The Power of God - Pt 1

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:15-23 ESV). The death and resurrection of Jesus is an essential of our faith. I have found it incredibly more misunderstood in our day than any other doctrine of Christianity. For the next few days I want to draw some conclusions about the efficacy of the Cross. We will look at it from both a negative as well as positive perspective. We will see what the Cross was not and what it was. First, we must understand that Jesus didn’t die to make you healthy, wealthy, secure, and comfortable. This may be your current state, but don’t let that to lead you into thinking it’s a promise. God blesses those that belong to him, sometimes with temporal comfort but spiritual chastening, and sometimes with temporal suffering but spiritual flourishing. There is only one sure sign of God’s favor: the death of his Son. However, there is a devastatingly harmful teaching present in churches across America, which claims that physical “blessings” are a sure sign of God’s favor. Not only does this fly in the face of the entire Bible, but it is also a horrible offense to those Christians going through immense persecution in countries all over the world, often in impoverished circumstances. Travel to Iraq and Syria and tell the Christians there who have been forced from their homes, some brutally killed, that the solution to their plight is simply more faith. They are living and dying in their faith and God’s promise is that they will inherit the kingdom of heaven (cf. Matthew 5:10). There is only one sure sign of God’s favor: the death of his Son. Jesus’ death means he has taken on your sin, in exchange for his righteousness. God has shown us “the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7) These are the only riches we are promised in this life; the joy and peace that comes with knowing that you have a good, loving God that has saved you at the infinite cost of his only begotten Son. God’s great grace to us is a wealth far beyond the material, temporal possessions we prize so highly. For those who cling to the mistaken concept of God’s blessing resting in the things of this world, there is a much greater prosperity available to you through the death, burial, and resurrection of our Savior. With Valentines’ Day on the horizon, this is certainly the greatest message of love of any ever written!