Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
I love watching God transform people's lives. He's always done it, and He's still doing it. God is always on the move. When I read this text, I was reminded of my buddy—this was like 15 years ago, probably. He was strung out on drugs. He was pursuing a life that was going to lead him to destruction. In fact, if you were to look at his life, you'd probably just write him off and say, I don't know if God's going to get ahold of him, because he just kept rebelling against God. Until one day he responded to the good news of the Gospel, and God completely transformed his life. Now he's actually an evangelist.
The Power Is in the Gospel
He responded to the Gospel. Here's the thing about the Gospel—the power is in the Gospel. The Gospel has the power to transform any life. I think of the Apostle Paul. He had one goal, and that was to kill Christians. He had this dark background. You'd probably look at his life and say, this guy's never going to come to the Lord. Then he had this encounter with God, he responded, and he became a herald of the Gospel himself. In our text today, Paul is speaking to the Corinthians. You've got to understand—the Corinthians were very arrogant, very prideful. This was a very divided church, and they loved fancy, eloquent speeches. Paul says, "Hey, listen, the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk. It is living by God's power." He's pointing them to the Gospel. He's saying, stay Gospel-centered. Make sure that you keep the main thing the main thing, and that is the Gospel.
Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing
Because we live in a day and age right now where people love fancy, eloquent speeches—they love motivational speeches. People flock to those gatherings, but there's no lasting power in that. In fact, if you go to a church and all they preach is behavior modification, or they encourage you to focus on you instead of Jesus Christ, that is not a Gospel-centered church. Christianity is not about behavior modification. It's about preaching Christ crucified. That's what's at the heart of the Gospel. Paul is saying, "The Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God's power." Think of Jesus. What separated Jesus from the Pharisees and the teachers of the law? The Pharisees would just talk. They were great talkers. But Jesus was One who had authority and power. What does this mean for us? Well, at the heart of our faith, God has the power to transform any life. Why? Because the power is in the Gospel.
Jesus Is the Hero
One of the ways you know if a person is preaching the Gospel is that Jesus is the hero of the sermon, not the preacher. They're pointing you to Jesus. They're teaching you to take the attention off of you and focus on Jesus Christ. Because something happens when we take the attention off of ourselves and focus on loving Jesus. The power is in the Gospel, and it will always be in the Gospel.
