I AM NOT ASHAMED! |
The World, the Word & You!
Broadcast
Commentary by Dennis L. Finnan
“ON AUGUST 6TH 1945 THE GREATEST
POWER ON EARTH WAS UNLEASHED AGAINST MANKIND. SINCE THEN, WE WONDER IF THERE IS
EVEN A GREATER POWER YET TO BE DISCOVERED AND EXPERIENCED.”
I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about the discovery of such a great power…
…Yes, on August 6th and then again on August 9th 1945, the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan, were destroyed by the first atomic bombs used in warfare. The world of that day experienced the greatest power on earth, unleashed in full force, as nature was allowed to explode. The outcome of course changed the world. Well, it all began a few years earlier before the beginning of WW II when a great scientist, Albert Einstein, wrote to then President Franklin D. Roosevelt that Nazi Germany had made efforts to purify U-235 with which it might be capable of constructing the first atomic bomb! It was in response to this, that the U.S. government began a serious undertaking secretly known as the Manhattan project, to beat the Germans in expedient research and production of the world’s first atom bomb. Now that is history! However my friend do you know, that discovery and others even greater these days, pales in significance to an even greater power to be discovered on earth that can literally change the lives and communities of this world much more than what was unleashed back in 1945. I want to tell you about it, but before I do, we’ll pause again for another moment of music after which I share this with you. So don’t go away, I’ll be right back with my message entitled: I AM NOT ASHAMED…
… History records that Wilhelm Roentgen, in the year 1895, was apparently the first to discover the mysterious elements we call x-rays. Three years later, Marie Curie discovered the radioactive elements radium and polonium. But then in 1905 a brilliant scientist, named Albert Einstein, developed a theory about the relationship of mass and energy. Then in the year 1938 two German scientists, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman, using Einstein’s theory demonstrated nuclear fission. It was at that point the scientific world waited breathlessly to see what man would do with this unbelievable power of nature that could be unleashed and used for warfare. Well history shows America was the first to discover it practically, and use it to end WW II. But do you know the power of unleashing the atom that today we have yet to see its full potential, is not the greatest power in the world, nor has it ever been? Yes my friend, the greatest power in the world is yet to be fully unleashed all across humanity and experienced by it. Do you know what gargantuan power I’m talking about? Well let me read its discovery to you. We find it in ther Bible, God’s Word,
Rom 1:16-17 (NNAS) "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. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.""
Yes here in the Bible, we are confronted with the dynamic statement ¾ “the POWER OF GOD.” Now I realize we are talking about two different things today, but in reality they are quite similar. You see each has the ability to change the elements of matter forever! Each has the ability to alter the existence of every human being exposed to it, and each has the ability to change completely everything that comes in contact with it.
Now this statement by the apostle Paul is very interesting, for it begins with Paul’s proud boast that he was “not ashamed” of this power he had discovered. Why be ashamed of power? Power is the one thing the world always boasts about. From Ancient Rome in the days the New Testament was written, to the power of other nations ¾ any nation that has power, great power over others is to be feared and respected. God’s Word reveals to us that His GREAT POWER was available even in the first century to change the face of humanity and its world ¾ a power greater than that anyone could discover for all time. No wonder Paul was not ashamed, for his discovery now obligated him to take this power, use this power, and share this power with the world of his day. This power when unleashed against the world of humanity forever changes lives!
Let’s talk about this power and Paul’s willingness to speak boldly before all the world about it. Again, the Bible says,
Rom 1:16 (NNAS) "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."
You see, the Bible identifies that the “power of God,” resides in what is called the Christian Gospel. What exactly is the Gospel? Well first of all, the Greek word translated “power” is the word that comes down to us today as “dynamite,” a highly powerful explosive used today to move mountains. The Gospel then is something from God that can change lives, move mountains of guilt and sin, and create a whole new environment when it is unleashed in the hearts of mankind. To find out what the Gospel is, we must go to another portion of Scripture,
1 Cor 15:1-4 (NNAS) “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”
The Gospel is the “GOOD NEWS” that God has revealed and provided for a fallen lost world, its redemption for all eternity. The phrase “gospel,” means simply God’s “good news.” The Bible tells us Paul and the apostles of the first century were given the wonderful privilege to tell the world of this good news that God had provided for us all ¾ that is, a Savior to deliver us from the penalty of sin that awaits all mankind. In the summer of 1945, unfortunately Japan experienced the penalty of unleashing war against its enemy, the United States, and suffered the extreme penalty of mass destruction. On August 5th, 1945 the city of Hiroshima fell to an atomic detonation. In an instant 66,000 people were vaporized and another 69,000 were injured. The city was completely destroyed. Do you know thought that physicists today tells us that these early and primitive atomic bombs utilized only 1/10th of 1 percent of their respective explosive capabilities. Although the explosive force can level portions of the earth and kill millions, its destructive ability doesn’t stop there. Atomic fallout creates another hazard as well. The rain that follows, is laden with radioactive particles that many survivors of these blasts died later from due to severe suffering from radioactive poisoning. Even more, future generations suffered as well. Leukemia is among the greatest afflictions that are passed on to the offspring of survivors.
Well my friends, that is the awful reality of man’s creation and use unfortunately; but now, the POWER OF GOD, which is far greater has a similar fallout.
When the Gospel of Jesus Christ is unleashed in the hearts of humanity, it too begins instant destruction. What it destroys is the power of sin in the lives of those who experience it. You see we are all born enslaved to the power of sin. The Bible says,
Rom 7:18-19 (NLT) “I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can’t make myself do right. I want to, but I can’t. 19 When I want to do good, I don’t. And when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway.”
Yes, even Paul the great apostle who experienced the changing power of the Gospel in his life, confesses that he like us all was born with a sin nature. This is the inner nature and control of our mind and hearts, which demands that each of us be recognized as gods unto ourselves. On that basis, we answer to no man or society, and everything around us must serve our needs and pleasure. Let’s be honest, doesn’t this sin nature as God calls it, reside in you and me even from the moment of birth? The Gospel of Christ can change that, by first destroying is power in the live of all who experience God’s greater power! The Gospel is dynamite, for when it explodes in your life, God instantly destroys the power of sin. The Bible tells us,
1 Cor 15:56-57 (NNAS) “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Yes, God’s Law reveals our rebellion to God, our estrangement from Him and of course the two-fold penalty that results which is death. Now all of us will experience the first phase of this penalty physically. God tells us,
Rom 6:23 (NNAS) “For the wages of sin is death…”
But there is a second and great aspect of the penalty of sin. We read of this in the last book of the New Testament,
Rev 2:11 (NNAS) "'He who has an ear, let him hear… He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.'"
Rev 20:6 (NNAS) "Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power…”
Rev 20:14 (NNAS) "…the second death, the lake of fire."
Rev 21:8 (NNAS) ""But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.""
Here God’s Word warns us, that all mankind will experience this, following physical death. You see my friend, we are creatures created in the image of the eternal God who lives forever. He has given to all mankind a portion of that existence, in the fact that our souls and spirits are like Him ¾ for we too shall live forever, but the question is where will we spend eternity? God wants us to know we have a choice. We can spend it in the second death, suffering in a place called the Lake of Fire that burns forever and ever, or we can spend it in the joyous presence and bliss of God’s fellowship and grace. What will bring the latter about? Only one thing ¾ the POWER OF GOD exploding in your life!
Now here in a nutshell is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that can change your life if you are willing to hear it and respond to it… so know this, God’s Word tells us...
1. THAT HEAVEN AND ETERNAL LIFE ARE SOMETHING WE DON’T HAVE, BUT CAN HAVE AS A FREE GIFT! - Yes, God wants all mankind to be saved from their sins and the penalty earned as a result. But we cannot earn heaven or God’s favor by any means, for we all are under the judgment of God ¾ so to change this, the Gospel has to enter in. You see, we are changed or saved when we believe God, that we in and of ourselves cannot become righteous, saved, or forgiven all our sins unless someone comes and gives us these things as a free gift. We cannot earn it or qualify for it any other way, for we have all failed the test. Yet God offers in the Gospel of Christ the wonderful promise of forgiveness and Heaven itself.
Rom 6:23 (NNAS) “For the wages of sin is death, but
the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
2. GOD’S WORD TELL US THAT BY OUR SIN NATURE NONE OF US CAN EVER BE RIGHTEOUS IN GOD’S SIGHT - Indeed, God wants us to experience this change, but nothing we do can accomplish it. Yet today, so many embrace religion and assume by following it we earn God’s favor, merit and of course inherit eternal life and Heaven. The Bible says,
Isa 64:6-7
(NNAS) “For all of us have become like
one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And
all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
7 There is no one who calls on Your name, Who arouses himself to take hold of
You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have delivered us into the power
of our iniquities.” Third…
3. GOD’S WORD TELL US THAT GOD LOVES US SO
MUCH, THAT HE HAS PERSONALLY CHOSEN TO PAY FOR OUR SINS - The wonder and beauty of the Gospel is God
Himself has revealed and proven to all the world, that His unalterable law of
sin and death can only be changed by His POWER unleashed in the world. So God
solved this by coming to earth and becoming a human being Himself. Why? So He
could qualify to pay mankind’s sin debt, yet also qualify not to be a sinner
himself. Jesus Christ is God’s own answer. His birth, His life and His death
are that GOOD NEWS. So, Paul the Bible states,
1 Cor 15:1-4 (NNAS) “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved… I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”
Yes Jesus Christ, the sinless Lamb of God, the Savior of the world, God in human flesh, He gave up His infinite life in death, and offered it up for the sin payment of all the world, which included you and me. The justice court of Heaven, where God Himself sits, accepted this payment for all sin, whereby the human race could now go free! But alas, there still is that sin nature living within us. Today most criminals when set free from the jail time they serve, unfortunately go back to a life of crime. Why? Because that is their “nature.” We likewise continue to sin even if once saved. So how does God handle this? He must “change” our nature, so that which is living in us will never sin. Sound confusing? Listen…
The Bible says when the POWER OF GOD is unleashed in our
lives, when a person responds and accepts this as truth and confesses their
sins and calls upon Jesus Christ to save them ¾ “BOOM!” as Emeril the
chef says, the gospel bomb explodes and changes the recipient forever. How?
4. GOD’S WORD TELL US THAT GOD GIVES THOSE WHO ARE SAVED, A BRAND NEW NATURE THAT WILL CHANGE OUR LIVES FOREVER - Yes, it’s not enough to be forgiven, we must be changed from who we are when we were born. This is the GOOD NEWS! God gives to all who come to Him, a new nature that can NEVER sin, nor desire to do so. This new nature, born afresh in us who are saved, is the very nature of God Himself. Thus, when a person is “saved” as we call it in Christianity, in effect they instantly die. Oh your physical life goes on, but inwardly something happens that changes your whole existence. Before you couldn’t have care less about God and His Word, now the newly born saint craves to learn and obey God’s Word. The unsaved soul has no place for things eternal or the righteousness of God in their lives, but the newly created saint lives for this and wants his or her entire world to experience the same. Now you who are not Christians, you know this is true, for when you meet someone who really becomes “born again,” or “saved” ¾ they are different. They are changed inside out and you cannot explain it. Now how does the Bible explain it? Listen,
John 3:3,7 (NNAS) “Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot [experience] the kingdom of God… 7Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”
1 Pet 1:23 (NNAS) “for you have been born again not of [life principle] which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.”
2 Cor 5:17 (NIV) "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
You see the Christian life and faith is an actual death and new birth and life. Within us the old nature dies in its power to rule our lives and God fashions a whole new being inside us transferring who we are into it. The old nature is still there, for part of it is our human existence, but within every born again Christian who has experienced the POWER OF GOD, a new real tangible life lives, the very life of God in us. One day it too will be unleashed, that is through physical death, and the new soul and spirit will go to be with God who will give it a new body fashioned like unto the old, but sinless and beautifully the image of God. How wonderful that is and will be. But friend you can experience it here and new, if you will come to Christ and hear and respond to the GOSPEL and GOOD NEWS. Jesus died for you, does it mean nothing to you? Jesus LIVES FOR YOU! Have you experienced Him and invited Him into your heart and life? Jesus is coming again for His saints. Will you be among them, or will you be among the rubble of fallen sinful humanity that will be forever judged and cast into Hell?
It’s up to you, but you must experience the full force of the POWER OF GOD that Paul was not ashamed to share with others, as I’m doing today with you. Oh listener, turn to Christ, turn from your sins, confess them to God, call upon Him to save you and give you a new nature that will love Him, and will strive to be obedient to Him. God will grant that as a free gift to all who ask and honor His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. May the POWER OF GOD be detonated in your life, and may its fallout for good and eternity forever change you, now…
…World War II ended with the detonation of two atomic bombs back in 1945 that changed Japan and the world forever. But a greater power can still be unleashed for good and for God that will change any life and the world in which it lives forever and ever when unleashed. May this POWER OF GOD so change you my friend and may you then go out and detonate it in the lives of all around you to accomplish the same for their good and for God’s glory.
· Radio talk #3701
· Broadcast date: September 16, 2001
· Speaker: Dennis L. Finnan, Commentator
· Program: The World, the Word & You! Radio Broadcast
· Address: P.O. Box 40133 Grand Junction, CO 81504
The World, the Word & You! Broadcast is a non-denominational ministry based on the historic fundamental evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures. A copy of our doctrinal statement is available upon request. These weekly radio commentaries are not exhaustive studies of any particular subject due to the time limit of broadcasting. Actual broadcasts can be heard in selected areas around the nation, as funding provides. Dennis Finnan has been the speaker for over 22 years, and serves as General Director.
These transcripts are available free of charge to all who desire them. Also available are actual radio cassette tapes and printed booklets of each message. A free listing of recent messages is available upon request also.
For further information, reprints, or a listing of all topics, please write to our speaker, Dennis L. Finnan (dennis@wwy.org), or visit our webpage at http://www.wwy.org/