The Hidden Power of the Gospel

We live in a day when many people look for hidden meanings behind the words of politicians. It seems that increasing distrust has begun affecting people's trust of governments in general. Conspiracy theories multiply like mushrooms. 

There was a hidden message in the Gospel as early Christians received the news about Jesus of Nazareth, but it wasn't a destructive point of view. These people lived in the Roman Empire known for an abundance of gods and goddesses. Every section of the empire had its own deity. 

Tragedy, adventure, sorrow, trials, and persecutions mostly kept families struggling for their livelihoods, and what we call the Great Commission lay as a hidden treasure for most. 

Gradually, however, the lives of Christians manifested a kind of love and courage that attracted others to God. Even though they were subject to harsh treatment for talking about the Kingdom of God, a new set of values began to be displayed. 

In times of illness and pandemics, which were frequent, Christians stayed at home, while others fled for their lives. Believers took in the ill, the sick and dyinig. Old people who had no one to care for them found a loving family and were treated well until they died. Baby girls, if they were unwanted births, were taken to the forest and abandoned, an act known as "exposure." Christian families, knowing that Jesus had sacrificed himself to show the Lord's lovingkindness, took in another child. They gladly offered their wealth and health to raise a baby born to a different woman. Whole villages came to know the power of the Kingdom of God. 

All these acts resulted in the gradual expansion of the faith. While few understood that the full scope of the Gospel, the power of the Holy Spirit gave them the ability to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth. May we in our day find ways to declate the Kingdom of God in word and in deed!