Do you remember the Newlywed Game? They would ask newly married couples questions like, “Where was your first date?” or “What would your spouse say is your favorite food?”
What made the show fun to watch was to see how little newlyweds actually knew about each other.
Prior to seeing the light on the Damascus Road, the apostle Paul had heard about Jesus — but he didn’t really know Jesus. In fact, his name wasn’t even Paul. He was Saul, the one-man persecutor of Christians.
But then he met Jesus and everything changed. Before, he had known Jesus had been crucified; now, he knew Jesus had been raised from the dead. That’s why he would write to the Corinthians these words:
“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”
Paul himself was a living demonstration of the Spirit’s power. It’s the same power available to us today. It’s a reminder that knowing Jesus — really knowing Jesus — changes everything.