Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE HAS ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR; HE HAS SENT ME TO HEAL THE BROKENHEARTED, TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET AT LIBERTY THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED; TO PROCLAIM THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD." Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luk 4:14-21)
After Christ overcame the temptations of Satan He returns to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. Christ, being the Son of God, has no need for power since He Himself is God. But Christ, being the Son of Man, does need the power of the Holy Spirit since He Himself is also man. The Trinity, one God in three persons, is a great mystery of the Church…and so is the dual nature of God and man in the person of Jesus Christ. It’s important for us to accept what the Bible teaches regarding this mystery without letting our curiosity go beyond what God has revealed to us in His Word. Jesus Christ, though one person, has two distinct natures within Himself – God and man.
Christ enters the synagogue and reads this wonderful Messianic prophecy from Isaiah. Then, as He finished the powerful reading He claims something even more astonishing than the prophecy itself – “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” It is here that Jesus claims to be this very Messiah that Isaiah wrote was coming.
Look at the promises that are given in this prophecy…
- Preaching the Gospel to the poor
- Heal the brokenhearted
- Proclaim liberty to captives
- Recover sight to the blind
- Set at liberty the oppressed
- Proclaim the year of the Lord
I stand in awe that the first in priority in this list is the preaching of the Gospel. What a share in God’s work we have when we preach the Gospel! Many seek after signs and miracles, but it is the Gospel that has primary importance to God and should have the same importance to the child of God.
The Bible is clear that we are not to seek after signs…
…An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign… (Mat 12:39)
And the Bible is just as clear regarding the awesome power of the Gospel…
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. (Rom 1:16)
That’s right, the Gospel is the “power of God to salvation.”
Do you look around at society and ask yourself, “How can I change this evil society?” Do you petition your congressmen and write letters to T.V. stations complaining about the filth that they market to our children? That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t even come close to the power of God.
If we care about the terrible state that our culture is in, and we know that the Gospel is the power of God to salvation, we would proclaim it…it’s that simple.
If we know that the Gospel is the answer to the problems that we see, and we refuse to proclaim it, then we have become part of the problem and have refused to take our part in being the solution…God’s solution.
If we proclaim the Gospel and God is pleased to change the heart of people to conform to Christ, then society itself will be conformed to Christ.
Consider that Sodom was destroyed, not for its overwhelming number of God-haters…rather, it was destroyed because of its underwhelming number of God-lovers. In Gen 18 we see the conversation between Abraham and God, and it’s all about how many righteous are in the city, not about how many sinners are there.
Resolve to take a stand today and be one of the righteous who proclaims the Gospel of Christ, who takes a stand against the Enemy and how he has corrupted this culture. Be part of God’s plan and work towards converting souls into the kingdom of Christ, that the kingdom of Christ would overtake the kingdom of Satan.
No comments:
Post a Comment