The Christian world recognizes an important event that occurred almost 2,000 years ago in the late spring. Jesus Christ had already risen from the dead. He had instructed His disciples to wait in Jerusalem to receive a gift from God that was very special.

Little did anyone realize how great and powerful this gift would be. Without it, the world had suffered extreme anguish and devastation for about 4,000 years. For lack of this gift, a number of major catastrophes struck society: Noah's Flood inundated the world. God was forced to confuse the languages of the earth. Sodom and Gomorrah were exterminated in a nuclear-type explosion. And Israel was unable to fulfill its promises to the Almighty. Nations continued to battle against other nations in a never-ending quest for illusive peace.

For lack of the gift Christ promised to His disciples, every individual has suffered from time immemorial. Parenting has suffered beginning with Adam and Eve; marriages have failed; business ventures have gone bankrupt; peace and happiness have been unreachable dreams.

God's gift through Christ was the panacea, the solution for every negative occurrence mankind has ever experienced. Christ told His disciples, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you" (Acts 1:8).

Power! It's what every contender desires in order to gain victory in his or her personal endeavors. However, the power given through Christ was not for mere mortal accomplishments. Christ understood that our battle is a spiritual one against Satan the devil, "against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). Satan's goal is to enslave everyone in a prison of despair by causing us to break God's law.

Breaking God's law is a death trap. Satan's devious plan overlooks no one. The apostle Paul explained that all of us were "dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others" (Ephesians 2:1-3). The apostle John summarized this truth by stating, "the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 John 5:19).

God's aim is to release us from Satan's stranglehold. Through Christ, God would destroy the devil's power of death and release us (Hebrews 2:14-15). This is where the promised gift of power comes into play.

"You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you" (Acts 1:8). Notice the results or the fruits of this power: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Let's stop and think about what this means. For the entire period of 4,000 years before Christ came, mankind was unable to solve its problems. No doubt thousands, if not millions, of lectures had been given by thousands of eloquent speakers about solving every enigma you could possibly imagine. The result? In Galatians 1:4, Paul called the world "this present evil age." All the books, psychotherapies, 12-step programs, drugs, herbs, meditations, exercise programs or other solutions from the best and the brightest haven't brought any real, lasting relief.

There is a simplicity in Jesus Christ that does not allow us to be corrupted by the craftiness of Satan. His craftiness leads to lawbreaking. Lawbreaking leads to death. Power from the Holy Spirit leads to fulfilling God's laws. You cannot break God's laws when displaying the fruits of God's Spirit. "Against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:23). Hate, unhappiness and fighting are opposites of love, joy and peace.

A shallow understanding of salvation through Christ has kept this world locked in the throes of death. Most have not received the promised power from God because they still refuse to obey God's law. The wages of practicing transgression of God's law will always be death (Romans 6:23). No wonder we are instructed to change (Matthew 4:17; Acts 2:38). We are not saved from despair and sin by Christ's death. We are saved by His life (Romans 5:10)! The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ brought much more than most have ever imagined.

The gift of God is eternal life! That gift is the power of the Holy Spirit. That power enables us to be changed to an immortal body and to keep God's law (Romans 8:4, 11).

About 6,000 years have passed since the creation of Adam and Eve. Yet mankind has not learned the lesson. Nothing physical can bring happiness. Only the character of God Himself, the fruit of His power through Christ, will end all problems and bring world peace and happiness.