Jesus’ deliverance and power can strike as quickly as lightning. A child is delivered from demonic torment through the prayers of a counselor. Crippling migraines vanish from a woman’s monthly cycle when someone anoints her with oil and lays hands on her. A war survivor is delivered of extreme trauma, nightmares, and alcoholism overnight when he accepts Jesus into his life and forgives his enemies. But there are also the slow, evolving freedoms Jesus produces. Fifteen years of prayer and meditation have taught one father how to be more thankful, joyful, and restful, and less perfectionistic. A sexually abused girl discovers grace and dignity restored to her after feeling defiled and worthless for eight years. A widow finds the hope to go on after close friends rally around her in her season of grieving.
If you wish you could do away with the world’s oppression, tragedy, suffering, selfishness, death, and disease, then there is “good news.” Jesus preached the good news of the Kingdom of God. That “good news” is called [euangelion] in Greek, and [gospel] in English. Like the “V-E Day” headlines announcing that War War II was over, the good news was the joyful announcement of God’s arriving Kingdom. Jesus’ later death, resurrection, and victory over the grave were only one part of the bigger announcement. That’s important to understand; the “good news” is about a whole package of transformations taking place. God’s heavenly Kingdom has arrived on planet earth, and He has begun to remake the world. That intervention is both sudden and incremental. Let’s investigate some of the ways He is powerful enough to change our reality.
1. Jesus is God’s chosen ruler.
Jesus is the chosen ruler the Hebrew prophets predicted (Acts 2:36). In Jesus, God has invested His full authority to rule over nations and to settle disputes among many peoples (Psalm 2:7–8). Jesus is more than a new Moses who ruled the Jewish nation; all kings and peoples will be answerable to Him (Psalm 110:1, John 5:22) and look to His laws. He is the one King over all kings and Lord over all lords (Revelation 19:16) who came down from heaven (John 6:42). The joyful announcement is that the rightful King has come to take His rightful throne. All the illegal powers and unjust oppressors will be subdued. And if you, dear reader, want to live a life of purpose and hope, then live for this King. He has already begun sorting things out according to His good order.
2. Jesus reunifies us into relationship with our Father.
Jesus heals human separation from God. Loneliness, guilt, abandonment, shame, fear, anxiety, and dispute are some of the emotional ways the human soul responds to our separation from God and one another. Because of Jesus, God pitches His tent among us once again (Leviticus 26:11; John 1:14)—even making our physical bodies the new and purified tent the Holy God dwells in (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19). In the following verse you can hear His talk about restored relationship, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23). At the end of history, the jubilant voice in heaven shouts “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God” (Revelation 21:3). What an invitation. God is inviting us back into a relationship with Him through Jesus. That’s a drastic change to reality.
3. Jesus has power over evil.
The disaster of sin is not only physical death, but also spiritual death. Death and oppression come at the hands of evil spirits that deceive and torment. Rebellion from God’s good laws legally enslaves us, in some profound way, to the rebellious powers of evil (Ephesians 2:1–3). Satan is called the father of lies (John 8:44). If we have rebelled from the Kingdom of life and truth then we belong to the kingdom of death and deception, oppressed by its diseases, calamities, falsehoods, torment, and demonic activity (1 John 3:8). Not only did Jesus wield commanding authority over evil spirits (Mark 1:21–28, 34), but the Apostle Paul says “(God) has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves” (Colossians 1:13). Jesus is our warrior who’s more powerful than our oppressors. He sets us free from sin, injustice, and evil spirits. That’s liberating.
It gets even better. You are no longer a victim, you are a conqueror (Romans 8:37), seated with Jesus in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). Jesus imparted delegated authority to His disciples to confront the illegal activity of Satan and his demons (Matthew 10:8; Mark 16:17). If we resist the devil he will flee from us (James 4:7). God’s children can live free from demonic oppression and we can also help set others free from demonic oppression. Jesus’ Kingdom isn’t retreating, it’s expanding.
4. Jesus has power over sin and death.
It was human sin and rebellion that not only separated us from God but also diseased us with selfishness. Colossians tells us that the way Jesus conquered Satan’s legal hold on us was by paying the legal debt (Colossians 1:20, 22). Jesus is the priestly figure who stands as mediator between a holy God and an impure humanity (Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 1:3).
Jesus’ pure and perfect life was offered as a legal substitution for our sin debts. He was the true and perfect sacrificial lamb (John 1:29), a ransom that cleanses us from our guilt (Mark 10:45, Revelation 5:9). The joyful news is that Jesus has the power to save you from sin and the death that comes from sin. All who “repent and are baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38) will be saved (Romans 10:9–10, 13).
By living in Jesus, we now have the power to resist temptations and live in the holy nature of God. We are no longer weak and stuck. What I couldn’t do in my own power, God has done in His power and made available to me. Now we can choose to deny our weakened and sinful ‘self’ and live in the new and holy ‘self’ given to us through the Spirit (Ephesians 4:22–24; Galatians 2:20). You have the power to live a new life because of Jesus.
5. Jesus shows us what truth is.
Jesus brings order to life (John 1:1–4). He frees us from error and shows us the path of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7). He has the power to reveal (John 17:6; Ephesians 1:17). He clarifies what was hidden or confusing. It is in His illumination that we perceive what is true (Psalm 36:9). Even when we don’t know what to do, we can trust God and ask Him to lead us. This is great news. He gives us wisdom when we ask (James 1:5) and promises never to leave us without a guide (John 14:16–18). Jesus saves us from moral ambiguity, anxiety, and folly. He restores peace to our hearts and fullness of life to our community. What a beautiful promise. People around the world desire peace of mind and soul, and God has given us the pathway to it through Jesus Christ. He will settle your soul and set you on the right road that won’t lead to sour fruit, regret, or bondage.
6. Jesus heals and restores.
Jesus has the power and desire to help and heal people. He is a Father who cares, a Shepherd who protects, and a Doctor who remedies. He has the power to cure diseases and restore bodies and souls. He wants his children to have enough food to eat. He wants to bless our children, and the fruit of our fields (Deuteronomy 28:4). He is undoing the decomposing effects of sin and death. He does not revel in calamity or injustice. Listen to this beautiful promise: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). Jesus’ Kingdom is full of life, and His life will eventually restore all loss of function from mortality and sin. What a promise.
Summary
We still live with the reality of sin, disease, evil, death, and suffering every day. Yet, Jesus came to penetrate this darkness with a better reality. His Kingdom is breaking in, within us and through us. In one sense, it is already among us. Yet, in another sense, it is not fully here yet; we are still laboring towards the fullness of his promises. Sinful people still rebel, and demons still deceive and torment. Even so, we continue laboring towards “V-E Day” when His resurrection power will prevail over everything He has created. Jesus is a king, a companion, a savior, a warrior, a teacher, and a healer/humanitarian. We long for Christ to return in His fullness, [Maranath!]—“Come quickly, Lord!” His Kingdom of power is already here; that’s good news. Yet it is not fully arrived. It is the Church’s mission, in joyful faith, to pray and co-labor alongside His Spirit as He remakes the world.
Tags: truth, sin, evangelism, power, evil, gospel, salvation, eternity, demons, revelation, healing, death, deliverance, transformation
