Reason #2 It is the Power of God

Why should I preach the gospel daily to myself? It is the power of God!

Romans 1:16 (NASB95)For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

1 Corinthians 1:18 (NASB95) For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

"Outside of heaven, the power of God in it's highest density is found in the gospel.  This must be so, for the Bible twice describes the gospel as "the power of God."  Nothing else in all of Scripture is ever described in this way, except for the Person of Jesus Christ. Such a description indicates that the gospel is not only powerful, but that it is the ultimate entity in which God's power resides.

Indeed, God's power is seen in erupting volcanos, in the unimaginably hot boil of our massive sun, and in the lighting speed of a recently discovered  star seen streaking through the heavens at 1.5 million mile per hour. Yet in scripture such wonders are never labeled "the power of God." How powerful, then, must the gospel be that it would merit such a title! And how great is the salvation it could accomplish in my life, if I would only embrace it by faith, and give it a central place in my thoughts each day!"  -Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer for Christians, p.14

In 2006, with a small group friends, I climbed to the crater rim on Mt. St. Helen's. The volcano had just been re-opened to climbing after being closed for nearly 3 years because of new volcanic activity. Specifically, it was erupting. The picture below that I took looking into the crater shows tells the story. What we gazed upon was a crater over a mile wide and half mile deep that was left after the May 18, 1980 eruption. That eruption equaled 24 megatons of thermal energy and displaced 3.7 billion cubic yards of material. But that's not the whole story. In contrast to the power that obliterated such a large portion of the mountain, was the force at work in rebuilding it. From October 2004 to late January 2008, about 125 million cubic yards of lava had erupted onto the crater floor to form a new dome—enough to pave seven highway lanes three feet thick from New York City to Portland, Oregon.  The smoldering mound you see in the middle of the crater is the lava dome that had been growing at a rate of a dump truck full of material every 15 seconds. It was still growing as we stood there and beheld its immensity; the rock fall was almost non-stop. I have never personally witnessed anything that visibly demonstrates physical power like that volcano does.

 

Yet this is not even but a puff of air to our great God. And as helpful as such things are in letting us catch a glimpse of how powerful the God of the universe is, these things are not the power of God. Only the Gospel and Jesus Christ are given that title. It is a testimony to our wretched, sinful condition, that it takes the power of God to remove our sin. Much greater than the power that was released on May 18, 1980, in the heart of that mountain, is the power of God that is at work in removing the sin from the heart of one who has trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. Do you want to see power on display? Look no further than the Gospel of Jesus Christ.