Faith in his word and power

According to Paul in Acts 26:18, our lives can be personally “sanctified” by Jesus – meaning set apart for his purpose. So we’re sitting at the same table as the Israelites of old who were also set apart for God’s purpose. And the purpose hasn’t changed either. Jesus’ purpose for us is the same as God’s purpose for Israel; it’s to have faith in his word and power.

Which makes the story of Israel highly relevant, because not having faith in God’s word and power was their biggest problem. But having faith was tough, because of the power of the cultures they found themselves part of, all of which had alternative gods on offer, designed by “the ruler of the kingdom of the air,” Ephesians 2:2, to make “gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts” the main goal in life (3). 

Adam and Eve were the first to fall victim to the devil’s lure, and the gods of the devil’s creation through the ages did the same number on the Israelites. And for the same reason too. As Paul explains in verse 2, the devil’s “at work in those who are disobedient.” What gives the devil power in a culture is lack of faith in God’s word that leads to disobeying him. And as we’ve seen through our grim history the resulting wreckage in human lives has been horrendous.

Which makes faith in Jesus’ power so important in breaking the power of the devil. And it seems a lot of people are waking up to that, and especially in nations built on belief in what Jesus said and taught, because as that belief wanes the evidence of evil increasing is undeniable. To the point now that evil – in just about every institution built on biblical values that we could trust in before – has become so overwhelming corrupt, divisive, bullying and corrosive that people feel utterly helpless, and it’s creating a lot of despair, anger and frustration. 

Are we reaching the point – at last then – when the realization grows that God “made us alive with Christ” (5) and “raised us up with him” (6), so that “the fullness of him filling everything in our lives in every way” (1:23) is now available to us to keep our heads above water and out of the devil’s grip, and not just for our sakes, but for the people who know us, who see us not given to despair, anger and frustration. Because that’s how Jesus is destroying the work of the devil now, in those he’s sanctifying by faith in his word and power. And a great illustration of that is what happened to Jacob’s eleventh son “Joseph: what a life”….(next blog)