Friday, May 4, 2007 at 12:12am
The power of the Gospel
Column: For His Glory
Do you remember your first kiss? What an exhilarating experience. I bet you were really nervous — worried that you would do something to embarrass yourself. You wouldn't be able to live it down if somehow you made the other person uncomfortable with your kiss. However your first kiss turned out, you still remember it today. I bet you still remember that person's name. What about your first car — do you remember it? I know I do. My first car was a two-door Honda Civic coupe. Stick shift that was the only way to go to get the most out of the little four-cylinder engine. I remember how sad I felt the day I got rid of it, and yet I know you can relate because we all have had experiences that we will never forget.
Experiences are strong reminders of what makes each life unique. Experiences like love are things that no one can take away from you. You know and realize that you have just been through something marvelous. You try to explain it to others, but sometimes the words just do not convey the feelings you so eagerly want to get out. But you know you have lived it and that forever that moment in time is yours. What about if you could capture it and relive your wonderful experience over and over and over again? How wonderful would that be?
There is something about experience that skeptics cannot deny you. If you have had a wonderful experience, no one can take that away from you. They can analyze it, they can run tests to try to replicate it. Yet the bottom line is that experiences are personal, emotional and memorable. So is your experience with the word of God.
Something profound happens when you begin to experience the gospel of Jesus Christ on your own. I am not talking about just reading it for head knowledge. The Bible tells us that there are people who just want to know things — "Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth"(2 Timothy 3:7). What I am talking about is living out the principles that are found in the gospels. If you do, I guarantee you that your life will never be the same. You will get an understanding of the world around you that is unique. You will see things differently, and finally life will make sense, real sense. You will have finally found what you have been looking for. That gaping emptiness in your heart will only be filled when you accept the Jesus of the gospels. Which is why I find it strange that people deny the Bible's witness of itself without experiencing the power of the gospels, Jesus Christ.
God's word will change you from the inside out — "sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth" (John 17:17). If lived out, God's word has promised to make you a better person, even if the world around you is getting worse. It will give you a peacefulness that will befuddle others, and most of all it will give you a joy others will desire. Yet you just can't know the Bible and its authors from an intellectual perspective. To harness its power, you must know it by surrendering your life to its teachings. Then you will know that the Bible is true and that what it says about itself is beyond reproach.
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Gio Marin is an author, currently working on a master of divinity degree at Andrews Seventh-Day Adventist Theological Seminary, with a dual emphasis on systematic theology and church growth & evangelism. Visit For His Glory, the blog, and send an email to {email GioMarinColumn@aol.com}GioMarinColumn@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2007 by Gio Marin.
Experiences are strong reminders of what makes each life unique. Experiences like love are things that no one can take away from you. You know and realize that you have just been through something marvelous. You try to explain it to others, but sometimes the words just do not convey the feelings you so eagerly want to get out. But you know you have lived it and that forever that moment in time is yours. What about if you could capture it and relive your wonderful experience over and over and over again? How wonderful would that be?
There is something about experience that skeptics cannot deny you. If you have had a wonderful experience, no one can take that away from you. They can analyze it, they can run tests to try to replicate it. Yet the bottom line is that experiences are personal, emotional and memorable. So is your experience with the word of God.
Something profound happens when you begin to experience the gospel of Jesus Christ on your own. I am not talking about just reading it for head knowledge. The Bible tells us that there are people who just want to know things — "Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth"(2 Timothy 3:7). What I am talking about is living out the principles that are found in the gospels. If you do, I guarantee you that your life will never be the same. You will get an understanding of the world around you that is unique. You will see things differently, and finally life will make sense, real sense. You will have finally found what you have been looking for. That gaping emptiness in your heart will only be filled when you accept the Jesus of the gospels. Which is why I find it strange that people deny the Bible's witness of itself without experiencing the power of the gospels, Jesus Christ.
God's word will change you from the inside out — "sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth" (John 17:17). If lived out, God's word has promised to make you a better person, even if the world around you is getting worse. It will give you a peacefulness that will befuddle others, and most of all it will give you a joy others will desire. Yet you just can't know the Bible and its authors from an intellectual perspective. To harness its power, you must know it by surrendering your life to its teachings. Then you will know that the Bible is true and that what it says about itself is beyond reproach.
— — —
Gio Marin is an author, currently working on a master of divinity degree at Andrews Seventh-Day Adventist Theological Seminary, with a dual emphasis on systematic theology and church growth & evangelism. Visit For His Glory, the blog, and send an email to {email GioMarinColumn@aol.com}GioMarinColumn@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2007 by Gio Marin.