Awesome Power
In my football playing days in the 1960s our helmets were unlike the protective headgear today. They were only hard plastic with suspensions which were “supposed to help” keep your head from hitting the hard plastic during contact. All coaches trained players to lead with their heads in tackling opposing players. (This is now called “targeting” and results in the player being ejected from the game.) Minor concussions were called “ringing your bell” and were very common. I got my bell rang almost every practice and game in high school and college. In a few practices and games, I obviously had major concussions because I have little or no memory of those but basically continued “playing mentally unconscious”. Finally, the doctors in my college junior year told the coaches that my playing days were over—too many concussions in addition to a neck injury.
Several medical studies have shown that repeated concussions, particularly in athletes, can lead to early-onset dementia and similar disorders. Concussions are estimated to increase dementia risk later in life by as much as 72%. People who suffer multiple concussions have a 62% higher risk of dementia beyond that of those who suffered one concussion. With at least three concussions, the risk of early-onset Alzheimer's disease increases fivefold. Some of my football teammates who had concussions are among those who have suffered with dementia and/or Alzheimer’s.
So why at my elderly age with my innumerable concussions haven’t I suffered with these dreaded impaired abilities?
In the 1970s I got involved in Bible studies where I literally “fell in love” with God’s Word. These initial studies led to personal in-depth study which led to decades of teaching what I was learning. I cannot prove it but have strongly concluded that God through His grace used His Word to heal my brain.
Psalms 107:20 “He sent forth His Word and healed them.”
Proverbs 4:20-22 “My son, be attentive to My Words; incline your ear to My sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to him who finds them, and healing to all his flesh.”
I shared my story with a former military Special Forces member and he informed me that he also is convinced that he had been healed by the Word of God from a traumatic brain injury received on one of his missions.
The Word of God is awesome; it is a mysterious and powerful force. God is alive and powerful, so his Word is alive and powerful.
Hebrews 4:12 “For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
It is the power of God to eternal salvation. The gospel of Christ or the Good News about Christ is the Word of God. Paul says he is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and for the Greek (Romans 1:16). Nobody can be saved without receiving the Word of God either by hearing or reading it (Romans 10:14-15). The Word can lead a sinner to Christ to make him/her a child of God.
Christians are made alive spiritually and eternally because we are “born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and abiding Word of God” (1 Peter 1:23).
It is a powerful nourishment for spiritual growth. 1 Peter 2:2 enjoins believers, as newborn babes, to desire the pure milk of the word that they may grow thereby. The Word of God, to Christians, is like milk for newborn babies. It is also solid food for mature believers (1 Corinthians 3:2; Hebrews 5:12-14). Without physical food, a human being won’t grow normally. Without the Word of God, a child of God can’t grow spiritually. Christians who are not taking a balanced diet of the Word of God will suffer stunted growth spiritually.
In the parable of the sower, Jesus compared God’s Word to seed (Matthew 13:1–23). Seed, like the Word, is a living organism that, when spread and planted in fertile soil, powerfully produces abundant life.
Powerful, life-generating things happen when God’s Word goes forth. It is fully capable of accomplishing its purpose: “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with My Word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” (Isaiah 55:11)
The vital power of God’s Word also exists in its ability to pierce and penetrate the innermost depths of the human soul. It can cut through any obstacle to access and inspect our unspoken thoughts and hidden secrets (Matthew 10:26; Mark 4:22; Luke 8:17; 12:2). It can cross-examine and judge the attitudes of our hearts.
