20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
1 Corinthians 4:20
Bottom line: The gospel you preach will never change anyone if it is not backed up by the power of God.
Teaching
The Lord once told me that “religion will never change the world”. This was quite a pertinent statement which made me reflect a lot about my Christian walk. Then I gave a closer look to the church of God today and discovered that a greater proportion of the Christians are religious. By religious I mean they grow up doing things that they see other Christians do, like going to church, giving offerings, singing in a choir, taking communion, baptism, and more. But they have never known or experienced the true power of God. They confess the Lord Jesus daily as their parents taught them but have never really known the Lord and His power.
Such Christians end up living very difficult Christian lives as they try to live pure and holy by their own strength. Their lives are full of battles daily and they have unanswered questions like why did this happen to me? They feel like because they do all these religious things, no bad thing should happen to them. And when it does, they get discouraged and backslide, assuming Christianity doesn’t work.
I will tell you where they had it all wrong. They thought that Christianity is like one of the many religions in the world where they have to do certain things to gain the favor and acceptance of an invisible God. This is all the contrary of what Christianity really is. Religion is “Man trying to reach out to a god” while Christianity is “God reaching out to Man” The Bible says;
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
The God we serve is the one who reached out to us, not because we were holy, but because he loves us.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
19 We love him, because he first loved us.
1 John 4:19
True Christianity is experiencing and living in the love of the Lord daily. This love is what we preach in the Gospel. Part of the love the Lord has shown towards us is that he has given us his spirit in his entirety.
34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
John 3:34
The spirit of God in you is the very presence of God tabernacled in human flesh. In other words, you carry the entirety of the divine presence of God in you everywhere you go. The abilities of God have now become your abilities because by his spirit you have now become one with God.
17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:17
You are one with the creator of heaven and earth. Do you imagine! This means that you are no ordinary [wo]man. Your words are full of power, they can create as well as they can tear down. You own everything that the Lord owns. So, you are not a peasant in the kingdom but a Lord. He is called “The LORD of LORDs” because we are Lords. We are joint heirs with Christ Jesus.
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Romans 8:16-17
True Christianity lies in exploring the immense power and glory that has been deposited in you through the Holy Spirit. Our proof text says.
20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
1 Corinthians 4:20
Living in the kingdom means experiencing and demonstrating the power of God. I mean opening blind eyes, deaf ears, healing the sick, delivering the demon-afflicted, raising the dead, and much more. Paul the Apostle puts it this way.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Romans 1:16
You cannot separate God from his power. If you must know the Lord, you must know his power too. Your duty is to demonstrate his power to the world that they may believe. The world may never accept your message unless they see the power of God behind it. Jesus said.
37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
John 10:37-38
The world needs to see the power of God in action. Therefore, go for the supernatural!
Further Study
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.
20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
22 Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.
23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
Reflection
- Have you ever desired to experience the supernatural power of God?
- Your time is now. Desire to know the power of God.
Prayer
Father, I thank you because you have made your power reside in my spirit. I declare that I increase in your power and experience its manifestations daily in the name of Jesus!
