The Power of God for the Believer

As we have seen over the past few weeks, there is a vast treasure of eternal truth conveyed by the apostle Paul in the book of Ephesians. This chapter is one of the most encouraging and hope-filled passages in all of Scripture.

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As we have seen over the past few weeks, there is a vast treasure of eternal truth conveyed by the apostle Paul in the book of Ephesians. This chapter is one of the most encouraging and hope-filled passages in all of Scripture.

Paul immediately dealt with the abundant spiritual blessings that accompany a relationship with Christ. He then offered a prayer for their wisdom and knowledge in the Lord, hoping to lead them into a better understanding of the blessings they received in Christ.

We are all familiar with the idea of saving the best for last. That is exactly what Paul did through the Spirit of Christ in these passages. This chapter of Ephesians starts strong, builds momentum and excitement, until it reaches the ultimate climax. Paul literally saved the best for last.

Having discussed their blessing, and a prayer for increased understanding,

Paul finally presents the topic he had been building for all along.

I. The Power We Have Because We Are In Christ

As we dig into today’s scriptures, we really need to remember verses 18 & 19 as we read verses 20-23. Follow with me as we read God’s word:

Ephesians 1:18–23 ESV

having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 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. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

“I pray 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 his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

Here Paul is praying that God will reveal to the believers the great power that will bring us to our inheritance in glory. In verse 19, Paul uses (4) different Greek synonyms to emphasize the greatness of that power.

The 1st is dunamis (power) – from which we get dynamite and dynamo. This power is only for Christians, for people who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord. Not only that, but it is all the power we are ever offered or could ever have. There could never be more power than this and it would be foolish to ask for more power than this. The greatness of God’s power is given to every believer! When we are saved, we receive all of God’s grace and all of His power.

The 2nd is energeia (working), the energizing force of the Spirit that empowers believers to live for the Lord

The 3rd is kratos (strength), which may also be translated as dominion or power.

The 4th is ischus (might), which carries the idea of endowed power or ability. In all those ways, the Holy Spirit empowers God’s children.

The supernatural power, working, strength, and might with which God supplies every believer and with which He will glorify every believer is that same power, strength, and might that he used to raise Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.

Notice that,

II. Paul did not pray that the power be given to believers, instead he prayed that believers would be given awareness of the power they possessed in Christ.

Later in Ephesians Paul admonished them to employ that power in faithful living for their Lord.

A key point here is that we don’t need to pray or ask for the power to evangelize, to witness to strangers, to make disciples, or to follow His word. We already have the same power that God used to bring Jesus back from the dead within us once we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. We need to pray that we will realize we have that strength and then use that strength for the Glory of our Lord.

We don’t need to pray for the power to endure suffering. Paul states in – “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves.”

We don’t need to pray for power to do God’s will. – “It is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Paul accomplished his work for the Lord through the power that Christ supplied.

The supernatural power, working, strength, and might with which God supplies every believer and with which He will glorify every believer is that same power, strength, and might that he used to raise Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.

III. Paul desires that Christians realize they have that power within them if they have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior.

At times, we are all tempted to doubt, to fear, or to wonder if God can do something for us or protect us. This can certainly be the case in times that we are facing today. It’s easy to allow fear and doubt to consume our thoughts, minds, and actions. But wen we look at what He brought about in Christ, at what He faithfully accomplished on behalf of His Son – and at His assurance that He will just as faithfully accomplish His work on our behalf (through the surpassing greatness of His power in us) – what reason do we have for doubting or having fear? How can a Christian feel insecure, forsaken, or powerless? The scriptures clearly say that the same unlimited divine power that raised Him from the dead will raise us from the dead, and that same power is within us for living in His glory.

The scriptures clearly say that the same unlimited divine power that raised Him from the dead will raise us from the dead, and that same power is within us for living in His glory.

The last four verses of Ephesians Chapter 1 provide us with evidence of God’s almighty power towards believers. This evidence should give us confidence in God’s ability to conform us to the image of Christ. God’s power has the capability to completely transform our lives.

Here are 4 unique ways that God demonstrates His power to us as believers:

1. God demonstrated His surpassing power when he raised Christ from the dead (vs 20).

a. Stop and think about the insane amount of power that it took to raise Christ from the dead. Jesus was beaten, tortured, spit on, mocked, nailed to a cross, stabbed in the side, then was wrapped tightly like a mummy and put in a tomb with a large stone blocking the exit. In our modern world of advanced medicine and technology, there is no way we could have brought him back to life after 3 days let alone even getting a single blip on the heart monitor. Yet – God’s power was enough to heal him of all wounds and raise him from the dead. This is an unfathomable amount of power!

2. God demonstrated His surpassing power when He seated Christ at His right hand (vs 20).

a. Forty days passed after Jesus was raised from the dead. During this time, the Messiah had completed his work of teaching and training the disciples about how to bring the gospel to all the nations. These are teachings that still ring true to us today. After completing his works, the disciples watched in awe as God exalted Him to the highest place of honor – God’s own right hand. Consider this – Jesus was seated in this place before () “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” Then, later on the Word became flesh () “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” By these verses it’s clear to see that Jesus was with God in the beginning and he willingly came to earth to dwell among us. Then after the resurrection, God shows again His mighty power and restores Jesus to the highest position of all – His right hand.

3. God demonstrated His surpassing power when He put all things in subjection to Christ (vs 21-22)

a. Being at the Father’s right hand means more than just being restored to His original place of Glory. It also means having the authority to rule over all other powers. Christ is exalted above all earthly rulers and above the heavenly powers (both angelic and demonic). This means that we can find the strength of Christ in us to conquer in fear, doubt, anxiety, challenge, demonic threat that we could ever face. God gives us the power thru Christ to conquer anything because Christ is in the position of authority over EVERYTHING! God shows His power by placing Christ in the position of authority above everything else!

4. God demonstrated His surpassing power when He gave Christ to the church as head over all things.

a. Paul just informed us that God has placed Jesus in a position of authority over everything. Yet, he continues to clarify that further and to point out that God placed Jesus as the head of the church in a position to govern, shepherd, and lead His body. Think of what this means to us as believers! The divine authority and power that rules over the entire universe is now also our Brother and Mediator before God. Paul describes the church as the body of Christ – this means the work of God has been applied to us as believers as if we were literally Jesus. Jesus is the head of the body and we are the body of Christ – we are now one in the same with Jesus! This also opens up an interesting point – can the body be complete without the head? Well of course not! However, can the head be complete without the body? This is also not true. In essence, the all powerful and mighty Jesus Christ is incomplete without the body of Christ! The incomparable Christ is incomplete until the church, which is His body, is complete. Jesus Christ fills all in all, giving His fulness to believers. But in God’s wisdom and grace, believers, as the church, are also the fulness of Him.

John Calvin also stated it this way, “This is the highest honor of the church that until He is united to us, the Son of God reckons Himself in some measure incomplete. What consolation it is for us to learn that not until we are in His presence does He possess all His parts, nor does He wish to be regarded as complete.”

Consider the thoughts of John Phillips – “We cannot comprehend this statement or exhaust it. It is God’s solemn word that the Lord Jesus – who fills all in all, who is higher than the high, who conceived and created the universe through His omniscient and omnipotent power, who is the object of angelic worship and the ceaseless them of song – is incomplete without us. We can understand that we are incomplete without Him, but that He should be incomplete without us in incomprehensible.”

The point of this petition is that we might understand how secure we are in Christ and how unwavering is our hope of eternal inheritance. The power of glorification is invincible! This once again confirms that the ultimate, unlimited, unmatched power of Christ lives in us as if we were Christ ourselves!

This once again confirms that the ultimate, unlimited, unmatched power of Christ lives in us as if we were Christ ourselves!

Hopefully by now, we can all agree that God’s power is unlimited and that power lives in us thru Jesus Christ. We need God’s power and strength and nobody can deny that truth. However, do we as Christians live our lives under that truth? DO we truly realize and live according to this truth? I’d argue that we often times fail to use His infinite power because WE disconnect ourselves from the one true source of all things. I’m sure we’ve all heard people say or maybe you’ve said this yourself that you haven’t felt or seen God move lately in your life. I can assure you – God did not go anywhere…He is there waiting on US to re-engage with Him.

We can have a tendency to think we can handle things on our own. Things may be going well for us and we are receiving God’s blessing and all of a sudden, we think we can handle this by ourselves and forget that we NEED Jesus. We think we have enough skills, training, or experience that we don’t need to call upon the Lord. Then, unfortunately when things change we realize we need to call upon the Lord again for His strength.

In an effort to not forget the awesome power that God has given us and that our own successes are due to His power, consider the following scriptures:

& . God has given us this power, success, and sound judgement. WE need to do our part and remember to Fully Rely on God.

For ways to be encouraged during hardships, consider the passage found in –

“But he said to my, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness” and also the passage found in – “For he was crucified in weakness, but he lives by the power of God. For we are also weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by God’s power.” We are all weak without the power of God. That power can live inside of us if we accept Jesus Christ as Lord. We need to remember to give God the glory during our times of prosperity and then to remember to rely on the power of Christ during our times of weakness.

Paul reminds us of His greatness in

“Remember the greatness of the Person who lives within you. He was raised from the dead and seated at God’s right hand. He was born of the seed of David, as a man just like us. He identifies with us, understands us, and sympathizes with us.” Every Christian should continually have that focus. When we look at Him, our physical problems, psychological problems, and even spiritual problems will not loom so all-important before us. We not only will be better able to see our problems as they really are but will then have the right motivation and power to work them out. How much happier and more productive we are when our primary focus is on His purity, greatness, holiness, power and majesty. And then, remember that He lives inside us with that purity, greatness, holiness, power and majesty. In Christ – we can accomplish and overcome anything.

Remember: the main point here is that we don’t need to pray or ask for the power to evangelize, to witness to strangers, to make disciples, or to follow His word. We already have the same power that God used to bring Jesus back from the dead within us once we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. We need to pray that we will realize we have that strength and then use that strength for the Glory of our Lord.

Paul did not pray that the power be given to believers, instead he prayed that believers would be given awareness of the power they possessed in Christ.

a. Vs 20b, “he raised Him from the dead” - Three days prior, Christ willingly gave up himself to die on the cross of Calvary. For those who watched, it appeared the life and claims of this man had come to an end. No doubt, those who opposed Jesus rejoiced at His death. We can’t truly understand the type or depth of love that Jesus showed us by dying on the cross? Christ died However, death would not be the end of the story. On that third and glorious day, Christ came forth triumphant from the grave, being raised by the power of God.

It is impossible to over-emphasize this eternal truth. Had Christ not risen from the grave, He would have been no different than others who came before Him. His promise of eternal life would have been in vain because He would have been unable to provide life beyond the grave. This is the cornerstone of our faith – the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Because he lives, we have the assurance of resurrection life in Him. Because He rose again, and now lives, we are assured eternal life in Christ! – Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

b. (v 20c) – “and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms” This place of distinction was reserved for Christ and no one else is worthy to be seated there. From this place of prominence, seated beside the Father in heaven, He makes intercession for us! We have comfort knowing our Lord and Savior is there pleading our case before the Father, mediating on our behalf. – “Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”

2. The Dominion of Power (v 21) – “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” Paul goes on to reveal the mighty power possessed by the one who is seated at the Father’s right hand. The realm of His power is limitless. Consider this:

a. The Majesty (vs 21) – Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion. Christ is elevated to a position far above all power and authority in this world, even above the angels in heaven. There are none who are not subject to His rule and dominion. Christ Lord overall. There are those in positions of prominence within the world who refuse to submit to the Sovereign, but they do not detract, nor alter His sovereignty. All will bow in humble submission before the Sovereign of the Ages in judgement. Our Lord is sovereign!

b. The Supremacy (v 21) – Far above…every name that is named Not only does Christ possess an elevated, sovereign position, He possesses an elevated name: one above any name that could be named. There were men of renown in Paul’s day, those who held positions of great influence and power. Even these were inferior to Christ and His great name. None possess a name like that of Christ. He has a name above every name. At His name, the kings of the earth will bow in honor and worship. At His name, the nations of the earth will tremble as He returns in power and great glory. There is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved! Jesus has a name above all others! – “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

c. The Longevity (v 21) – Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. The power and sovereignty of Christ is unlimited. He reigned in heaven prior to coming to earth as a man. He ascended back to the Father and is seated on the right hand of power. He reigned in Paul’s day; He continues to reign in our day; He will reign forever, throughout eternity. He is sovereign over the earth, and He will be sovereign in eternity. There was never been a time when He was not God, and there will never come a time when He ceases to be the sovereign God. We need not fear now or in the future. Our Lord reigns, and that will never change! – “I am Alpha and Omega, says the Lord God, who is, and was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Paul reminds us of His greatness in – “Remember the greatness of the Person who lives within you. He was raised from the dead and seated at God’s right hand. He was born of the seed of David, as a man just like us. He identifies with us, understands us, and sympathizes with us.” Every Christian should continually have that focus. When we look at Him, our physical problems, psychological problems, and even spiritual problems will not loom so all-important before us. We not only will be better able to see our problems as they really are but will then have the right motivation and power to work them out. How much happier and more productive we are when our primary focus is on His purity, greatness, holiness, power and majesty. And then, remember that He lives inside us with that purity, greatness, holiness, power and majesty. In Christ – we can accomplish and overcome anything.

We have the strength of Jesus Christ within us and can therefore we can overcome any obstacle in front of us! There is nothing that can stand in our way if we rely on the ultimate power of Christ. Whether your feeling down because of our current situation, or may anxiety and fear are controlling your life, or if you’re in a difficult situation…cling to the truth that the power of Christ is within you!

3. The Designation of Position (vs 22-23) – Finally Paul deals with the preeminent position Christ enjoys, and the great significance that has for the saved by grace. He spoke of:

a. Christ’s Lordship (22a) – “And God placed all things under his feet” Reemphasizing much of what he had previously shared, Pual again spoke of the sovereign position of Christ. Having been raised victoriously from the dead, and ascended back to the right hand of the Father, all things are now under the feet of Christ. There are none who rival His position or authority. He is Lord of all, reigning in sovereign power and authority. The feet that were pierced by the hands of wicked men are now above all. The earth, as well as the created beings in heaven are under the feet of Jesus. Caiaphas, Herod, and Pilate are all under his feet! Satan and the demons of hell are under the feet of Jesus!

b. Christ’s Leadership (22b) – “and appointed him to be head over everything for the church”. Christ is sovereign over the church as well, being the head of the body. He stands in unrivaled leadership of the church; and rightly so – we are His purchased possession. All who have been saved by grace through faith in the finished work of the cross are part of the church. Christ is the head of the church. This doesn’t refer to a local congregation or specific denomination. Christ is the head of the church, all are saved by grace! As the head, He affords guidance and leadership to the body. The head cares for the needs of the body. What have we to fear? We are in Christ, and He is the head of the church. We can rest assured in His care and provision for us all!

c. Christ’s relationship (23) – “which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way”. Here we see the gracious position of Christ in relation to the body. The church is the body of Christ and Christ is the head of the body. The body possesses the fullness of Christ, being filled with His Spirit, empowered to carry out the work He desires. Christ loved us enough to die for our sin, providing our salvation. He desires a relationship with us, including fellowship with Him. We have been entrusted with the Gospel, given a mandate to enlarge the body, reaching those yet unsaved by His grace. Since God has such a unique and intimate relationship with the redeemed whom He loves, all His power will be used in their behalf to fulfill His loving purpose for them. He is completely over us and completely in us, our supreme Lord and supreme power. The church is the fulness of Christ.

Maybe you’re listening to this message today and you don’t have the comfort or assurance of knowing that you are in the body of Christ. The good news is that its not too late. But please, don’t wait. You can receive the ultimate power of Jesus Christ within you and know without a doubt that His power will protect and guide you for all of your days. All you have to do is simply admit that you’re a sinner who needs forgiven, believe that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!

Consider the thoughts of John Phillips – “We cannot comprehend this statement or exhaust it. It is God’s solemn word that the Lord Jesus – who fills all in all, who is higher than the high, who conceived and created the universe through His omniscient and omnipotent power, who is the object of angelic worship and the ceaseless them of song – is incomplete without us. We can understand that we are incomplete without Him, but that He should be incomplete without us in incomprehensible.”

John Calvin also stated it this way, “This is the highest honor of the church that until He is united to us, the Son of God reckons Himself in some measure incomplete. What consolation it is for us to learn that not until we are in His presence does He possess all His parts, nor does He wish to be regarded as complete.”

The point of this is that we might understand how secure we are in Christ and how unwavering is our hope of eternal inheritance. The power of glorification is invincible!

[SCJ1]Great Point

[SCJ2]Good Recap

[SCJ3]Changed to “As” rather than “Before” we

[SCJ4]Great and very meaty section here.

[SCJ5]This is a good primary point. Maybe reword it but this should be one of your outline points

[SCJ6]I would mention this several times throughout. This is an excellent overall point for these verses.