The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Luke 13:20-21,
"What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough."
Here is a picture Jesus provides of the effect of God's outreach to mankind. Just as yeast works throughout a batch of dough, so the offer of his kingdom "percolates", penetrates, throughout mankind.
In a way this reminds me of another analogy Jesus provided, a picture of how the kingdom of God has invaded Satan's realm and is ravaging it. In Luke 11:21-22 we read, "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils." In this picture, the strong man is Satan, "his own house" is the world and his possessions are the people of the world. The "someone" who is stronger, attacks and overpowers Satan is the Lord. The Lord ravages Satan's realm and plunders it through the advance of God's kingdom by the gospel. Just as the effect of yeast on dough, so the gospel has its effect on mankind.
The gospel is powerful. It is the tool through which faith is wrought in the hearts of all who will embrace the Lord. Paul says, "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Romans 10:17. This message is the gospel. Earlier in this letter Paul said of the gospel, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith.'" Romans 1:16-17.
This is power, power to transfer people from the realm and power of Satan to freedom in God's kingdom. This is power that changes our eternal destiny, from one of eternal misery to one of "eternal pleasures" at the hand of God! Psalm 16:11. Power to transform lives, power that frees us from our bondage and proclivity to sin!
The power of the gospel lies in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, where he paid the penalty for our sins. Of himself he has said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Through him we have received the forgiveness of sins and a standing with God where he embraces us as "holy and blameless in his sight", Ephesians 1:4.
What a powerful message this is!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
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