The gospel is the good news of the finished work of Christ on the cross, His riches in glory and the exceeding greatness of His power available to all that believe in Him. This simple but powerful truth is what releases the power that drives the miraculous. This is why Paul the Apostle said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, to the Jews and also to the Greeks.”
For over 2,000years, men and women of all age, race and diverse places plugged into the power line that flows from the gospel of Christ to effect supernatural transformation in their characters, lifestyles, physical conditions, statuses and stations in life. The power that flows from the network of the cross i.e. the empty tomb, the wounds, the blood and the throne of Jesus, has brought healings, deliverances, restoration, freedom from addiction, transformation, and strength of character and moral fibre to millions of Christians living in all nations.
The gospel of Christ is the gateway to a life of liberty; liberty from sin and death. It is an invitation to a world of freedom from fear, sickness and diseases, poverty and guilt. The gospel of Christ is not only spiritual, it is supernatural.
Supernatural things have the power to change the natural course of things. Supernatural things have the capacity to suspend natural laws and reverse natural processes. The gospel being supernatural has the capacity to recreate the nature of man. This is why the Bible says, “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation, old things are passed away, behold all things are become new”. The gospel also delivers healings and deliverance to the sick, afflicted and the bound.
The power, glory, splendour and majesty that the gospel contains and can deliver at any time is only accessible with a spiritual state of mind. The gospel is spiritual – spiritual things are foolishness to a natural man. Spiritual things can only be spiritually discerned. Typically, the way we apprehend physical laws or principles is through sense knowledge by learning. However, spiritual truths and living out the supernatural happens only by revelation knowledge and discernment. With revelation knowledge, your five senses are not involved.
Everyone that wants to connect with the power of God declared in the gospel of Christ must come asking for the gift of insight, revelation or discernment. Those of us who are walking in the reality of this power have been given insight into the workings of things in God’s kingdom because we asked for it. Not everyone has this gift of insight because it hasn’t been given to everyone. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this truth, the insight and understanding flows freely. If there is no readiness, you may have knowledge of the spiritual, but there is no evidence of such knowledge. To create readiness, you must acknowledge you are spiritually blind and cry out to Jesus who can open your spiritual eyes. Anyone that attempts to understand the gospel in their natural state can stare for a thousand years at the scriptures, but will see and hear nothing till thy kingdom come.
This week, I read the reflections of an American Professor dying from cancer. One thing is evident, she is brilliant. She learned about the possibilities that the gospel of Christ can deliver and yet she appears helpless as the cancer continues to sap her life away. This is the major stumbling block a lot of people encounter when it comes to connecting the truth of the gospel to their everyday experience. The fact that you can read the Bible and remember the stories does not mean you have comprehended the mysteries of the kingdom. Any man that stays with the stories without understanding the mysteries will be trapped in learned helplessness. Trust me, there is nothing more frustrating than that.
Today, ask God to take the scale off your eyes like He did for Saul who later became Paul the Apostle. Ask him to open the eyes of your understanding. You can only enter the kingdom after you see it. You cannot see except your eyes are open. The gospel of Christ delivers goodness and mercy to everyone that understands that brilliant ideas, empty traditions of men and human philosophy have no place in the gospel. In the gospel of Christ, the power and the glory of God is eloquently expressed. You do not need a telescope or a microscope to experience this. Without Him, all philosophy in this world is spiritually empty. When you come to Him, the fullness of the gospel comes together for you. His power extends over everything. For if our gospel be hidden, it is hidden to them who are lost, whose minds the god of this world has blinded in learned helplessness.
Credit: Sunday Ogidigbo (Sunday Ogidigbo is the Lead Pastor of Holyhill Church Abuja.)