Dear Ones:
The Gospel is a message of power…a power that transforms, that emanates from God. It is a power that is of God, by God, and in essence IS God. What do we mean by this? Power in the spiritual realm is not a thing, but a Person. Just as Christ is our strength, so also is He our power. When the Spirit of God came at Pentecost, power came. When the Apostle Paul tells us to “Be strong…,” he qualifies it by adding “in the Lord, and in the power of HIS might.” So, we walk with a Person who IS our power, for HE pours the power (His power) into us when we need it.
Nowhere is the power of God so wondrously manifest as in the individual life. When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus concerning the new birth, the spiritual birth BY THE SPIRIT, he used an illustration to reveal to us that there are definite EFFECTS of His power. “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: SO IS EVERYONE THAT IS BORN OF THE SPIRIT.” (Jn. 3:8) When the Spirit of God works in the life, there is a power that changes the life from within. For some it is a “slight” change in the beginning, but for others it is monumental. The question then becomes, “How can I know this transforming power in my life…my whole life?”
We begin with a law. Paul calls it “…the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 8:2) This law declares that in the life of the believer, the Spirit of God (in His power) “…has made me free from the law of sin and death.” That Spirit, by His power, according to the Gospel, has broken the bonds of sin resulting in death. That Spirit also has “raised Jesus from the dead, ” and we are raised in Him…by His power. But then comes the question: “What about TODAY, where I live? How do I KNOW this transforming power? Paul wrote to the Philippians that he counted all things as loss, and thus would not put any trust in anything, or anyone, other than Christ. “I live by the faith of the Son of God.” He lived by the principle of being “…determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” (1 Cor. 2:2) What does the “loss of all things,” and being determined to know Jesus Christ alone have in common? The two ideas point to the fact that Christ is our power by the Spirit, and Him alone. And that our faith “…should not stand in the wisdom of men, but IN the power of God.” (v.5) The man or woman who is crucified to his or her life in this world, is an individual who puts no trust in anything, or anyone, for his strength, and power, but in the Lord Jesus alone.
To conclude, let me read you parts of a hymn that Charles Wesley wrote: “Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee; …ALL my trust on Thee is stay’d; ALL my help from Thee I bring; …Spring Thou up within my heart, Rise to all eternity.” May we put all our hope and expectation in Christ because of the reality of His work, and the creation of the “law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus.” And let us believe Him, His person, who IS our power and strength, receiving from Him daily all that we need to live and reign in life.
Love, Dad