Christ is the key that unlocks every book of the Bible. Christ is the very heart of Christianity. And the Christ that we serve and worship is shown to be a positive and powerful Son of God. Our witness to the world is to share with all mankind that There’s Positive Power in Jesus Christ!
Acts 10:38 is a positive verse that I committed to memory many years ago: “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” These words were uttered by Peter, perhaps a few years after the Day of Pentecost. “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth… with power!” Later, when Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he declared that he preached “Christ the power of God” (I Corinthians 1:23-24). So we love and serve a Christ of power — and He’s just the same today!
What did this power do in the days of Jesus? As we read the four Gospels and the Acts, we discover at least five ways in which this power was shown forth. First, it was power to give forgiveness, sonship, eternal life. In Matthew 9:6 Jesus said that “the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins”. And it is interesting that the word “forgive” is related to the word “give”. Christ forgave humanity in order that he might give them sonship and eternal life. John 1:12 declares that those who received him, “he gave the right to become children of God”. And in John 17:2 He said He had the power to “give eternal life to all” whom God had given to Him. This must surely be the greatest exercise of the positive power of Jesus Christ, to bring men and women into God’s family!
It follows, in the second place, that this power is shown forth to encourage those who believe in Him. Jesus did this by teaching the truth with authority. After He had finished the Sermon on the Mount, that classic body of truth loaded with God’s positive principles, it is said that “the people were astonished at his teaching: for he taught them as one having authority [power]” (Matthew 7:28-29). After He has taught in the synagogue at Capernaum, the people “they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority [power]” (Luke 4:32). And still today, we are encouraged and enlightened by the teachings of Jesus.
In the third place, the positive power of Jesus Christ was shown forth to heal the sick and afflicted. Acts 10:38 summarizes His healing ministry: He “went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him”. Luke 5:17 records that “on a certain day, as he was teaching… the power of the Lord was present to heal them”. Whenever people believed in Him, His power was ready to heal them. He also shared this power to heal with his twelve disciples (Mark 3:15) and later with the seventy disciples (Luke 10:1,9). And Jesus Christ has not changed — the same power is available today.
In His last days on earth, this same Jesus promised to clothe believers with God’s positive power. In Luke 24:49 He told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem “until you are clothed with power from on high”. In Acts 1:8 the promise is repeated: “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” The disciples believed Him, and “they were all filled with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:4). And so the power lives on!
Why do we not see more evidence of the power today? Because people do not know “neither the Scriptures nor the power of God” (Matthew 22:29). You will not know the power unless you know the scriptures, for it works in line with God’s Word every time. And the exciting truth is that “Christ lives in me!” (Galatians 2:20), and therefore the positive power of Jesus Christ lives in me too — and I can tap into it every moment of every day. And who said Christianity wasn’t exciting?
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