“For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” – 1 Corinthians 4:20
We sing a song in our church that says: “God’s promises were never known to fail. No power of darkness over them shall prevail. They are builded sure and strong for the conflict with the wrong, God’s promises were never known to fail.”
In 1787 the United States Constitution was signed by thirty nine of the fifty-five delegates present. This document would become the supreme law of these United States. Its authorship, while poetic, was instrumental in defining the laws that govern our land. However, without the power of the people to enforce it, and conviction to stand behind its principles; it is nothing more than words on a page. The words found within the covers of the Holy Bible are law and without contestation. We are called by God to ascribe to its statues and live out its principles. It is the road map for our souls and the guidebook for our lives. As the Constitution is to this nation, the Bible is the supreme law for all mankind. However, unlike the Constitution, it does not need the support of the people to make it valid. “The kingdom of God is not in word.” God’s truth’s does not live and die by what we say or what we write, or how well we say or write it. Though we have the blessing of the scriptures, they are more than just words on a page, they are divinely appointed principles penned, fortified, and enforced by God and His mighty power. We must never make the mistake of believing that men validate God. Now, make no mistake, this does not absolve Christians of our duties to live as ambassadors for Christ. Yet the core of that charge is not based on the merit that God needs us to witness, he calls us too. He charges us too. He invites us too. He gives us the privilege too, but He does not need us to validate His Word. The validation and impetus from God. The power of God. This distinction must be maintained, because it is the power of God that changes lives, the power of God that overcomes the Devil, the power of God that conquers the grave. Jesus Christ came in power and might. Though he walked the road of human life, he bled and died as men do but never forget that on the third day it was the power that raised him from the grave. It was power that conquered sin. The same power that raised Christ from the grave, can raise us from the grave of sin. He can raise us right here, right now, because the Word of God promises it so.
The kingdom of God does not exist in word, but in power and in might. God does not need us; he wants us; he desires us. His kingdom exists in power, unimaginable power, and that power can exist in you. To lift you up out of the grave of sin and make you a new person in Christ. To make you holy, and keep you holy, through the power of God.