“…the gospel of the glory of the blessed God…”
1 Timothy 1:11
Are you familiar with “The Cross and Switchblade”? If not, it’s the story of a Christian named David Wilkerson. David went to New York and saw the Lord do miraculous things, saving people most of us would never expect. The famous moment in “The Cross and the Switchblade” comes when a young man named Nicky Cruze, who attempted to kill David, bowed his knee to Jesus.
Nicky, in writing about his experience said, “I came to Jesus because I knew He loved me, and still didn’t know anything about God.”
This runs in line with what we asked last week, “How are we to praise God for who He is, if all we understood about Him is what He has done?”
Well, Christian, the rest of your life you just go further up and further in!
Knowledge of the depth and blessedness of God, what Paul was writing to Timothy about, wasn’t necessary for Nicky to be born again. When the Philippian jailer is born again, how did that happen? He simply asked Paul, “What must I do to be saved?”
When Paul heard the question, He didn’t hem or haw or ramble or bring out philosophy. Instead, Paul replied in Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved….”
He didn’t take out some chalk and diagram the order of salvation on the wall, he didn’t wax eloquent about predestination, adoption, justification, or the mission of God through the Son and Spirit in salvation. Paul’s gospel appeal was simple, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…”
That’s what happened to Nicky Cruze. He didn’t realize the scope of what had happened to him, of WHO had acted on him. He didn’t know that forever and always God is blessed. But the longer he was a Christian, the deeper he went into the life of God, the and the clearer He saw “God in three persons, blessed Trinity.”
As he grew in his faith, he wrote another book, this time saying: “God is a magnificent Father, God is a magnificent savior, Jesus Christ. But if it were not for the magnificent Holy Spirit, I would still be a wretched, hateful, sinner. It’s not enough to have a Father God who loves and provides for me. It’s not enough to even have a Savior who died for my sins. For any of ...
