THE POWER OF GOD
June 26, 2022
Romans 1:16
INTRODUCTION
"I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile"
A few years ago we went down to Florida and visited with my wife's family. My father in law, Ken is an awesome quit spoken man with a dry sense of humor…he's a former Air force guy and loves to tinker with electronics and gadgets. He came into my room before we left to return home and said, "I want to give you some homemade fireworks. these aren't your normal firecrackers either. They're like a third of a stick of dynamite."
It only made sense that we should try one out before we left.....so Ken took one down to the drainage ditch lit it and put a trash can over it, It scared the neighbor across the street to death...He was lighting his own fireworks, not paying attention when this Mother of all fireworks exploded and sent the trashcan fifty feet into the air....Ken thought it was amazing!!!!!
Its not an accident that the apostle Paul uses the word "dynamics" to describe the power of the gospel…it’s the Greek word from which we get the English "dynamite".
Its explosive power...it's extraordinary energy that’s released…but this power isn't released to destroy vampires…it's released to destroy sin and then heal sinners. It takes something extremely powerful to change people, to blow away their old lives…and to radically transform their hearts and minds.
Paul has experienced this explosive power first hand…this former Pharisee of Pharisees who persecuted the church as a violent, aggressive blasphemer of Jesus. He says,
"Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man…I was shown mercy because I acted in unbelief…the grace of our lord was poured out on me abundantly along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Jesus came into the world to save sinners --of whom I am the worst" (1 Tim.1: 13-15).
The fuse of this good news was lit for Paul on the Damascus road. It exploded with the light of God's grace and the gift of Dog's Spirit in Paul's soul…as the mercy of God flooded Paul's heart…it broke the cam of resistance and rebellion…he was changed…radically transformed by the power of the gospel.
We know this same power is able to change anyone…whether you're from a Jewish background or not. This is his message…His testimony. He knows it's why God called him and why God has sent him out to preach. This power transforms.
1.
I SHAME INTO CONFIDENCE
"Shame" is a powerful emotion each and everyone of us has felt…it means "to feel regret or guilty deeply concerning something you've done"
Shame makes you hang your head…shame causes your face to turn red, and your self worth to plummet. If you've said the words "I'm ashamed of myself". It's because you've done something horrible, you've had something you've tired to hide come to light…something you wanted to stay secrete has been discovered.
The easiest definition for us is "Sin made Public" equals "shame". The one good thing about shame is…you cannot repent without it…shame is the catalyst for forgiveness.
At the end of Genesis chapter two we read "Although both Adam and his wife were both naked, neither of them felt any shame"
What this means is…they were innocent…they were without sin before God…they were God conscious not self conscious.
But there choices in chapter 3 change everything. In verse 7 we read that as they disobeyed God and ate from the tree he'd forbidden…"their eyes were opened and they suddenly felt shame for their nakedness."
Shame comes into the picture because they are no longer innocent…sin has made them self conscious instead of God conscious. They realize they are naked, become afraid…and hid from God. They are ashamed.
Adam and Eve experience both shame and guilt…Guilt says, "I've done something wrong, shame says "theirs something wrong with me" guilt says "I've made a mistake" shame says "I am a mistake" Guilt says "what I did was not good" shame says "I am no good"
We see both experienced in Adam and Eve's fall…they experience guilt. And then are consumed with shame…why else would they run and hide and cover themselves." One of the elements of shame is embarrassment…you do something stupid and you want to run and hide.
The Apostle Paul knew about shame…his memory must have flooded his soul with it…holding the cloaks and giving full approval as Stephen is stoned to death…He's literally applauding the misery of another. All the treats and murderess accusations that went through his mind and his mouth…the violence, the arrests, the beatings he'd administered… no wonder he says
"Jesus came to save sinners…and I am the worst"
But now he says "I am not ashamed of the gospel"
How has the shame of his past become confidence in the gospel? Paul discovered a secrete…a secrete about the power of God to save.
Salvation does not come because we're good enough through our works. Paul had always tired to obey "the law"…He was a rule keeper, but all that did was create even greater shame when he broke them…And a tendency to pretend he hadn't or was better than others because he kept the rules better than most. Instead of being open, innocent and transparent before God…he wore the mask of legalistic righteousness. before men… and it hurt when God ripped off the mask.
And then instead of trying to save himself…he encountered a Savior…Jesus who bore all his sin and shame. That's why he writes
Romans 7: 21-25
Jesus has rescued me… I might be wretched, I struggle with sin and shame, but Jesus has set me free, he has given me his victory. That is "Good News" It's powerful, explosive news for everyone who believes…to the Jew first and then the gentile.. This truth is my salvation.
Jackie Robinson was the first black person to play major league baseball.
Breaking baseballs' color barrier, he faced jeering crowds in every stadium. Racial hatred.
While playing one day in his home stadium in Brooklyn, he made an error
The fans began to ridicule him. He stood at second base, humiliated, while
the fans jeered. Then, shortstop Pee Wee Reese came over and stood next to him.
Put his arm around Jackie Robinson and faced the crowd. The fans grew quiet.
Robinson later said that arm around his shoulder saved his career.
Jesus bore our shame…he comes and puts his arm around us, even when the crowd boos and stomps. His message…I stand with you…I love you…I will not let you go…His out stretched arms didn't save our career…they saved our soul.
It was all about the cross as far as Paul was concerned. In 1 Cor. 1:18 Paul writes: "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God".
The Gospel message is the story of the cross…its where God's power to save was clearly displayed.
II THE CROSS OF OUR SALVATION
In her famous book and film, "The Hiding Place" Corrie ten Boom tells the story of a Dutch Christian family, her family, who had a heart for the Jewish people.
Her Grandfather Wilhelm started a weekly prayer group in 1844 in the city of Haarlem, near Amsterdam for the salvation of the Jews and this weekly prayer meeting continued uninterrupted until 1944 when the ten Boon family were sent to a concentration camp for helping Jews to flee from the Nazi persecution in Holland.
Corrie tells a curious story about her father Caspar ten Boon. When the Jew were forced to wear the "Star of David", Casper lined up for one. He wore it because he wanted to identify himself with the people for whom he and his family had been praying for all those years.
He was prepared to be so completely identified with the Jews that he was willing to wear a sign of shame and suffer persecution for the sake of the people he loved.
He didn't have to wear the Star but chose to.
Jesus didn't have to wear my cross…but he so completely identified with me he was willing to wear this world's greatest sign of shame and suffer its persecution for the sake of people he loved.
In human form God encountered every temptations to sin that we do…but did not…because of this he can sympathize with me…and be the perfect Lamb of God to die for me.
He didn't have to…He choose to…Matt 20:29 "says the Son Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many"
[Ransom is money you pay a "Kidnapper for the life of a loved one…Satan took everyone of us captive because of sin…it demanded a payment. The wages of sin is death…we could not pay our own ransom…we were bankrupt, so Jesus paid it for us…God in the flesh allowed his body to be nailed to a cross…allowed his blood to be shed…Jesus paid it all.]
In fact when he died on the cross one of the last things he said was "Tetelista" "It is finished", but the literal translation is "The bill is paid in full"
This is what Paul became convinced of…and preached unashamedly…It’s the power that turns Pharisees, into missionaries and potheads into preachers!
You can always tell how someone views the cross by on characteristic…"Gratitude"
Let me end with this story from Jesus life…It's towards the end, not too long before the cross and one of the Pharisees… (like Paul us to be) has invited him to dinner…while there at the table and unexpected guest shows up..
Luke 7: 37-50
When you truly understand what God has done for you and I on the cross…You love a lot.
Gratitude leaks out of every part of your body. If you're a Pharisee that doesn't think he really needs much forgiveness. you're pretty stingy with things like love and forgiveness.
Those who have been touched and forgiven by Jesus understand whose changed their worth.
[ "The Touch of the Master's Hand"]
'Twas battered and scarred,
And the auctioneer thought it
hardly worth his while
To waste his time on the old violin,
but he held it up with a smile.
"What am I bid, good people", he cried,
"Who starts the bidding for me?"
"One dollar, one dollar, Do I hear two?"
"Two dollars, who makes it three?"
"Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for three,"
But, No,
From the room far back a gray bearded man
Came forward and picked up the bow,
Then wiping the dust from the old violin
And tightening up the strings,
He played a melody, pure and sweet
As sweet as the angel sings.
The music ceased and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said "What now am I bid for this old violin?"
As he held it aloft with its' bow.
"One thousand, one thousand, Do I hear two?"
"Two thousand, Who makes it three?"
"Three thousand once, three thousand twice,
Going and gone", said he.
The audience cheered,
But some of them cried,
"We just don't understand."
"What changed its' worth?"
Swift came the reply.
"The Touch of the Masters Hand."
"And many a man with life out of tune
All battered and bruised with hardship
Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd
Much like that old violin
A mess of pottage, a glass of wine,
A game and he travels on.
He is going once, he is going twice,
He is going and almost gone.
But the Master comes,
And the foolish crowd never can quite understand,
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
By the Touch of the Masters' Hand.
- Myra Brooks Welch
