THE POWER OF GOD AMONG THE NATIONS

Colossians 1:6, Romans 1:16, John 10:16

INTRODUCTION

In the month following the death of Jesus the NT records that the total number of Christians in the world was around 500 people. All of these people were of the same nationality, Israeli, from the same racial group, Semitic, shared the same religious heritage, Judaism, and spoke the same language, Aramaic. According to the U.S. Center for World Missions there were 360 non-Christians for every Christian in the year 100 A.D. Today the professing Christian church numbers well over 2 billion people (Not all of these are true Christians, only God knows how many of these are truly his). There are fewer than 7 non-Christians for every Christian in the world. Of the 24,000 people groups in the world, at least 14,000 of them have a viable church led by their own people, not missionaries. The church of Jesus today is comprised of people from thousands of ethnic groups and languages and from scores of different religious heritages. Dave Cullum and I in Mongolia and Steve Damon and Dennis Butteris in India witnessed something of the diversity of Christ’s church in this world. Steve and Dennis met Christians among a people in which, to our knowledge, there were no Christians until the beginning of the 19 th century. Dave and I were among a people in which, to our knowledge, there were no Christians before 1985.

One of the primary things that impressed me as a result of this trip was the power of God through the gospel of Christ that is creating the church among the diverse peoples of the world. Jesus promised in Acts 1:8 to his church that, as a result of the Holy Spirit’s work in us and through us that the church would bear witness to the crucified and resurrected Christ in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the remotest parts of the earth. Jesus promised in Matthew 16 that he would build his church and that the gates of hell would not be able to prevent him from establishing his church among all the peoples of the world. This morning I want us to spend these few minutes reflecting upon the evidence of God’s power that is seen in the creation of the church of Jesus Christ among the peoples of the world. Paul says in Col. 1:6, “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.”

The fact that you are a Christian and that we are a Christian church is evidence of the power of life that is in the gospel. We cannot take any credit for the fact that we are Christians or that we exist as a Christian church. Just as the branches of an apple tree do not produce apples, they merely hold the apples that the trunk of the tree produces, so we do not make ourselves Christians. We are made Christians by the power of God in the gospel. The presence of Christians and Christian churches in Mongolia and in India is evidence of the power of God’s life that is dispelled through the gospel. What I want to do this morning is have Steve, Dennis and Dave each take a few minutes to describe ways they saw the power of God in the gospel bearing fruit in Mongolia and India. Then I will take the remaining minutes to briefly describe why it is that the presence of churches among the diverse peoples of the world is the greatest display of God’s power in the world.

MAIN POINT

The presence of churches among the diverse peoples of the world is the greatest display of God’s power in the world because…

I. Sin is what unites humanity (Rom. 1:18-23)

I’ve been thinking about Romans 1: 20-21 a lot during the past few months and being in Mongolia confirmed for me in a very strong way the truthfulness of what Paul says in these verses. As you have heard me say before and I will say again, the longer I am a Christian and the more time I spend with people trying to help them to love Christ more, the more I am convinced that one of our greatest difficulties is that we do not grasp the nature, nor the extent of our sinfulness. I am convinced that the more we grasp and feel the scope of our sin the happier we will be in Christ. We tend to think of sin as merely doing bad things. We view sin on a scale. I don’t do as many bad things as other people and so I am better than others. However, the Scriptures present sin as a far more comprehensive, all pervasive reality. We are sinners by nature. Verses 20-21 of Romans 1 describe the core of that nature in a graphic way. I want you to think about these two verses with me.

Verse 20 tells us that every human being has blazing before all of their senses irrefutable evidence that there is a God of eternal power and a divine nature who created the universe. There are no exceptions. We all know that we did not create ourselves. We had no part in causing ourselves to exist and it is more than obvious that nothing in all of creation decided to exist. Creation exists by the will of another. This Creator must have eternal power because every part of creation is finite. All creation has a beginning and an end, therefore the Creator must be without beginning and end. He must be eternal and he must have infinite power for he created a universe that is absolutely overwhelming in its size and power. (Hundreds of galaxies in a picture taken by the Hubble telescope through a hole the size of a pin head held at arms length.) Additionally, the creation screams at us that the Creator cannot exist as matter and energy, for if he were of the same nature as his creation then he too would be created. In other words, the Creator must exist in a fashion that is completely different than matter and energy. He must have a divine nature. In short, the creation testifies with overwhelming evidence that there is a Creator who is infinitely glorious and awesome.

Notice that v. 20 ends by saying that the fact of creation renders every human being without excuse. Now, when do you and I make excuses? We make excuses when we are trying to prove that we are not wrong for not doing what we ought to have done or that we are not wrong for doing what we ought not to have done. It’s the child who is trying to explain to the parent why they didn’t do their homework. It’s the employee giving excuses for why the project isn’t done yet or has come in over budget. It’s the motorist explaining to the police officer why he was going over the speed limit. It’s the college student telling why it’s OK for him to have sex with his girlfriend. It’s the angry person explaining why it’s right for them to be angry with their neighbor. What is it that humans are trying to excuse? What are we being accused of doing or not doing that would motivate us to find excuses? Verse 21 gives us the answer.

Every human knows that there is a Being of infinite glory and to whom they owe everything. Yet, every human being is not impressed with this most impressive Being and every human refuses to give thanks to this generous Being for their existence and every good thing they have. Every moment of every day, based upon the fact of creation, every human being ought to be involved in worshipping this great God who created all things. Every moment of every day, every human being ought to be giving thanks to this great God for everything they have and enjoy. Our hearts ought to at every moment be brimming over with gratitude and delight in this great God. However, our hearts are not at all impressed with this God, nor do our lips give thanks to him. We are impressed with all kinds of things but we are not impressed with him. We give thanks to others but we do not thank the one to whom we owe all things. In fact, we make up false gods to whom we can give a small portion of worship and thanks in order that we can, with a guilt free conscience, pursue what we really love, which is everything but God. It is this lack of appreciation for the great Creator God and our delight in everything but him that unites human beings across culture and language.

I want to mention two ways I saw this human unity in sin manifested while I was among the Mongolians. First, one evening Dave Cullum shared from James 4 about the sin of anger. He described how anger is the same as murder as far as God is concerned and deserves the same judgment that murder deserves, which is eternal hell. What was very interesting was to see how the Mongolians did what every person I’ve ever talked with about the sin of anger does. They began to find excuses for their anger. One of the men described a situation where he became angry with a friend who was mocking Christianity. He believed his anger was justified because he was defending Jesus. Dave and I had the group turn to 2 Timothy 2: 24-26 which says, “The Lord’s bondservant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition…” It was quite humorous as our Mongolian friend read the verse out loud and the entire room erupted in laughter as all saw God’s command. After our meeting that night one of our translators brought up the subject again and asked if I didn’t think that some people were not just more naturally angry than other people, due to parenting or personality. That others were more naturally easy going. She then went on to justify her own anger by saying that she learned it from her father. She was simply doing what every sinner does, including me, giving excuses for our sin.

A second way that I saw this universal human blindness to the perversity and extensiveness of sin was in a discussion we had about whether or not any of the Mongolian ancestors worshipped the true God or not. One of the Mongolian Christians related how her grandfather was said to have acknowledged that there was a Creator God rather than merely worshipping the ancestral spirits, which is the normal Mongolian religion. What she had a very hard time grasping, as does every human being, is that acknowledging that there is a Creator is not the same thing as glorifying him as the Creator and giving thanks to him. No human has ever, apart from God’s grace in the good news about Jesus Christ, had a heart that was overcome with affection and worship and gratitude towards the God who made the universe and us.

Every human being, apart from the grace of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ, finds computers and children and sex and drunkenness and accomplishment and friends and money and TV and sports and power and shopping and beautiful sunsets infinitely more attractive than the eternal God who made us. This is the heart of our wickedness and is the fountain from which all the evil in the world flows, whether it is the evil in Mongolian culture or American culture. We are God haters and this is the source of all the evil in the world.

The presence of churches among the diverse peoples of the world is the greatest display of God’s power in the world because…

•  Sin is what unites humanity

•  And because…

II. The power of the gospel is what creates the church (Col. 1:6, Eph. 2:17-22, 1 Peter 1:23-25)

Everywhere in the NT we are told that the church of Jesus Christ is God’s creation. Every local church where the word of God is rightly taught, where baptism and communion are rightly practiced and where church discipline is rightly administered is a creation of God that is far more stunning than the universe of matter and energy. As Paul says in Col. 1:6 it is the power of God in the good news of Jesus’ life, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension that is the power which creates every local church. I did not create this local church nor did anyone else. God himself called us into existence by the power of the gospel. The fact that we exist as a community of people who love Jesus Christ is a greater evidence of God’s power than the creation of the sun. Let me tell why that is.

First, the fact that we are a group of people who are loved by God is miraculous. There is absolutely no reason why God should love us. Each one of us have lived our lives despising our creator and loving everything that is opposed to him. He is a just and holy God is therefore opposed to sinners. As the Psalmist says he hates everyone who does wrong and all of us do wrong. So how is that God is able to justly love us? How is it right for God to treat us as his treasured possession when justice cries out for our destruction? It is because of the gospel of Christ. “God made him who knew no sin to become sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” God poured out his just anger against our sin upon his dearly loved son so that he can justly love us and make us his very own people.

Second, the fact that we want to be the people of God is miraculous. As I’ve already pointed out, by nature, we hate God. We are as interested in being his friends as Osama bin Laden is interested in being the friend of President George Bush. If someone told Osama that George wanted to be his friend, what would Osama do? He would laugh and mock and try to use such an offer to insult the President and to incite more hatred of him. It is the same with us. The fact that we love Jesus Christ can only be explained by the fact that God has given us new hearts. He has in the words of the prophet Ezekiel, “taken out our hearts of stone and given us hearts of flesh. He has put his Spirit in us and caused us to walk in his ways.” Or in the words of Paul in Titus 2, “(Christ) gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people of his very own, eager to do what is good.” Or as Peter says it, “You have been born again not of perishable seed but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.” Every local church is a testimony to the infinite power of God expressed through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

There were many times during our time in Mongolia where I sat amazed and at times in tears as I listened to Mongolians talk about their love for Jesus and listened to them worship Christ in song and seek his help in prayer. Less than 20 years ago there was not a single church among the Mongolian people. There had through thousands of years of human history, never been a gathering of God’s people that was Mongolian. Yet, here we were in the midst of a church and we met other churches as well. Two Sunday’s ago I preached to three congregations of Mongolian Christians. Our existence is no less miraculous though it may be less noteworthy because the church has existed among the tribal peoples of Europe from whom most of us are descended for almost 1500 years.

The presence of churches among the diverse peoples of the world is the greatest display of God’s power in the world because…

•  Sin is what unites humanity

•  The power of the gospel is what creates the church

•  And because…

III. Faith in Christ is what unites the church (John 10:14-16, Col. 1:3-4, Rev. 5:9-14)

In John 15 Jesus says that what unites the world is hatred of him and his Father. What the rest of the NT declares is that what unites the church is trust in and love for Jesus and his Father. This is the line of demarcation between the world and the church. The way you know you belong to the church is because you love Christ and love to be with others who love Christ. There is no clearer demonstration of the power of God than when diverse people gather together and love one another only because each one of them trusts Jesus Christ. This is the only reason to join a church. We do not join a church because we are lonely and need friends. We do not join a church because we want to contribute to a meaningful cause like caring for the poor, sharing the gospel with the world or fighting abortion. We do not join a church because we want a safe place for our children to learn moral values. We do not join a church because we are homeschoolers and are looking for support in our choice. We do not join a church because we send our kids to public schools and are looking for support in that choice. There is only one reason to join a church, to show up on Sunday mornings, to spend time with other Christians during the week: it is because you have discovered that Jesus Christ is the most trustworthy and attractive person in the universe.

You join the church not only because you believe that Jesus lived, died and rose again but because you believe that to have Jesus and to lose everything in the world is infinite gain. Faith is not merely believing that Jesus exists and that he will fulfill his promises. It is believing that Jesus and all he promises is better than the whole universe. Christians love to be with others who love Jesus, period. There are many different human needs around which groups of people can organize. There are many commonalities that people can unite around. But what sets the church of Jesus Christ apart as the creation of God is that the reason that I belong to this church is because I love Jesus and love to be with those who love Jesus. Whether we agree about a whole host of other issues is immaterial. Whether we all share the same lifestyle choices or preferences in music or politics or food or hobbies or jobs is of no consequence. The only thing that matters is that I love Jesus and I love to be with those who love Jesus.

This was the foundation of our friendship and fellowship with the Christians we were with in Mongolia. However, just as here there are many pressures to organize around something or someone other than Jesus in the U.S., so it is in Mongolia. Churches are organized around money and the promise of health. Churches are organized around age and style of music. Churches are organized around certain personalities. The only churches that display the glory of the risen Christ are those who intentionally organize around a common faith in and love for Jesus Christ. I beg you, for your own sake and for the glory of Christ to commit yourself to the fellowship of this church for no other reason other than the fact that you love Jesus and therefore love to be with those who love Jesus. As Paul says in Romans 15, “Accept one another then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring glory to God.” Or as he says in Ephesians 4, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit just as you were called to one hope when you were called. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”

It became quite clear while we were in Mongolia that the greatest need they had is the greatest need we have. They and we need to discover in greater ways the all satisfying treasure that is Jesus Christ and his salvation so that our lives and our churches reveal his power in our love for one another and our delight in living in this world as he lived. As we join in suffering with Christ in order to love others out of our joy in him we will display the glory of God that is in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The presence of churches among the diverse peoples of the world is the greatest display of God’s power in the world because…

•  Sin is what unites humanity

•  The power of the gospel is what creates the church

•  Faith in Christ is what unites the church