WAVES OF LIQUID LOVE

In his book More Than Meets the Eye, Doctor Richard Swenson
has written about the amazing creation of the human body. Truly we
are fearfully and wonderfully made! For instance, the human body has
over 10,000 trillion trillion atoms, with more than one trillion being
replaced every second. Those replaced atoms then spend time in other
people’s bodies, a process repeated over and over again down through
history. Swenson shares, “Some of the carbon atoms that resided in
our bodies, in our childhood frames, are now doing their similar work
within the body of a child in Mongolia.”
Fascinatingly he continues, “When you take a deep breath you
inhale 150 million air molecules that Jesus breathed.” The thought is
simply stunning.
Recently I stopped in Oberlin, Ohio to see the memorial site of
Charles Finney (1792-1875). Finney’s life was given fiercely to
holiness, and it is said that a half a million people surrendered their
lives to Christ by his witness. A key person in seeing slavery ended in
our nation, Finney had a tremendous love of God and people. He
shared that when the Holy Spirit first moved upon his heart it felt like
“waves of liquid love…It seemed like the very breath of God.”
It was said that the presence of God was so strong in Finney’s
life that he could simply walk into a room and people would be filled in
their own hearts with a need to cry out to God and to allow Christ to
change their lives. The Apostle Paul stated, “Our gospel came to you
not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and
with deep conviction” (1 Thessalonians 1:5).
Just as God used the Apostle and Charles Finney, he promises
that if we allow him, he will use our lives to impact the world around
us as well. He tells us that we go not simply with words, but with
power and conviction in the strength of the Holy Spirit. All this is
minus our own efforts, depending entirely on the God who loves
people and by his grace changes lives.
Dr. Swenson shares a beautiful metaphor: “Every cell has about
a trillion atoms. We have anywhere from 10 to 100 trillion cells in the
human body. We’re making over a trillion cells every day. Take for
example red blood cells; you make two to 10 million red blood cells
every second.
“We don’t know how much blood that Jesus shed hanging on the
cross. But we do know this; that He shed at least one red blood cell for
every human being that’s ever lived in the history of the world.”
Since we have been forgiven at such a high price, let us live with
a godly vision, giving our lives for him who wonderfully made us for a
life of purpose.
Tobin Crenshaw, Pastor
Hartville Church of the Brethren