Good Morning Friends,
“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in
Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints -- the faith and love
that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have
already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All
over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been
doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all
its truth. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a
faithful minister of Christ on our behalf.” (Colossians 1:3-7)
Ponder for just a few moments the miracle of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Paul affirms that the Gospel had made its way
to Colossae and impacted the lives of many Colossian people. They had heard the
message from Epaphras, a preacher unknown to us whom God had used to bring the
message to them. There have been millions of others like him -- unknown,
unheralded -- yet, faithfully taking the Gospel from one place to the next. In every
place the Gospel has gone it has had an impact on people’s lives.
Paul was writing almost 2,000 years ago and the
Gospel was effective then. “All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit,”
he said. In large cities like Rome and small villages like Nazareth and in
quiet places where there were only two people, like the road to Gaza with
Philip and the Ethiopian. It was effective among the rich and powerful, like
Lydia and Joseph of Arimathea, and among the poor and helpless, like the blind
and leprous.
That was true 2,000 years ago, and it’s been
true in every generation since then, too. It’s true in our generation, as well.
All over the world the gospel is bearing fruit. In Africa, people are coming to
Christ by the millions. The Chinese church, persecuted by a government trying
to get rid of it completely, is stronger than it has ever been. In South
America and Asia and Mexico -- there isn’t a place where the Gospel isn’t
effective, not even in the most closed countries in the Middle East, not even
in America!
It’s brought by unknown, unheralded
messengers who are soon forgotten, but it is not the messengers that make the
message effective -- it is the power inherent in the Gospel itself. It’s changed
my life -- probably changed yours, too -- or it can, if you’ll let it.
His, by Grace,
Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment