Rich in Power

Introduction

There is an English idiom that goes, “absolute power corrupts absolutely.” It is demonstrated as true over and over in world history. The more power an empirical leader received, the more likely they were to use it for evil. The more power someone has, the more they believe that they should be able to do. In the Chronicles of Narnia, CS Lewis describes this a little bit in his book the Magician’s Nephew. The two main kid characters, Digory Kirk and Polly Plummer, encounter the evil queen Janis who believes that a queen it is her right to do with her people whatever she deems is right. Often, this is what power does, it distorts our thinking and clouds our judgment in what is right and wrong. In the Magician’s Nephew Queen Jadis is willing to kill all of her subjects in order to protect herself. What Lewis portrays in the Narnia series is not only true in his fantasy series, it’s also true in our world. It often means that political leaders will enslave conquered people, or enslave their own people as a way of maintaining power and authority. And so, for those of us who don’t have that kind of power, we’re often taught to be wary of those in power, because more often than not, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

What we’re going to see today is that absolute power corrupting absolutely is a mankind problem, but for the One who created the cosmos, absolute power is an opportunity to demonstrate grace and love.

Today we’re looking at Ephesians 1:20-23 as our main text. We will pull up some other passages as well, but our focus will be here in Ephesians. It may be helpful to recall that the letters that we have in the Bible are written to real people in real places at an time in history. The overarching purpose of the letters is to help the readers understand and apply both the Old Testament writings and the teachings of Jesus in their own contexts

Before we read today’s passage, we’re going to need to recap a bit of what has come before. The previous 19 verses have been both doxology and thanksgiving. It starts with praise to the Father as initiator of the blessings we have through Jesus as we are sealed with the Spirit. At that point, Paul makes his turn toward thanksgiving, which as Cody talked about last week.

Now as is typical of Paul’s letters he laces his introduction with the themes he is going to expound on throughout the rest of his letter. So we shouldn’t be surprised when in the coming weeks we see how Paul develops the theme of God’s initiating work in our salvation in chapter two, God’s wisdom and revelation as the mystery that is revealed to the world in chapter three, or the power that we receive to live lives worthy of the gospel in chapters 4-6. At the end of what we read last week Paul began talking about power in verse 19 (Ephesians 1:19). He is praying that our eyes would be open to “… what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength.”

The power that we’re going to be talking about today that God is demonstrating is toward us. We are recipients of the power, or to put it another way, the power is at work in us. Paul wants his readers to understand that the power that is at work in them to bring about the change in their lives that he’s writing about is a power far beyond their comprehension. It’s far beyond any problem that is set before them, any conflict they are having, any persecution they’re experiencing, and any sanctification that still is waiting to take place. God’s power is bigger than any excuse or reason they might have. God’s interested in changing the lives of his people so that they can fulfill his purposes, and he’s the one who is able to give power to do it. And so, for Paul, it’s important to remind the Ephesians what the power is that will help them live out the good works that God has prepared for them to do.

God’s power is toward us.

Main Idea: The riches of God’s power are expressed most powerfully in Jesus as King over all creation and demonstrated most visibly in Christ as head of the church

Let’s read Ephesians 1:20-23

Ephesians 1:20–23 CSB

He exercised this power in Christ by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens—far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he subjected everything under his feet and appointed him as head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

God’s power is demonstrated in Christ’s Resurrection

The first way that Paul described God’s power is in the fact that he raised Christ from the dead. This is something that Paul and the apostles think is one of the most important things to proclaim.

Several years ago, I took a look at the book of Acts and compared the various stories with what we would call “gospel presentations” to non-believers. The result was that I found eight gospel presentations that included content. There are more times where Luke tells us about times the gospel was proclaimed, but didn’t record the message itself. I was interested in the message itself. The gospel presentation that I found were in Acts 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 13, and 17. Acts 4 and 7 are unique in that they are addressed to religious leaders who were aware of the claim that Jesus had been raise from the dead and so the resurrection of Jesus is not mentioned in either of those “gospel presentations.” What I discovered was that the most common points within the presentations were in order of frequency: Rejected by religious leaders (7/8); Jesus killed by man unjustly (6/8); God raised Jesus from the dead (6/8); Must respond (repent, believe, obey) (6/8); God’s plan that Jesus would die (5/8); Holy spirit/Forgiveness of sin (5/8); Witnesses of his resurrection (5/8). In fact if you take out Peter and John’s message to the Sanhedrin in Acts 4 and Stephens sermon in Acts 7 (both of which are proclamations to religious leaders), there are three themes that show up in all the rest: Jesus raised from the dead, call to respond, and the promise of the Holy Spirit or the forgiveness of sins.

Paul picked this up in his ministry and vigorously defended the resurrection as foundational for our way of life as followers of Jesus, perhaps most notably in 1 Corinthians 15. In that defense he concludes (1 Corinthians 15:16-19) “For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.”

Instead, for Paul, the resurrection is the guarantee of our future resurrection and the receipt of the promises of God. Here in Ephesians it is the first demonstration of God’s power that he notes is for or toward those who are in Christ.

Paul is priming the pump, as it were, about the power that is demonstrated in the church both in the individuals and as a body that is going to be explored throughout the rest of the letter. Without the resurrection as the sure example of God’s power, whatever else Paul describes as ours in Christ is hollow and empty. The resurrection is the basis for Paul’s belief that the scriptures are fulfilled in Jesus and the catalyst for his understanding of what happened to Jesus following his ascension.

According to Paul, God’s power is first demonstrated in Christ’s resurrection. Secondly, God’s power is demonstrated in Christ’s exaltation.

God’s power is demonstrated in Christ’s exaltation

Ephesians 1:20 CSB

He exercised this power in Christ by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens—

For those of us who have been in the church for any length of time, the idea of Christ being seated at the right hand of God is a normal way of talking about Jesus’ exaltation in heaven. The reason for that is because is it one of the most common Hebrew scriptures applied to Jesus in the New Testament. It is more common than any prophecy from Jeremiah or Ezekiel, even more than any of the prophecies from Isaiah’s servant song of chapter 53. The New Testament’s typical ways of talking about Jesus as being at the right hand of the Father comes from Psalm 110 verse 1, it says

Psalm 110:1 CSB

This is the declaration of the Lord to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”

Speaking of sitting at one’s right hand is to speak of having a person sit at the seat of honor. It would be a high honor to sit at the right hand of any ruler or leader. In the Old Testament, we get pictures of this type of honor spoken of different ways. Joseph is called “second only to Pharaoh” and he describes himself to his brothers as father to Pharaoh. Later on we see Mordecai displace Haman as the right hand to Ahasuerus.

Paul is saying that following his resurrection Jesus sat at the place of honor with God. It’s a similar idiom to the English “right hand man.” A right hand man is one that is the most trusted advisor of a leader, the most leaned upon to accomplish a difficult task usually under the authority of the other. In our passage Paul melds the Psalm 110 quote with an allusion to Daniel 7:13-14.

Daniel 7:13–14 CSB

I continued watching in the night visions, and suddenly one like a son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him. He was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.

The picture of the Son of Man figure is one to who God gives authority over all creation. In the Jewish mind, the Son of Man character is equal with God. The logic goes like this. God is ruler of all the cosmos and only he can rule, whoever receives the authority to rule of all the cosmos must be God, the Son of Man must be equal to God. In the poetic image the Son of Man is given authority, but what we know about Jesus is that the authority was always his because he was the creator of all things the New Testament affirms this over and over. The “receipt of the authority” in Daniel 7 was symbolic in the sense that it became recognized by everyone else in creation.

The picture that the Jews were expecting of their coming Messiah was one of a political leader in the image of David. If you go back and read the context of Psalm 110 and Daniel 7, the language of both passages point to what appears to be a political leader who crushes the enemies of the Jews.

Yet Jesus’ kingdom was an upside down kingdom. They were expecting a conquering king who would overthrow the Romans, instead Jesus came proclaiming his kingdom was here. He wasn’t going to destroy the enemies of the Jews, instead he taught loving your enemies. He didn’t believe in violence as a tool for gaining power, he believed in sacrificial love. He associated with the poor, the hungry, the weak, the sick, the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the outcasts. He invited them into his kingdom and blessed them. His kingdom was so different and his understanding of what it meant to be king was so different that the religious leaders didn’t get it. But when Jesus is at trial he’s asked whether he is the messiah or not. Pay attention to how Jesus responds. Mark 14:61-64

Mark 14:61–64 CSB

But he kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest questioned him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” “I am,” said Jesus, “and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “Why do we still need witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy. What is your decision?” They all condemned him as deserving death.

At that point, they understood Jesus’ claim. Jesus’ claim was that he was equal with Yahweh and the one to whom the entire cosmos owes allegiance. They understood exactly what he meant and because they didn’t believe him, they wanted him to die for blasphemy. The irony is that in killing him, they set him up to show the vast power that was in his nature. He was resurrected and exalted to God’s right hand.

According to Paul, God’s power is first demonstrated in Christ’s resurrection. Secondly, God’s power is demonstrated in Christ’s exaltation. Thirdly, God’s power is demonstrated in Christ’s dominion.

God’s power is demonstrated in Christ’s dominion.

Christ’s dominion is universal in scope, but there is a particular way that it is demonstrated on earth.

Ephesians 1:21–23 CSB

far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he subjected everything under his feet and appointed him as head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

So first, the Christ’s dominion or authority is universal. The Greek in this list has cosmic implications. The rulers and authorities are generally accepted to be the human actors of government. They are the people who run the cities and governments that we live in. The powers and dominions signify a class of supernatural beings that are sometime called thrones or elemental powers. Paul is talking about anyone that could be in charge of anything in any realm.

In ancient Middle Eastern thought, it was common to refer to the human authorities as extensions or human representatives of a cosmic authority. For example, Pharaoh was the human representative of Rah; while Pharaoh was the human ruler, the real power behind pharaoh came from Rah. The same was true of the Canaanite Gods of Asherah, Baal, and Dagon. We see Biblical support or at least a biblical example of this in Daniel 10. In a vision, an angel came to Daniel and described that he had been sent by God to Daniel, but was detained or opposed by the Prince of Persia and it wasn’t until he had help from another angel before he could get to Daniel.

In other words, the worldview of the ancient readers of Ephesians had space for spiritual powers being the actual ruling authority over cities and empires. So when Paul says that Jesus sat down at God’s right hand in heaven far above the rulers, authorities, powers, and dominions he is saying that Jesus has authority or all human leaders and spiritual beings. No other being, spiritual or physical, has more authority than Jesus.

Paul talks about Jesus authority in this age and the one to come.

Faithlife Study Bible (Ephesians 1:21)

Within Judaism time was generally divided into two ages—the current one, when God’s rule is not fully manifest, and the coming one, when God will reveal His sovereign rule as king (see Matt 12:32; Mark 10:30). Christ’s death, resurrection, and exaltation enable believers to live under God’s rule in this age.

While we do not see all things subjected under Jesus’ feet, in a real way, Jesus has already taken that role and it seems that we will see the completion of that at his return.

Paul is aware of this and in his next phrase lets the readers know where Jesus’ power and authority lies in this age. Christ’s dominion is universal, but it is demonstrated most clearly right now in the church. He says God has appointed him as head over the everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of all things in every way.

In turning attention to the church he is signaling the fact that Jesus’ authority, his headship, over the church is the way that his rule is demonstrated in the world today.

Several years ago, there was an incident at an IHOP in Fort Myers, Florida. Early in the morning a group of unruly patrons began to overtake the restaurant. The police were alerted and several officers responded to the situation. Initially, there wasn’t any control gained by the officers. One officer in particular, a sergeant, walked in the restaurant and commanded, “On the ground! Get on the ground!! Now! On the ground!” Within seconds, he had gained total control of the situation. the offenders were on the ground the fracas was over. People who study law enforcement and people in the military will call this command presence. Command presence communicates to everyone present that you are in complete control of the situation. That space is now yours.

The church is Christ’s command presence to the world around us. It is reminder to the world that Jesus is the authority over all things. With Christ as the head of the church, the body moves in response and accomplishes the tasks he’s set before them. Paul is going to spend plenty of time in this letter expanding on that in various ways. Most specifically, Paul is interested in the unity of the church as that expression and what it tells the world around us.

When the church is unified in love and action, the world is startled by the fact that the barriers that typically separate people from one another are torn down, that genuine love is expressed for people of different backgrounds, socio-economic locations, and ethnic dimensions. It’s a reminder that love that seeks the benefit of the other will break down the barriers that we’ve erected to protect ourselves. Christ’s command presence is evident to the people around us.

Secondly, the unity of the church is a demonstration to the spiritual beings that God’s power is above all others. Ephesians 3:10 tell us that the church is the way that God demonstrates his power and wisdom to the rulers and authorities of heaven. The church is Jesus’ command presence to the cosmos and spiritual rulers too.

Again, we’re pointed back to a different type of kingdom. The kingdoms of this world use fear and intimidation to maintain control. There is self-preservation at the root of all of this. Our natural bent is to protect ourselves by any means necessary, and the kingdoms around us use the same techniques just at scale. We use violence or threat of violence to protect ourselves, we hoard resources, and we dehumanize people so that it is easier to take the stand we have. If there is an “other,” they become competitors for our resources, their inclusion is a risk to our existence.

The Kingdom of Jesus is one that is marked by love that cares for the “other.” Jesus’ kingdom shows radical generosity knowing that our Father knows what we need before we even ask. Jesus’ kingdom sets aside violent revenge and instead turns the other cheek, goes the extra mile and is generous to those who oppress or act unjustly toward us. The kingdom of Jesus and those in it act as their king did. When we do this, we demonstrate not just to the people around us, but also the spiritual beings in the heavens that Jesus authority is above all others.

Application

So we’ve talked about Jesus’ power demonstrated in his resurrection, exaltation, and authority. This is really good information, it provides confidence in our faith, it can give us hope for the future, but what does it mean for us today? We want our knowledge about to become knowledge of; our knowledge to be informed by experience so that our “knowing” is confirmed by experience. How can this knowledge about become knowledge of?

Recognize Jesus as the authority over all things. Reorientation of our allegiance.

Saturation in the ways of Jesus, most notably in the Sermon on the Mount.

Living a life from a perspective of abundance rather than scarcity.

Taking the opportunity to experience discipleship from someone ahead of you on the journey (spiritual direction or spiritual friendship).

Working toward unity in mission with other believers, exercising your spiritual gifts so that the power that is working toward us, can also be expressed through us as Christ’s presence is made manifest when we work in his authority, in his name.