Power

“For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.” --the Apostle Paul

"Since ancient times no eye has seen, no ear has heard any God besides you, who works on behalf of those who wait for Him." --The prophet Isaiah

We have already discussed the topic of power on several occasions. If we think of energy as merely anything that does work, we have seen that there are nonphysical sources of energy available to human beings. “Meaning” is a good way to sum up the spiritual sources that can impart energy to the weakened human frame. “The meaningful” are among the things that we all most desperately need. This meaning is found primarily through living according to natural values, although there are sources available that impart their power merely through contemplation. The Law and Gospel of God span across both categories: living according to love provides energy to the soul, but so does merely thinking intelligently about God and His world. And indeed, the two are really inseparable. Christ, as the master of knowledge and wisdom and as the incarnation of the infinite God, is the fundamental Source of meaning and meaningful life.

But is this all there is to the Hebrew tradition of power? Is it really true that all that Christ brings to us is an inner strength to deal with life? I think not. And I think that a reasonable consideration of the history books of the Bible (including perhaps the Gospels and Acts) shows that there is more to it than that. The kingdom of God not only works on us, but it can also work around us and on our behalf. What I am talking about?

In the kingdom of God, it is true that it is most important for us to act with and for God. We do this through love. But from the time we first have confidence in Christ, God is at work in our lives to accomplish the astonishing destiny that He has for each one of us. Indeed, as has already been said, He has created and provided a special domain of responsibility for each of us elsewhere in the universe.

His goal is to put some of His power under our direct command. We see this most clearly in the lives of the great people of the Bible. The patriarchs gained great wealth even though they owned no land. God smote Egypt with plagues on Israel's behalf. Moses parted the Red Sea, and brought water out from a rock. Joshua was able to stop the movement of the heavens for about a day. And so forth.

Another example that I think is very important is that of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. In front of a gathered community of Israelites, Elijah called to God to bring fire from heaven to show that He was the Lord and that the people should not worship idols. This case is important because here Elijah was doing God's will implicitly but, at the same time, he was asking for God to work with him. God of course answered with fire.

This then could be the key point: if we do God's work, He will make His help available to us. This seems to square with the accounts of Moses, Joshua, and many of the other great examples of prayer in the Bible. But how do we do God's work? By promoting the truth. It is by taking our stand with how things really are that puts us in a position to ask the Lord's help-- and to have Him respond. Today, what does this look like?

It is making the knowledge of God, as presented in the Bible and Christian tradition, available to a world that has forsaken Him with their minds and spirits. They have done so by denying God's existence of course, but also by denying the existence of the mind and spirit so as not to have to serve God with them. It is, in effect, to challenge the Modern University and the culture that it has created. The subversive ideas about God and his world have the power to overturn modernity and usher in a new period of corporate life in the kingdom of God-- and this is in fact what God is planning to do.