Resurrection Power

Introduction

Ephesians 1:19–21 ESV

and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

Imagine yourself in Jerusalem in 701 BC. You’ve fled your own town and run to the most fortified city you could think of: the capital city; the city of the king—the city of Yahweh. The Assyrian army has taken every other city of Judah. But lest you think that they were only picking on your people, you should know that Egypt and Ethiopia have already fallen to the great King Sennacherib.

You’re scared and hungry with no prospects of winning. Your king, King Hezekiah, had already tried seeking the help of the Egyptians. Like Obi-Wan Kenobi, they were your only hope. The King has no other choice but to try diplomacy. He apologizes for his actions and offers to pay tribute. Sennacherib demands three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. The king scrounges up the money by raiding the temple of its silver and gold, even stripping its doors of the gold. But Sennacherib reneges on his promise to leave Jerusalem alone. Instead he sends his right-hand man, Rabshakeh, to taunt Hezekiah and scare the citizens to death.

2 Kings 18:28–32 ESV

Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand. Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live, and not die. And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.”

Do those words sound familiar? Maybe they aren’t the exact words that enter our minds when facing a difficult or dark time in our lives, but they are similar. “This fight is too great for me—it’s too great even for God!” We’d never say those last words out loud, but we think them. We believe them. Rather than saying those words, we say words like, “I’ve been this way all my life; nothing is ever going to change.” Or perhaps something like, “This sin has had such a hold on me for umpteen years; I’m a lost cause.” However, we say it or think it, it’s equivalent to “it’s too great for God!”

And so we are tempted to make peace with our sin. We see the promises of Satan as more delectable and believable than the promises of Yahweh. We will have all we could ever want—our own vine, our own fig tree, our own cistern. All we need to do is depart from the city of God and subject ourselves to one who promises us comfort.

With all the promised filling one ear and all the lies against Yahweh filling the other ear, and eyes that see no way out of the current situation, many are inclined to do as instructed—abandon the notion that Yahweh will deliver you, and go on to a distant land—a land that is like our own, but is not our own—a land that promises comfort, but is in fact captivity.

This is why over seven-hundred years later, Paul wrote that he wants us to know—deep down in our hearts—the hope which God has called us: calling us out of the domain of darkness and the riches of our glorious inheritance: transferring us to the kingdom of his beloved Son. But also, we are to have settled hearts when it comes to the immeasurable greatness of the power of God toward us. That’s what I want us to focus on this morning. God’s immeasurably great power, what some would call resurrection power.

Like Paul, I want us to settle our hearts on God’s resurrection power at work in us, and my hope is that we will as we see three revelations that Paul gives to us regarding God’s power. The first is the exercise of God’s power toward us. The second is the exhibition of God’s power in Christ. Finally, we see the extent of God’s power over all.

The Exercise of God’s Power Toward Us

The Exhibition of God’s Power in Christ

The Extent of God’s power Over All

The Exercise of God’s Power Toward Us

The first revelation that Paul makes about God’s power is that it is exercised toward us—we who are believers in Christ.

Ephesians 1:19 ESV

and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might

Keep in mind that this is Paul’s prayer in regards to those who are reading his letter. If you look closely, you’ll see that Paul’s prayer isn’t simply about you who are Ephesus, but we who are believers: “toward us who believe,” which means that we can take this passage and directly place ourselves into the center of this prayer without worrying if this is for us. It’s for all of us who believe.

The prayer that Paul prays is that we would know—settle in our hearts—what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us. In other words, we need to hold firm to the fact that God exercises all his power toward us—on our behalf, for our good, to strengthen us.

The problem is that we have been influenced by our culture when it comes to God’s power. We have allowed unbelievers to punch pin-pricks into our theology when it comes to God’s omnipotence. Many Christians would, on one hand, say that God is all-powerful. But on the other hand say, but “God helps those who help themselves.” Therefore, they must do something in order for God to do something. They believe we have to make the first move if God is going to exercise his power. Others, however, are more like what Christian Smith calls moralistic, therapeutic, deists. This makes up much of the boomers and Gen X. The three tenants of moralistic therapeutic deism are that God wants us to be good and kind, God wants us to be happy in life, and God will step in only when necessary; otherwise we’ve got this. When thinking about MTD, think VeggieTales. And so, these would say that God’s power, exercised toward us, is rare.

Paul, however, tells us that God’s power is exercised toward us always. It is immeasurable in its quality as well as quantity. For the most part, Christians have accepted that God is all powerful. We’ve acknowledged that no power is higher or greater than God’s power. That’s the quality of God’s power. But what seems to be, is that we’ve forgotten, ignored, or rejected, is that God’s power is constant—never ending. Sure he upholds the universe so it doesn’t spiral out of control, but to say that his power is constant toward us who believe is not something most of us have settled on yet. And since it remains unsettled, so do our souls in regards to living a victorious life.

A few months ago, when we were studying Luke, I came across an unexpected comment regarding the lack of miracles that Jesus did in Nazareth. Now Luke doesn’t say that, but Matthew and Mark do. And the comment was simply that the lack of faith did not stop Jesus’s power for doing mighty works, but stopped the people from bringing their needs to Jesus so he may perform those mighty works. It didn’t deprive Jesus of his power, only of his opportunity.

Beloved, there very well may be some here today that believe in the quality of God’s power, but who doubt the quantity of his power, as if he begrudgingly holds it back. We want to be faithful to God’s will so much that we convince ourselves that he would not be willing to demonstrate such power toward us to break the power of some sin that we’ve been entangled with or some sickness that we’ve been overcome by. The quality—yes, he could do it! But the quantity—we’re just not convinced yet. So we don’t ask, or we ask without faith, because we don’t believe he exercises his power toward us.

So like Hezekiah, we call on the Egyptians, and trust in their chariots and horses. In other words, we follow after the conventional wisdom of this world to overcome powers that we—and they!—are helpless to overcome.

Come in open-handed faith. A faith that says, God can, but even if he won’t, he will see me through to the other side. It is a faith that is honest about what you want, but truly surrendered with grateful heart to how God chooses to exercise his immeasurable greatness of his power toward you.

The Exhibition of God’s Power in Christ

Let’s see how he chose to exhibit that power before. When Jesus was being arrested, his disciples fought back against those who came. His rebuked them,

Matthew 26:53 ESV

Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?

But that is not how God chose to exhibit his power. So the first revelation that Paul made was that it God’s power is exercised toward us. The second here is that it is exhibited in Christ, not before the cross, but after.

Ephesians 1:19–20 ESV

and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,

The power that God exercises toward us is according to (or in accordance with) the working of his great might that he worked in Christ! There are those words again: “According to!” Do you remember what we said about those words a few weeks ago. Do you remember the Baskin Robbins taste-test? Those little spoons, while they bring about some yummy goodness, are not even close to what Paul was envisioning when he brought up God’s lavishing his grace upon us. The idea of “according to” is “in proportion with.” Thus the power of God exercised toward us is in proportion with the power of God in raising Jesus from the dead and seating him on the throne!

Think for a moment at what Paul is writing here. God’s power was energized toward Christ in order to raise him from the dead. He was not simply “undead” as if some type of zombie; he was alive again! Newly alive in resurrection glory! A glorified body, glorified heart, glorified eyes, glorified from the hairs on his head to soles of his feat—all by the power of God at work in his resurrection. From there he put him on the throne. He seated him in the heavenly places.

Jesus is not like us in that when he was born, he was not born dead in his trespasses and sins like we are. But when it comes to his death, it was not only a physical reality; it was also a demonstration of what God is doing toward us and will one day consummate with us! Just as Jesus was raised to new life, so we—even now—are raised to new life.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

We are made new with a new heart—one that is Godward focused and new eyes—those that seek the glory of Him. Our newness—by the power of God—is in direct proportion to, in accordance with “his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.” God’s power was always at work in and toward his Son from inception, but is most effectively exhibited from the day of resurrection to the day of ascension—from the tomb to the throne. He began a good work in Christ on the day of his resurrection and took him all the way to the throne, completing his work.

So it is with us, brothers and sisters.

Philippians 1:6 ESV

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

He began this good work in you with the very power that raised Jesus from the dead. He takes you and me all along the way with this very same power. And he completes it without having lessened that power one milliwatt.

This is why Paul was so confident as to say, “I am sure of this.” It’s why he could tell the Roman Church,

Romans 8:32 ESV

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

This week, when you are tempted to doubt God’s power over your lusts, over your worries, over your heartaches, over your sickness, come back to Ephesians 1:20. The greatest exhibition of God’s power happened at the tomb and lasted until the throne. That’s not to say that his power was only between then; it is to say that it was exhibited for all to see. The same power—both its quality and quantity—are still at work toward you today.

The Extent of God’s Power Over All

But in case you need more, let’s look at the third revelation Paul makes. The first has to do with the exercise of God’s power toward us who believe—after all, how do we become holy and blameless before him as Paul wrote in verse 3? By God’s power toward us. The second is the exhibition of God’s power in Christ. The third is the extent of God’s power over all—all those who would oppose us and him. Paul described his power through Christ as

Ephesians 1:21 ESV

far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

Now, we mustn’t forget where this power is located. It is in Christ, just as we are in Christ. Thus when we look at the fact that Christ is seated in the heavenly places exhibiting the very power of God, we must also see that the place in which is sits is “far above,” as Paul wrote “all rule and authority and power and dominion.” Each of these categories refers to spiritual beings. Hence, later in the letter, Paul warned

Ephesians 6:12 ESV

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Notice that these spiritual forces: the rulers, authorities, powers, and all are in the heavenly places—just like Jesus. But Jesus is said to be over them all. The power of God extends “far above” all the others. Every single one of these spiritual forces is under the foot of Christ. They have been subjected to him. In fact, Paul wrote to the Colossians that Christ has disarmed them, putting them to open shame, and has triumphed over them.

And yet, it seems as if they have so much power! If Christ disarmed them, why does it seem like they still have all their weapons. In fact, in Ephesians 6, Paul even says that the evil one has flaming darts coming against us. But what are those darts? Nothing but words—lies that the evil one is hoping will penetrate our armor and hit us right in the heart. That is why we must keep the shield of faith, so as to extinguish the lies. It has been said that the pen is mightier than the sword—words are the strongest of weapons—and Satan is hoping that is the case.

He is hoping that if one of his fiery lies can hit your heart or your head, that you’ll be too weak to fight back. The lie that we deserve to commit a particular sin. It’s been a rough day. The lie that we can repent later and enjoy now. The lie that in the grand scheme of things, this isn’t all that bad. The lie that this is who you’ve always been, and this is who you’ll always be.

Like Rabshekah who utters the lies to those in Jerusalem in hopes of a quick surrender, so the rulers and authorities, powers and dominions whisper their lies so we lose heart and surrender ground without a fight.

And these lies can come out of nowhere! Driving down the highway, watching a movie, talking with a friend, during prayer. Anywhere, anytime! Which is why Peter warns us

1 Peter 5:8 ESV

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

But church family, we must remember that the extent of God’s power is over all other powers, heavenly ones as well as earthly ones. And that it was not only for Paul’s day, but our own as well. Remember that Paul wrote that he not only was above them in this age, but the age to come. Guess what. We are still in this age; we haven’t even reached the age to come yet.

So when see these fiery darts coming toward you from the heavenly places, put up your shield of faith—the very truths that you have settled in your heart—the hope of your calling, the riches of your glorious inheritance, and the extent of the immeasurable greatness of God’s power in Christ over all. You are no victim. You, being in Christ—the very place in which the power of God is—are victorious. You do not fight to gain victory; you fight from victory gained!

Conclusion

As we close out of these three verses, we’ve learned quite a bit about God’s power. We’ve learned that the immeasurable greatness of God’s power is exercised toward us in both quality and quantity. We’ve learned that the immeasurable greatness of God’s power was most directly exhibited in Christ from the tomb to the throne. Finally, we’ve seen the extent of the immeasurable greatness of God’s power. It is far above all those powers that we most fear.

Rabshekah has issued his threats to the king, his lies to the people, and has offered promises too good to be true. King Sennacherib has sent a letter with the same kind of threats and an order to surrender. King Hezekiah finally realizes what he must do. He took the letter to the temple and laid it before God, and prayed:

2 Kings 19:19 ESV

So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone.”

He ceased relying on Egypt and the powers that this world had to offer, and called upon God to exercise his power which was above the cherubim and all the kingdoms of earth, toward Judah for his glory. And God, in his great power, destroyed the army of Sennacherib—185,000 men. As great as that exhibition of power is—and it is great—it is not as great as raising Jesus back from dead and sitting him on the throne. The power of death is great. But there are many who can make dead—man has the power of death. But there’s only one who has resurrection power; only one can bring back a man dead after three days.

Beloved, at this moment, you may feel like a citizen of Judah under seige by the enemy. You may even feel like Hezekiah: responsible, overwhelmed, and powerless to provide and protect those whom God has put in your care. And the enemies are fierce, and they are strong. You’re hearing the threats and the lies and you’re wondering if you should just give in; after all, surrendering ends the struggling.

But let me remind you: the immeasurable greatness of the power of God is toward you. Right here; right now. So don’t quit. Don’t give in. As God’s adopted son or daughter, you receive the full inheritance that his only-begotten receives. And that includes resurrection power. Let him work that in you as he did Jesus.

Prayer

Our heavenly Father,

Open our eyes that we may see the immeasurable greatness of your power at work in us right now. Let us not doubt what you can do and what you will do. May we come to you daily with open-handed faith, honestly bringing our requests to you all while faithfully trusting your goodness and power. In Jesus’s name we ask this. Amen.

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