The Absence of Power Leaves Us With Plausibility

I seldom title my blog entries before I begin writing them because I don’t want to be tied down to sticking to the title. This time it is different. And while my title may not roll off the tongue with ease, I want to stick to this topic because it is increasingly a topic which keeps being brought to my mind by the Spirit when I have my morning coffee and Bible.

I say “plausibility” because that is the word Paul uses (in the ESV) when he writes to the Corinthians in chapter 2 when he declares that his words were not “plausible words of wisdom.” (2:4). His words were supported by the display of God’s power in his life and ministry. And later in chapter 4 he tells them that the “kingdom of God does not consist inf talk, but in power.” (4:20) You might ask, “What are plausible words of wisdom?” It means that it’s only theoretical because there’s no evidence to support your claims. It’s purely academic because you display no reasonable proof that what you’re saying is the truth.

Then in Acts chapters 3-4 we see the first miracle performed through Peter and John when they healed the lame beggar who sat in the gate of the Temple every day for 40 years or more. People believed their message about Jesus because the Holy Spirit accompanied their message with great power through the beggar’s healing and through the preaching of Christ. And later in chapter 4 it says that the “full number of those who had believed” – which at this point was at least 5,000 people – were of one heart and soul. No one held tightly to their possessions but shared ownership with all. And it comes up again in 4:33, “And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.” The presence of God’s power not only supports our message, but it unifies us as one body in ways I’ve never seen happen.

I’m telling you that this is what we all need: God’s power. Do you want to be an effective witness? You need God’s power. Do you want to serve faithfully in the Lord’s church? You need God’s power. The power of God is what sustains His church, it’s what revives His church, it’s what grows His church, it’s what transforms His church. How could we ever think we could do anything without God empowering us first?

Why do we not see the kind of unity mentioned in Acts 4:32? It’s not that it’s completely absent. I’ve seen individuals who possess the heart and soul mentioned in that verse. But why is it that we are not like they were? They had 100% participation in the same heart and soul. We might have 10-20%. Where is the disconnect? It is the absence of God’s power. There are more Christians who look just like the world in most ways than there are Christians whose lives exude the presence and power of God. My heart has become quite burdened about this.

Here’s my commitment. I want the power of God to be evident in my life, in my family, and in my ministry. I don’t know how that will manifest itself. All I am certain of is that upon examination, it has been lacking. And it’s entirely my fault. This is not a selfish prayer. I want God to be seen more clearly in me than I am seen in me. I want his working to be seen rather than my working. I want his message to be spoken rather than my message. How can I live another moment, do another “ministry thing” with this knowledge of the importance of God’s power and do nothing? I pray you will join me in this quest to see God’s power more clearly displayed in and through us.

Father, I know that my heart can be easily drunken upon the attention of man. I pray that you would hold my feet to the fire. Do not allow my soul to aspire to places which belong to you. That being said, please display your power in me and through me so that you may be seen more clearly in my life and in your church. Jesus, let it be your character, your deeds, your glory which guides my every move as your child, as a husband and father, and as a minister of your Gospel. Please let these things happen in me so that you will be magnified in the hearts of those who don’t know you. Please let these things happen so that your church will be strengthened. And please let these things happen so that your message will be supported by the evidence of God’s power. Amen.

Cosmic Injustice

I’ve gotta be honest. When I felt God telling me to study the book of Acts, I wasn’t all that excited about it. It’s not that I don’t like Acts, but it just wasn’t appealing to me like reading one of the letters or one of the Gospels, or an OT book. I can’t exactly tell you why or give you a reason for my apathy. I’m happy to say I was wrong.

As I was reading through Peter’s sermon in chapter two, near the beginning he makes the statement that death could not hold Jesus. It’s one of those truths that we understand and take for granted as born again people. I nearly just blazed right past it but the Spirit told me to stop there and dwell on this fact for a moment and to answer the question, “Why could death not hold Jesus?” Now I won’t bore you with the minutia of my complete answer, but here are the highlights.

To explain why death could not hold Him, we must answer the question, “Why do we die?” We die because we are under God’s curse because of our sin. When Adam sinned, death and corruption entered into our genetic makeup. And ever since then, the sin nature has been passed down from father to children. The sin nature is passed on by fathers. Everyone dies because of Adam’s sin. This is a physical and spiritual death which we inherit.

Jesus is not born of Adam. Since He had no human father, He inherited no sin nature. But since his mother was human, He inherited a human body, which is affected by the curse. This is why the writer of Hebrews says He is the perfect High Priest because He had been tempted in every way, yet did not sin. Having a human body, he experienced the same fleshly desires we experience, but having no sinful nature, but only the Divine nature, He was able to always successfully resist temptation.

“14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” – Hebrews 4:14-15

Therefore because Jesus never sinned He did not deserve the wage of sin, which is death (Romans 6:23). But since He had a fallen, human body Jesus was capable of dying. So when Jesus died on the cross, for the first time in the history of the universe, a person suffered death who did not deserve death. The principles and laws set forth by God were now turned upon their head. This was injustice on a cosmic level. How will God ever resolve this dilemma, which His own foreknowledge and predetermined plan had brought to reality?

Resurrection! Jesus did not deserve death, so God raised Him from the dead. But how does God take care of the pesky problem of corrupt human flesh, which can suffer death? If Jesus is undeserving to ever die, then a human body will not do. Therefore, God gave Jesus a new incorruptible body which will never again die, nor is capable of dying! So in the resurrection, the cosmic injustice is resolved, and ensured to never happen again.

And this is the promise to which we cling. Because the Spirit of Jesus lives within us, when we die, we too are promised a resurrection, just like Christs’ to ensure that His children will never suffer the injustice of death again!

“51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory?O death, where is your sting? 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 15:51-57

So maybe I did bore you with some of the minutia of my complete answer, but I couldn’t help it. The answer is so completely glorious that God, through Jesus, has promised to raise us because His Son lives with in us! He will never see His Son suffer death again, so we inherit this promise of resurrection as His children. Lord, hasten the day when we shall see you face to face. It may mean to endure great trials and tribulations while we are here, but the end is glory unspeakable in Your presence at the feet of Jesus. Amen!