Power of the Ressurection

Ephesians 1:19-20

Today we celebrate our Resurrected Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And what a blessing that our study in Ephesians has lined up perfectly for just that. Follow with me as I read our text for today starting with verses 18 from last week leading into to verse 19 and following:

English Standard Version Chapter 1

18 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, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead…”

Paul continues to show the riches we have in Christ. At the moment we put our faith in Christ we have spiritual riches beyond human understanding.

When we think of things that are immeasurable we think of things that are too big to weigh or to vast to count or measure.

For instance. How do the Himalayas weigh? There are 110 peaks rising to up to the highest pick, Mount Everest, to 29,000 feet. How much does this Mountain Range weigh? It is a wild guess. Yet, it probably can be estimated when you measure out the height, depth and width of mountain range.

Another immeasurable thing is sand. How many granules of sand are there in the world? Think of all the beaches, sand dunes and deserts. Wow. Then, I found this online:

“They said, if you assume a grain of sand has an average size and you calculate how many grains are in a teaspoon and then multiply by all the beaches and deserts in the world, the Earth has roughly (and we're speaking very roughly here) 7.5 x 10**18 grains of sand, or seven quintillion, five hundred quadrillion grains.”

In our text there is something that is absolutely immeasurable. Last week we talked about Paul wanting us to know “The hope to which he has called you,” and “The riches of his glorious inheritance.” Now he also wants them to understand, in light of the immense spiritual blessing we have in Christ, the greatness of God’s power. He explains it as:

“The immeasurable greatness of his power...”

Our human minds have trouble comprehending earthly things, but how much more do we struggle with understanding the power of God.

In our text the Bible says that the greatness of God’s power is immeasurable!

The Greek word for greatness is the most common use of the word for great and can also be translated magnitude.

We can’t comprehend the magnitude of the power of God.

For me I think of creation to begin to understand the magnitude of God’s power.

We are all aware of Genesis 1:1

Genesis 1:1 ESV

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

From what did he create the heavens and the earth?

Nothing. Creatio ex nihilo

God, out of His power, created everything from nothing.

Almighty, All-Powerful God created all things from within Himself.

Hebrews 11:3 ESV

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

This Amazing power is on display every time you look up in the sky or look around on this earth. Almighty God has done what the human race will never be able to do. While we are very creative and have built some amazing things we cannot create something out of nothing. We need the resources that God brought to us out of nothing to create. God is not contained as we are.

This power is what Paul is speaking of to the Ephesians. God is omnipotent. All powerful.

And what a day to celebrate the power of God!

This brings us to our 3 points that we will cover today:

1) Power toward those that believe

It humbles us when we begin to think that the mighty power of God was used on our behalf.

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

How awesome is the power of God at the point of salvation. God, in His power works to bring our unbelieving, non seeking hearts to believe.

We see this power at work when God saves people. When one becomes born-again. Never, never, never give up on someone coming to Christ. Keep praying and keep sharing. It seemed like my dad would never come to Christ, but in a hospital bed just months before he passed he prayed to receive Christ as His Savior.

You are an ambassador to tell others of Christ. You are charged by God, commanded to tell others of this Hope we have in Christ. This is our duty. For some of you it is easier than others to share your faith. For some of you it brings a since of fear. But know this:

Acts 1:8 ESV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The resurrected Savior gave hope to the disciples. They were not on their own. He would enable them through his mighty power! This power to share Jesus is not something you pray to receive. It is something you have already. If you are a believer in Jesus you received God’s power to live for Him. The Bible makes it clear, as believers, you have received His divine power to live godly.

2 Peter 1:3

So we Go. We Share. We believe through God’s Divine Power people will come to Christ, even the ones that seem too hard to reach.

We see this in the lives of people today. 1) Lee Strobel 2) J. Warner Wallace was a committed atheist for 35 years and a cold-case homicide detective. “Detective Wallace decided to examine the evidence for Christianity by applying the same techniques he used to solve his cold cases. He set out to solve the most important cold case in history—the death of Jesus Christ. Through his investigation of the New Testament, specifically the eyewitness accounts found in the Gospels, Jim was convinced by the evidence and became a Christian.” 3) You and people you know! We see the power of God at work and we praise Him for it!

No matter who it is you did not come to faith on your own. You came to faith through the power of God. He Saved you. The Bible makes it clear it was not of your own doing.

Titus 3:4–7 ESV

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Yet, our ability to believe came at price. We see this through the:

2) Power of the Cross

We see the power of God displayed on the cross. Jesus sacrifice on the cross. His work.

A) Power of the blood of Jesus

Before Jesus died on the cross He shed His blood to pay for our sins. Our sins separated us from God as the Bible says the Wages or earning of our sins is death in Hell. Only a perfect spotless sacrifice would do. Jesus is called The Perfect Spotless Lamb of God. He took on human flesh that he might take our place on the cross. The Bible says without the shedding of blood there is no remission or payment for sin. Then Jesus, rich in his mercy shed his blood to pay for our sins. A love sacrifice to conquer sin!

Then we see even as Jesus was dying on the cross we saw lives being changed!

B) Power to Change

At the Cross I think of the power of God at work:

To the thief that believed while on the cross next to Jesus he said,

Luke 23:43

“And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.’”

We see the power of God at work in a high ranking roman solider that believed

Matthew 27:54

“When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!’”

And they still didn’t understand that He must rise again. Rise again to defeat death. Rising again proving He was who He said He was, the Messiah. Rising again to fulfill Scripture.

Then in our text we see the power of the Resurrection!

3) Power of the Resurrection

Chapter 1

and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead

Hope seemed lost for all those around the cross that didn’t grasp what Jesus spoke concerning the resurrection. When Jesus cried out for the second time with a loud voice the Bible says He took His last breath and yielded up his spirit.

Darkness was across the land. Death had come to their Savior. It looked like the Jewish leaders had won. It looked like the Romans Empire had power over Jesus. It looked like all hell was rejoicing and won. It looked like death had the victory. Had sin won?

NO! God’s eternal plan had come to fruition.

Revelation 13:8 NIV

“All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.”

They didn’t understand that God had a plan before the foundation of the world that Jesus would die on a cross and rise from the Grave

Titus 1:2 ESV

“In hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began.”

Follow with me as I pick up on the events that followed after Jesus sacrifice on the cross:

Matthew 28:1–10 ESV

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

Matthew 28:6

He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.

Death could not hold him. The Grave was a temporary holding cell for Jesus’ body. Jesus defeated death. He conquered the grave.

Jesus rose from the dead, not in a newly created body, but a resurrected glorified body. Christianity is the only faith that claims their Savior God died and rose again. The resurrection is fundamental and the foundation which Christianity rest upon.

Our Faith is in Vain if Christ did not rise from the dead:

For if Christ did not rise from the dead as Paul said, “then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is also vain,” and “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (

I Cor. 15:14,17).

Jesus Spoke of His Coming Resurrection:

Mark 8:31

Jesus Appeared to Hundreds after His Resurrection:

I Corinthians 15:3-4

makes it clear that the Bible teaches the resurrection.

The next few verses also talk about how after He rose He appeared to Peter, the twelve disciples and then 500 believers. Then He appeared to James and all the apostles including Paul (vs. 5-8).

Another proof of His resurrection was that Christ suddenly appeared, though the doors were locked, to the disciples and they thought they were looking at Christ as a ghost. He then has them see His scars, they touched Him and Jesus ate before them (

John 20:19-20 ; Luke 24:36-43 All proofs of a resurrected Christ in His glorified body.

More Proofs and the power of God in the Resurrection from Josh McDowell’s book, “A Ready Defense.”

Some say Jesus really didn’t die, but consider the following of the process of Death by Crucifixion:

A Cruel Death:

· The Custom of Whipping

· A Medical Perspective

· A Crown of Thorns

· The Crossbar Burden

· Crucifixion With Nails

With all this he appeared normal to many three days later!!!!

Then some said the Disciples Stole the Body of Christ and He really did not Rise from the Dead!

But remember:

· Jewish Burial

· Solid Rock Tomb

· Very Large Stone

· Roman Security Guarding the Tomb

· Roman Seal

As Jewish law prevented a crucified person from hanging on the cross during a Sabbath, a dead body had to be removed and buried before day’s end. So as the Sabbath drew near, the Roman guards considered breaking the legs of Jesus and the two thieves hanging next to him, to hasten their deaths. Finding Jesus already dead, they removed his body from the cross upon Pilate’s order. His body was immediately transported to the new, unused tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.

Nicodemus, another Jewish leader who secretly believed in Jesus, stepped up to help Joseph prepare Jesus’ body for burial. The exacting Jewish process started with placing Jesus’ sheet-covered body on a board so it could be bathed with lukewarm water.

Starting at Jesus’ feet, the two men would have wrapped Jesus’ body in linen cloth, placing spices filled with aroma mixed with a gummy substance called myrrh between the folds. The Jewish writer Josephus recorded that when King Herod died, more than 500 servants were needed to carry the spices used for his burial! For Jesus, it is estimated that at least a hundred pounds would have been used.

Jewish custom dictated that Jesus’ torso be wrapped to His armpits. His preparers would have then placed Jesus’ arms straight alongside His body, before wrapping more linen cloth around Him, to the neck. A separate cloth was wrapped around His head. As the gummy myrrh would have adhered so closely to Jesus’ body, it would have been difficult by this point for anyone to remove the linen cloth. And yet the Gospels record that the burial cloths were found in the empty burial tomb — neatly folded!

With great evidence we see the power of God at work. Jesus truly was raised from the dead, as promised, on the third day!

This resurrection power God wants to work through you. He wants you to be a light to the world. We are to be, as Christians, little Christs to all we come in contact with. We are agents of hope through HIS POWER! You can live for God. You can make a difference for God. You can impact with world for Christ through “The immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe!

English Standard Version Chapter 29

11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. 12 Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. 13 And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.

This go and live in the power of God through the Holy Spirit with in you! You can because He did. You can because He lives. You can because he promised. You can because the Holy Spirit lives with in you.

You can live for God. You can overcome the world. You can impact the world from your home and beyond.

Trust the mighty resurrecting power of God this week.