“What is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe.” Eph. 1:19
It is relatively easy, for us this morning, to confess with our lips that the gospel is the power of God to salvation! But it is quite another thing to confess this truth with our lives! Just how powerful is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? Does it have the power to heal broken relationships? Does it have the power to restore damaged marriages? Does it have the power to forgive both minor grievances as well as major offences? Does it have the power to bring joy in the midst of heart-wrenching grief? Does it have the power to replace hatred with love?
On January 8, 1956 five missionaries were speared to death by Waodani savages, on the banks of the Curaray River, deep in the jungles of Ecuador. The Waodoni lived by the spear and died by the spear. They did not understand love. They could not begin to fathom that these missionaries chose not to protect themselves, but instead sacrificed their lives because of their love for the lost Waodoni tribe. Two years later, other missionaries returned to this lost tribe, and eventually many became genuine believers.
The oldest of the five missionaries was Nate Saint, and among his three children was a boy named Steve. Steve eventually returned to Ecuador where he met Mincaye Enquedi, the very man who had speared his father to death. Mincaye had become a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, was baptized in the Curaray River, and later baptized Steve in that same river.
Years later, as Steve ministered around the world, along with Mincaye, an utterly dumbfounded journalist asked Steve, “How could you possibly love the man who killed your father? That’s unnatural!” But Steve readily acknowledged the power was in the gospel! The gospel that saved Steve also saved Mincaye, and made them brothers in Christ! In fact, Steve would go on to accept Mincaye as his adopted father, and his children would come to regard Mincaye as their adopted grandfather.
The power of the gospel is not unnatural – it is supernatural! It is the immeasurable greatness of the power of the omnipotent God, and as such, it is strong enough to replace hatred with love, to restore the most broken relationships, to bring healing to the most damaged marriages, and to