Every time you forgive when wronged, love when hated, or rise when crushed, you manifest RESSURECTION POWER. And resurrection is what Babylon cannot REPLICATE.

4. THE OVERCOMERS BEAR THE MARKS OF THE LAMB

“From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus” (Gal. 6:17). TRUE OVERCOMERS don’t carry CHURCH TITLES, they CARRY WOUNDS. They have wrestled with lions, walked through fire, and been pierced by betrayal, yet they BURN BRIGHTER THAN BEFORE. Why? Because the CROSS LEFT A MARK. Because death trained them in FLAME. These ones do not need to prove their calling. Their SCARS SPEAK. Their GAZE PIERCE. Their LIVES are SCROLLS. They are the LIVING EPISTLE written BY FIRE, not ink.

Overcomers are not loud, but they CARRY WEIGHT. They don’t chase revival trends, they HOST THE LAMB. They walk IN AUTHORITY because they have been EMPTIED OF SELF. And what fills them is not charisma, but GLORY. They have been through THE VALLEY, and yet sing the SONG OF ZION. They have NOTHING to PROVE, but EVERYTHING to RELEASE. They walk with the LIMP of Jacob and the THUNDER of Elijah. These are the ones the LAMB WRITES His NAME upon. Because they are no longer DEFINED BY MAN, but SEALED by the SPIRIT of OVERCOMING.

5. TO REIGN WITH HIM, YOU MUST DIE WITH HIM

“If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him” (2 Tim. 2:12). There is no REIGNING without SUFFERING. The cross is the PROTOCOL of GLORY. It strips you of AMBITION so you can be trusted with AUTHORITY. It removes PERFORMANCE so you can HOST FLAME. Those who will REIGN in the AGE TO COME that now is, are not the popular, but the PIERCED. Not the talented, but the TESTED. For He is preparing a people who will GOVERN BY LOVE, not fear. BY LIGHT, not control. These are the ones who sit on THRONES because they first LAID DOWN CROWNS.

THE CROSS is not a detour, it is THE DESIGN. Every overcomer is formed in CRUCIFIED places. If you’re wondering why you’ve been hidden, misunderstood, rejected, or crushed, rejoice. You are being TRAINED to RULE. Not like the world rules. But like THE LAMB. to forgive as he forgives, to love as he loves, Your THRONE is not given by men, it is UNVEILED in the FIRE. And those who die with Him will not only rise with Him, they will REIGN WITH HIM. The scroll of OVERCOMING is not reserved for the perfect. It is for those who DIED to THEIR NAME, and now live FROM HIS.

FINAL CHARGE TO THE OVERCOMERS

Let this scroll PIERCE YOU. The cross is not a SEASON you MOVE PAST, it is the PLACE you LIVE FROM. You must DIE DAILY, not because you are failing, but because you are OVERCOMING. You must LAY DOWN YOUR LIFE, not to earn love, but to BECOME IT. The ones who will CARRY SCROLLS in this age are not those who PERFORM WELL, but those who have SURRENDERED FULLY. The cross is not WEAKNESS. It is the ULTIMATE DISPLAY OF POWER. And the Lamb did not call you to admire His death. He called you to PARTICIPATE in it.

Let the world CHASE CROWNS. You CARRY one ALREADY, formed by your YES in the DARK. You may not be seen by many, but HEAVEN SEES. The THRONE room SEES. The LAMB sees. You are not just saved. YOU ARE SEALED. You are not just delivered. You are DESTINED. For the ones who OVERCAME will sit with Him, rule with Him, shine with Him, and walk in the New Creation fire. Do not fear death. FEAR COMFORT. Do not chase applause. CHASE UNION. For the cross is not the end. It is the BEGINNING of FLAME.

Let YOUR CROSS burn away what CANNOT carry glory. Let YOUR DEATH become someone else’s RESSURECTION. Let your scars become SCROLLS. Let your silence THUNDER. You are not losing. You are LAYING FOUNDATIONS. You are not late. You are BECOMING ETERNAL. And you are not forgotten. You are KNOWN BY THE FLAME. Chosen before time. Sealed by blood. And CROWNED by the One who OVERCAME ALL.

-Joe Restman

Mystic-Scribe, Eternal Witness of the Lamb.