Ephesians 1:18-23

Resurrection Power

What is the immeasurable greatness of the mighty working of God’s strength? It is important to know the answer because it is a power at work upon us who believe! Paul uses numerous words in an attempt to describe the immensity of this power: immeasurable, greatness, mighty.

The crescendo moment is when Paul tells us in verse 20 it is the same power God exercised when raising Christ from the dead! Resurrection power is at work on every Christian!

The resurrection was/is the central teaching of the apostles and the foundation upon which the Gospel rested.

“The resurrection authenticated the Lord’s ministry, sealed His redemptive work, marked the beginning of His glorification, and was a public attestation of the Father’s acceptance of His sacrifice.” Vaughan, C. (2002). Ephesians (p. 38). Cape Coral, FL: Founders Press.

“Moreover, it provides the dynamic, the power, for Christian living and is the pattern and pledge of the believer’s resurrection.” Vaughan, C. (2002). Ephesians (p. 38). Cape Coral, FL: Founders Press.

Jesus had been crucified and died. His limp body was taken off the cross. When his arm was raised it fell immediately down. His eyes were glazed over and pupils set. he was wrapped in a clean linen sheet. His head carefully wrapped in an additional face covering to cover His face as we might do wit ha sheet in any hospital today. He was as lifeless as any man or woman who died. He was placed in a tomb just like any other man or woman of His day. His body lay in that crypt for three days without any hint of life in it.

Then something happened…life entered His body and He arose from the dead. An immense power, so mighty that even death itself could not hold it back…came upon the lifeless body in the tomb. He arose!

No power outside of God’s power to give life could ever accomplish such like this. God demonstrated something of His mighty strength in the accomplishment of this miraculous act.

This power of God was a “surging river of life, a motive force of power to drive before its invincible energy all the obstacles it may encounter.” Simpson, E. K., & Bruce, F. F. (1957). The Epistles to the Ephesians and the Colossians (pp. 39–40). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

God’s intentions would be accomplished…the Sanhedrin, Satan and all of hell itself could not keep Christ in the tomb when God decided to exercise His power to raise Him from the dead.

And Paul says this is the power that has come to bear on us. This is the power at work on our life, even before our conversion, as it is the power which leads us to faith in Christ in the first place. We were dead in our sins and cut off from spiritual life. But resurrection power quickened our spirit, awakened us and revealed to us the faith which saves in Christ.

Nothing could thwart God’s plans for us up to this very moment in our life...nothing can ever derail His plans for us in the present or future either…because nothing can stop the resurrection power of God at work in our life! Even should death seek to impede us would fail in the face of the power of the one who has already proven, in Christ, death to be no match for Him.

God’s resurrection power came to bear upon us when we were dead in our sins, convicted and convinced us of the truth of the Gospel and enabled us to place faith in Jesus for our salvation…He raised us from spiritual death!

But God’s resurrection power didn’t stop there...

Seated at the Right Hand

Jesus rose from the dead and was seen on the earth for 40 days…but then He ascended. He was taken up in the clouds as the disciples looked on…and the Father seated Him at His right hand…the figurative place of supreme privilege and power.

This is what the resurrection power of God does for the believer as well! We ascend to where Jesus is...

Ephesians 2:6

Ephesians 2:6 CSB

He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,

God resurrected and gave us new life in Christ…new life and a new position in Him as well. The resurrection power of God at work upon us causes us to ascend to where Christ is now. Ephesians 2:6 So we are seated with Jesus in the place of supreme privilege and power…this is an incredible fact of life with incomprehensible effect upon the life of each and every follower of Christ.

In the Greek, the word for 'authority' is 'exousia' ; for `power"dunamis'. A Government surveyor one day brought his theodolite along to a farm, called on the farmer and asked permission to set it up in a field nearby to take readings. Seeing the farmer's unwillingness to let him enter the field, he produced his papers and explained that he had Government authority for entering the field and could, on the same authority, go anywhere in the country to take necessary readings. Reluctantly the farmer opened the barred gate and allowed him to enter and set up his survey table, but went to the other end of the field and let in the fiercest of his bulls. The surveyor was greatly alarmed at seeing the bull approach, and the farmer from the other side of the gate shouted to him, 'Show him your credentials : show him your authority'. The surveyor had the authority to enter but had not the power to resist the bull. The God- sent evangelist has both authority and power to fulfill his commission.

In Christ we have been raised to where He is and, in Christ, have the power AND authority of Christ — Devil, ruler, authority, dominion, powers, principalities, unclean spirits are all placed under the feet of Christ. He is above them all! He rules over them all in this time and forever.

We are in Christ…so on account of the resurrection power of God at work upon us and the position His resurrection power has raised us to…seated in the heavenlies with Jesus…the rulers, authorities, powers and any entities of any title are subject to us as well in Jesus name.

Romans 16:20

Romans 16:20 CSB

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Even Satan…he has no authority or power over us…Jesus is FAR ABOVE him! And in Christ we are above him as well…soon we will see him crushed under our feet.

As to holy angels…Jesus is far above them as well…and in Christ so are we. They are ministering spirits to us Hebrews 1:14

Hebrews 1:14 CSB

Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve those who are going to inherit salvation?

As Charles Spurgeon said, “And so hath the Lord put all things under His people’s feet. Their sins and corruptions, their sorrows and afflictions, this world and the world to come, are all made subject unto us, when He makes us kings and priests, that we may reign forever.”

This is the resurrection power of God! This is the strength of God which raised Christ from the dead and raises us from spiritual as well as, someday, physical death.

But Why would God resurrect us from spiritual death and clothe us with His authority and power in His Son at His right hand?

Head of the Church

Spurgeon once asked this question in a sermon on this passage, “Why did God do all of this for the believer in Him?”

The answer he gave…unity. Christ has been appointed the head of the church. We are His body. How absolutely ridiculous if there was no likeness between the head and body!

The body must be of the same substance…anything less would be the equivalent of a lion’s head on a dog’s body. The same power which resurrected Christ MUST come to bear upon us if we are to be made a suitable body for Christ. If any less power came to bear upon the resurrection of the body than that which came to bear upon the head it would be an unsuitable match.

It is necessary that we be made into the likeness of Christ if we are to be the body fit for Him!

Jesus as the head is the source of life and power and the church in turn, as His Body, are the means by which He carries out His work in the world. He has chosen to link Himself with us as Bridegroom and bride.

How incredible and unthinkable…God Almighty…think about what that word means! “Almighty” — Having complete power; omnipotent. Chose to link His life with our own…chose to carry out His work and will through our life!

If we are going to be called to such lofty purpose it was necessary that we be reborn to extraordinary existence found only in a work He could accomplish…and He did so in His Son!

Conclusions

What an amazing life to be a Christian. What a truly awesome endeavor to live with the resurrection power of God at work in and upon our life. To be a part of what He is doing in the world today.

God intends that we be made like Christ. Romans 8:28-30

Romans 8:28–30 CSB

We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.

We have been predestined, called, justified. We are being sanctified and someday will be glorified. In this process, from beginning to end, we are seated in the heavens with Christ. We are the instrument through whom He is exercising His authority and accomplishing His will till the end of the age.

What an incredible moment when we consider the reality of the power at work upon us, in us and through us for the Kingdom of Christ.

We are His body…He is the head…God has chosen to raise us up and make our life something wonderful so we might be a suitable means through whom He might exercise His power on earth.