Power For Living

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

Ephesians 1:18-19

The Necessity of Power

In August, 2003, the northeastern part of North America experienced a massive power failure. Fifty million people from Ohio to Ontario, Canada, were suddenly plunged into darkness. Nothing worked. People were stranded in elevators and trains for hours. Powerful executives spent the night on the roadside along with bums. For many, this situation lasted for days. Without power, life, as we know it, came to a standstill.

Christians need the power of God to live the Christian life. Without God’s power, we cannot love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, nor can we love our neighbor as ourselves. Without God’s power, we cannot obey God’s moral law, nor can we respond to the moral imperatives of the epistles, such as, “Put off your old man and put on the new”; “Put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor”; “He who stole, let him steal no longer, but let him work with his hands that he may have something to eat”; “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God”; “Get rid of all bitterness”; “Be kind and compassionate to one another”; “Forgive each other, as God forgave you in Christ”; “Among you there must not even be even a hint of sexual immorality or greed”; and, “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and died for her.” Without God’s infinite power, we cannot please God because the mind of sinful man is enmity against God. It does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it is unable to do so. A sinner cannot please God because his mind is hostile, his will paralyzed, and his emotions twisted. But even Christians yield to temptation and fail to obey God when they do not appropriate God’s power to resist the devil.

Power is Available

Paul wrote this epistle to the Ephesians while he was in chains in a Roman prison around 60-62 A.D. Around 53-55 A.D., he had visited and ministered in Ephesus, one of the five great cities of the Roman empire, and the place where the temple of the goddess Diana, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was located. In fact, Ephesus was known as the nurturer of Diana, and its glory as a city was attributed to her.

But in this epistle Paul tells the Ephesian believers that it is Christ who nurtures them and makes them glorious, not Diana; that it is God’s power that saves them and causes them to live a life pleasing to God; that it is God who blesses them with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ; and that they were, therefore, chosen, predestinated, redeemed, forgiven, adopted as sons, and sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

The Ephesians not only believed in Jesus Christ, but they loved all the saints, as Paul writes in Ephesians 1:15: “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus, and your love for all saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” Faith without works, especially the work of love, is dead. So Paul was thanking God for the Ephesian believers in his daily prayers, making mention of them by name, and he requested them to pray for him. I hope we will pray for one another in this way. We need God’s help every day, and it comes to us through prayer.

Paul prays that God would give the Ephesians true spiritual understanding in regard to three things: first, the hope of God’s calling; second, the riches of the glory of God’s inheritance among the saints; and third, God’s incomparably great power for those who believe.

Paul then expands on this great power of God, without which no one can be effectually called, no one can live a triumphant Christian life, and no one can come to receive God’s glorious inheritance. God’s power is vital for our salvation.

Power Described

Paul uses several words to describe the fullness of God’s power, though mere words are inadequate to express the surpassing, infinite, divine power available for God’s children. First, he uses dunamis, from which we have the word “dynamite.” God himself is described as power, tês dunameôs, the Mighty One, in Matthew 26:64.

Satan has great power, and all unbelievers are energized by it to do wicked things every day. But our God is power-he is the Creator, Redeemer and Sovereign King of the entire universe. The power available for us in God is, therefore, described as great and exceedingly great. It is infinite and beyond comprehension, terms also used to describe the grace and love of God (Ephesians 2:7 and 3:19).

Paul desired that the Ephesians know this power that would enable them to live God-pleasing lives even in the midst of persecutions, torture, chains, poverty, bodily infirmity and insults. This great, incomprehensible power is also available for us to keep us from failing.

Another word that Paul used is energeia, from which we have the word “energy.” This is power that produces work. It is the energy that accomplishes things. The next word used is kratos, from which we have “democrat.” Kratos is power directed for a specific purpose. It is the power of God that opposes all powers of the evil one, conquering and prevailing against all resistance. A final word used is ischus. This is power and ability in possession. It is God’s inherent and resident power.

I want to illustrate these words, beginning with the last one. Ischus would be the power resident in our arms. It is always there, unless we are paralyzed. Kratos is demonstrated when we lift up our arms purposefully, aiming at something. When my raised hand hits your face, it is energeia, the power that hits!

Paul wants us to know that this infinite power of God is available for us. In fact, if we are believers, that power is in us, giving us strength to endure all hardships, do all good works, resist all temptations of the devil, and, finally, die in faith.

Power Demonstrated in the Resurrection of Christ

Paul illustrates this infinite power of God, not in terms of creatio ex nihilo, nor in terms of the divine providence God exercises in the universe, nor in terms of the powerful judgments God brings about in history, but in terms of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Why did Paul use the resurrection of Christ to illustrate the power of God? Because it declares God’s victory over all evil, which is opposed to God and therefore opposed to us. The wages of sin is death; so Christ died for our sins. Through his resurrection from the dead, he destroyed death and the devil, who exercises the power of death in this world.

When God the Father raised Jesus from the dead, he was declaring his approval of his Son and demonstrating his power over all evil. When God raised Jesus to immortal life, he gave him a body that will never decay or decompose. Jesus Christ is the only one so raised in the history of the world.

Paul is not referring to a resurrection such as that concocted by Rudolf Bultmann and others, who say that Jesus’s resurrection was only in the thoughts of his disciples. No, he is referring to the objective resurrection of Jesus Christ, which was demonstrated by the empty tomb, his appearances to his disciples, and the failure of his enemies to provide any proof to the contrary.

This objective resurrection of Jesus comprehends the spiritual and physical resurrection of all whom Jesus represents. In the first Adam, we inherited sin and death, but in the last Adam, Jesus Christ, the elect of God receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

Power Demonstrated in the Enthronement of Christ

Paul then uses the enthronement of Jesus Christ as Lord of the universe as a demonstration of God’s unlimited power. We are told God the Father seated Jesus Christ at his right hand. There are three important points that should be noted about this: first, it is the place of highest honor; second, it is the place of highest executive power, which Jesus Christ himself expressed when he said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me”; third, it is the place of greatest happiness. Jesus now experiences the joy that was set before him while he was dying on the cross: “In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Psalm 16:11, KJV).

By his infinite power over the universe, God the Father placed all things under Jesus’ feet, especially all his enemies. There is none superior or equal to Jesus. Psalm 110 tells us, “The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.'” I hope we will respect this God/man, Jesus Christ. As the Sovereign Lord, he reigns over all, demanding that all men everywhere repent, bow their knees and confess that he alone is Lord.

The sovereignty of Jesus is universal and permanent. Once the crown of thorns adorned his brow; now he wears the crown of universal sovereignty, and his crucified hands hold the scepter of unlimited, universal dominion. He makes everything in the universe cooperate, willingly or not, in the accomplishment of his will. This includes our thoughts, words, and deeds. It includes our sin, the fall, the crucifixion, and the resurrection. It includes all magistrates and rulers of this world, whom Jesus alone sets up and brings down. There is nothing outside of his sovereign rule.

Power Demonstrated in Christ as Head of the Church

Paul says this great power was also demonstrated when God the Father appointed Jesus head of the church as well as head over all things. Jesus Christ, the universal Sovereign, is given by the Father as the head of the church for its benefit. And because Jesus Christ is over all things, his church has nothing to fear; nothing can threaten the security we have in Christ.

Christ is especially head of the church militant, which is the church as it exists in this world. As head, Jesus Christ directs, provides for, and protects all the members of his body in all the struggles of their daily lives. God’s plan is that his church will appear before him as a spotless bride; as Lord of history, he causes everything in the universe to cooperate to accomplish that plan. Therefore, we must not fear or be impressed by the world; it is all background to God’s plan for his church. He causes all things, especially our sufferings, to work together for our good, and nothing in the universe-nothing!-can destroy us, because our Head will not permit it.

I hope we will interpret all the sufferings we experience in the light of this truth. Because Jesus reigns, the church is safe. Ephesians 5:25-27 describes how he guides and cares for us: “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” In Romans 8 Paul tells us, “Neither death nor life. . . nor anything in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (vv. 38-39). We are vitally and eternally united with the universal Sovereign; therefore, we are safe.

In Ephesians 1:23 the church is called “the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” This means Christ meets our every need every moment of our life. As branches receive all nourishment necessary for life and fruitfulness from the vine to which they are connected, so also the church is filled with all necessary grace by the Head of the church. We receive all that we need by faith. In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and we have been given fullness in Christ our head. So John 1:16 says, “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.” Christ’s grace is inexhaustible; no one can drain it away from him.

That is why Paul prays that we know God’s surpassingly great power that is already in us who live by faith in him. This is not the power of positive thinking. It is infinite, divine, objective power; it is God’s resurrection power which raised Jesus from the dead and enthroned him as Lord of the universe; it is the power that appointed him head of the church, that he might meet our every need as we live for him in a hostile world that persecutes us, speaks lies about us, insults us, drags us to courts, imprisons and tortures us, and finally may kill us.

Christ our head, who knows all our troubles, will give us grace and more grace to face them. He always intercedes for us and comforts us, and not one of his people shall ever perish. We are held by Christ and by the Father eternally.

God’s Power Is in Us

Paul is not writing that we may come to know his power “somewhere out there.” This power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is already in us and we have experienced it in our own lives. Ephesians 2 tells us that this power of God made us alive with Christ while we were dead in trespasses and sins. It has been demonstrated our own spiritual resurrection from the dead. (PGM) Our mind was hostile to God, our will paralyzed, and our emotions twisted. But now, having been regenerated and effectually called, we are alive toward God, so that we think God’s thoughts, do God’s will, and feel the way God wants us to feel. All this is a demonstration of God’s great power working in us.

Because we have been vitally connected with Christ, this power of God has raised us up with him and seated us with him in heavenly places. By it we believe in him and are saved forever. By it we have been made into a new creation-God’s handiwork-created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which we also do by his power. We need spiritual energy to do spiritual works-to love God and keep his commandments. If you are a child of God, this power is in you.

Ephesians 1:19 speaks of “his incomparably great power . . . eis hêmas.” That can be translated “into us.” It is the power of God coming from him into us. We are the divine destination of this power. This is what happens as the word of God is preached. The Spirit of God effectually calls us and regenerates us. God’s power comes into us and makes us a new creation.

Ephesians 3: 20 says God is able “to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us.” So the power of God at work in us is not a hypothetical or eschatological hope. As the church militant, we need power to live daily in this world-to resist the devil, to resist temptation, to do good works, to pray, even to get up in the morning and go to work. That power comes to us from God.

Paul spoke about this power of God working in his own life in Colossians 1:29: “To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” Paul uses the word agônizomai-he was agonizing, struggling, laboring. But he did so with God’s energy-this objective, divine, surpassing resurrection power-working in him.

Do you feel weak? In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 we read, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'” The weaker we are, the more we can appropriate this divine power. And the weaker we are, the more we will praise God when we experience his deliverance. Otherwise, we tend to take credit for what we do. But Paul says, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses.” Weakness is the precondition for the appropriation of divine power in our life. We must delight in our weaknesses because it is our condition of utter dependency that allows the power of God to rest upon us.

Second Corinthians 4:16 further proves this point: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” In spite of all our problems and weakness, we are made strong daily in our heart, our mind, our will, and our emotions. “His mercies are new every morning.”

Appropriating God’s Power

This power comes to us from the Holy Spirit of God. In Ephesians 3:16 Paul says, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power”-dia pneumatos-“through his Spirit in your inner being.” It is the power of the Spirit of the living God who dwells in every believer. So Ephesians 5:18 exhorts us, “Be filled with the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit dwells in us to animate us, empower us, direct us, and strengthen us to do what we need to do.

There is a popular teaching today that says Jesus Christ can be Savior but not Lord. But this teaching that we can have this salvation without any responsibility is a lie. We are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Philippians 2:12-13 tells us, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed-not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence-continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. . . .” Our responsibility is to do what God wants us to do. But that is not the end of the sentence. It continues, “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do according to his good pleasure.” God will empower us to do his work.

This divine, exceedingly great, resurrection power of God dwells in us. But how can we appropriate it? Ephesians 1:19 gives the answer: “this incomparably great power for us who believe.” It is by faith in God that we access and appropriate this mighty power of God. There is no other way. Unbelief cuts us off from it. Our anger, our murmuring, our sin of every kind cuts us off from it.

Faith accesses this power that is resident in us. Little faith means little power. Growing faith means growing power. Great faith means great power. Jesus said, “All things are possible for those who believe.”

The Purpose of Power

Why do we need this power? We need it because we have enemies. The first enemy is the world. We face opposition, not only from corrupt people in the world who oppose God and the gospel, but from the spirit of the world-its values and philosophies. In today’s society we are bombarded with worldly values and images portrayed in newspapers and books, on television and, above all, through the new technology of the Internet. As we go to school or work, we are being corrupted by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boasting of things. Worldliness will creep into us, and we will begin to talk, think, and act like the world, if we are not careful.

Second, we have an enemy in ourselves called the flesh. Our sin nature is not exterminated when we are regenerated; it remains in us, though we are given a new nature. It manifests itself, not only in gross sin, but in laziness, procrastination, and various other sins of omission. Our flesh is frail and weak; we experience sickness and pain, and finally we must die. Death is the last enemy, and we need the power of God to face it.

Third, there is the devil, and we must not ignore him. This personal, very powerful devil and his demons are a reality that are directed against us every day. The Bible warns us that the devil, like a roaring lion, is among us, if possible, to swallow us up.

That is why we need the mighty power of God working in our mind, our will and our emotions daily. Directed by the word and empowered by the Spirit, we can do good works every day. The Spirit of God will speak to us and empower us on the basis of the Scripture. So we must read God’s word, pray effectually, go to worship acceptably, work productively, resist temptation, love God’s people, bless our enemies, keep God’s moral commands, love our spouses, train our children, bless those who curse us, forgive freely, serve God’s people, resist the devil, praise God in pain and face the last enemy, death itself, in triumph. May God help us to pray and believe and appropriate his power for living, that we can say with Paul, “I can all things through Jesus Christ who gives me strength”!