Power Aid – Eph. 1:19b-23
Steve Simala Grant – Aug 12, 2001
Intro:
Last Sunday we spent time looking at Paul’s prayer in Eph. 1:15-19, where he prays that we would know God first with our heads, with “wisdom and revelation” that leads us to a full knowledge of Him, and secondly with our hearts, where Paul asks that “the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened” so that we would know hope, who we are as God’s inheritance, and God’s power.
The last part of chapter 1 elaborates on this final request – that we would know God’s power. READ 19-23.
1. Power for us.
Before jumping in to the description of power, we need to first recognize that this power is for us. We need to see all Paul is about to say about the power of God as being available to us, purposed for us to live in and to know. As we walk through the rest of the passage, we need to constantly keep in mind that the power Paul is describing is for us who believe. Keep that in mind…
The second part of verse 19 begins the description of God’s power. Have you ever listened to someone try to describe something they are really, really excited about? Something that has completely amazed them? “It was great! It was awesome!! It was incredible, amazing, stupendous, unbelievable,” We kind of pile up words, one on top of the other, in order to try to convey some of our sense of excitement and enthusiasm. Paul does the same thing in the second part of verse 19 – he starts thinking about the power of God and I think he gets excited and starts to pile up words to describe it. We lose some of the sense of building excitement in our translations – the words are all there: “power” and “might” and “strength” and “exerted”, but we miss the building sense of enthusiasm. A popular paraphrase, The Message, captures this feeling a little more, where verse 19 says “oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him – endless energy, boundless strength!” There is an exuberance here, an excitement as the topic shifts to describing the power of God for us.
2. Power Demonstrated.
And that excitement overflows into verse 20, where God’s power is demonstrated in 2 ways – the two greatest examples of the power of God at work. read vs. 20.
A. Jesus resurrected.
The first example of the incomparably great power is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. How much power did that take? Remember that Jesus resurrection was very different from when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead – Lazarus’ resurrection was temporary, he still would have died a second time. But in Jesus we do not have a temporary defeat of the power of death, but a permanent defeat of the power of death. In the resurrection of Jesus, we have an eternal life, a resurrected body, a deliverance from the permanence and hopelessness of death! The power of God which raised Christ Jesus from the dead was a victory – it earned a permanent hope in a new order, it provided a bridge back into relationship with God that gives us hope for eternity. All because God raised Jesus from the dead. The moment of Jesus’ resurrection is the great turning point in history – from a low, desperate point when it seemed that hope was dead, Jesus’ claim to be God’s Son in doubt, to one of victory and triumph of God’s incredible power over Satan and over death.
Remember Paul’s assertion that this same power is for us.
B. Jesus exalted.
The second example of the incomparably great power for us is the exaltation of Christ – seated at the right hand of God. We don’t talk as much about this aspect of what Jesus did for us as we do about Jesus’ death and resurrection, but it is very common in Scripture for the reign of Jesus to be linked to Jesus’ death and resurrection. It simply completes the process – Jesus died, God raised Him from the dead, now He is enthroned in heaven. But it is critical for us in understanding what is happening now – who is in control – what Jesus’ role is and what this means for us. The remaining verses elaborate on this idea of the reign of Christ, and spell out for us what it means that Jesus has been exalted.
I love how the excitement of the power of God points directly to Jesus. Think of all Paul had seen and done in his ministry – he had seen people healed in miraculous ways, he had been shipwrecked and delivered from the water and from the bite of a poisonous snake, he had cast out demons. One time, Paul preached “on and on”, a young man fell asleep and fell out a window to his death, and Paul raised him from the dead. Acts 19:11-12 tells us that while Paul was in Ephesus, “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.” But here, when He gets caught up in describing the power of God, what does he talk about? Does he list all those miracles? No, he talks about Jesus. Was he not excited about those miracles? Did he down-play them or try to explain them away or minimize them? Absolutely not! It is just that held up against the resurrection of Christ, those pale in comparison.
With Paul, it is focussed on Christ. It leads to Christ, it exalts Christ, it points people to Christ. That is the point of the power of God – to exalt Christ and lift Him up and to recognize Jesus as the ruler over all. Remember Paul wasn’t a follower of Jesus during Jesus’ life on earth – he wasn’t there when Jesus taught, died, and was resurrected. Though he did meet the risen Lord on the Damascus road, he is more like us in that he heard about Jesus from someone else – second hand – and yet still, he is focussed on the cross and the exaltation of Jesus as the ultimate demonstration of the power of God.
Do you see the model for us? When we see God move in power around or through us, it has to take us to Jesus. It has to exalt Jesus. It has to proclaim Jesus to the world. It is not about us, not about the things God has done through us as if we are so great and spiritual, it is about Jesus. It is on Him that we need to be and stay focussed. The power of God is for us, the purpose of knowing that power is to bring us to Jesus and keep us there.
3. Power in Action
Jesus reign in heaven is the topic of vss. 21-22, where we see the power of God through our reigning Lord Jesus in action. read.
A. Power over all spiritual beings
This would have been particularly encouraging to the people in Ephesus and the other cities this letter was sent to, because they lived in a highly “spiritual” culture. We know that there was a lot of magic practiced at Ephesus, there was a huge temple to a goddess named Diana/Artimus – one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and a lot of spiritual rituals and sorcery and divination. The words “rule, authority, power, and dominion” refer to spiritual forces, as is made very clear in Eph. 6. Note that Paul claims Jesus is not only stronger, that He is over them, but that Jesus is “far above”.
Hopefully this is encouraging to you also. We need have no fear, because Jesus, whom we know and love and serve, is far above any other spiritual force. Jesus reigns. Stay focussed on Him, and know that He is stronger than any rule, authority, power, dominion, demon, or temptation to sin.
Let me borrow a story:
Think of yourself as living in an apartment house. You live there under a landlord who has made your life miserable. He charges you exorbitant rent. When you can’t pay, he loans you money at a fearful rate of interest, to get you even further into his debt. He barges into your apartment at all hours of the day and night, wrecks and dirties the place up, then charges you extra for not maintaining the premises. Your life is miserable.
Then comes Someone who says, "I’ve taken over this apartment house. I’ve purchased it. You can live here as long as you like, free. The rent is paid up. I am going to be living here with you, in the manager’s apartment."
What a joy! You are saved! You are delivered out of the clutches of the old landlord!
But what happens? You hardly have time to rejoice in your new-found freedom, when a knock comes at the door. And there he is--the old landlord! Mean, glowering, and demanding as ever. He has come for the rent, he says.
What do you do? Do you pay him? Of course, you don’t! Do you go out and pop him on the nose? No--he’s bigger than you are!
You confidently tell him, "You’ll have to take that up with the new Landlord." He may bellow, threaten, wheedle, and cajole. You just quietly tell him, "Take it up with the new Landlord." If he comes back a dozen times, with all sorts of threats and arguments, waving legal-looking documents in your face, you simply tell him yet once again, "Take it up with the new Landlord." In the end he has to. He knows it, too. He just hopes that he can bluff and threaten and deceive you into doubting that the new Landlord will really take care of things.
Now this is the situation of a Christian. Once Christ has delivered you from the power of sin and devil, you can depend on it: that old landlord will soon come back knocking at your door. And what is your defense? How do you keep him from getting the whip hand over you again? You send him to the new Land- lord. You send him to Jesus.
When Jesus Christ truly takes charge of our minds, bringing our every thought captive to Him, we become spiritually invincible. We operate with super-natural power. We walk under God’s complete control. [1489] [from Christenson’s book, "The Renewed Mind."]
B. Power to be the head
Verse 22 broadens the scope. “God placed ALL THINGS under his feet, and appointed him to be head OVER EVERYTHING”. Not only the spiritual forces are under Jesus’ control, but everything. This verse echoes vs 10 (read). What was there described as future is here described as present – there the focus is on everything being “summed up” in Christ at the end of time, here the focus is on Jesus already having everything “under His feet” and reigning in power over everything.
Flip over to Hebrews 2:8-9. Here we find the same theme – Jesus has everything under His feet and everything is subject to Him. But Hebrews adds an important thought that helps me understand how Jesus can be in charge when our world and our experience so often makes it seem like no one is in charge. Read Hebrews 2:8-9. The sentence I want to point out is the last one in vs. 8: “Yet at present, we do not see everything subject to Him.” Everything is, we just can’t see it. Why not? Because we don’t have the same perspective God does – we can’t see 2 weeks or 2 months or 20 years down the road. We can’t see how all the diverse parts fit together. But we can believe that they do. We can believe that God has everything under control, that God knows what He is doing and that it is for our good, that Jesus is reigning over everything. Everything is under the Lordship of Christ, everything that happens is somehow a part of God’s great plan for the universe. I confess I don’t understand how that translates for Allan Vail who is struggling to regain a measure of health, or for the Christensen family with a toddler undergoing chemotherapy. I do not understand how God can be in control and have everything under Jesus’ feet when things like that happen, because sometimes it sure doesn’t feel like it. I say a big “amen” to Hebrews 2:8 – “at present I do not see everything subject to Him.” But I have faith. I believe God is in control, I believe He knows what He is doing and is not just winging it on a whim, and I believe that someday (likely when we get home to heaven), it will all make sense. We will see how God was in control all along.
This faith I have does not mean that I sit idly by and simply resign myself to everything that comes along – adopt a fatalistic attitude that just accepts whatever happens in life without fighting it and struggling against it with all my might. On the contrary, knowing that God is in control, that Jesus reigns, gives me the courage and strength to fight against all that is wrong and that causes suffering. I know that Jesus is victorious, that the same power that raised Him from the dead and exalted Him to the place of ruling over everything is FOR ME, and I know that He has commanded me to fight. To resist that landlord banging on the door. To do everything possible to treat illness and to fight against pain and suffering. I fight because I know the battle has been won – Jesus has been victorious and has defeated the powers of death and the devil – and so when an arrow flies in the battle I don’t simply relax and let it hit me in the head – I raise the shield and charge ahead, knowing by faith that the battle is all in God’s control. And to know that God has it all in His hands, and that as I obey His Word and His Spirit’s leading in my life I can trust that He is in control and His power is available for me.
Jesus is in control. God is sovereign over everything. Though at present we can’t see it, we can believe it, we can know it, and we can draw strength to fight from it.
C. Power for the Church.
The phrase does not stop at head over everything: it continues that Christ is head over everything “for the church”, and then continues in vs. 23 to describe the church: (read). This is really an amazing verse. Christ as head – as reigning over all – is amazing enough – but here to read that He is over all things for the church is even more amazing. And then look at how we are described: “the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
This is an incredibly high view of the church – and that is how God sees it. We, who are the church, are the purpose of Jesus’ reign. Jesus reign is for us, the church. And we, who are the church, are filled with the fullness of Christ.
Notice there are no qualifying words – no clauses that say “ideally, the church is filled with the fullness of Christ,” or “at its best,” or “the church is supposed to be”. This is what we are. Plain and simple. The church – that is you and I – is filled with all the fullness of Christ.
I don’t think that most of us have as high a view of church as God does according to this verse. And I think that is because we see the human institution – we see what is tangible and what is around us – rather than the spiritual institution. And we tend to focus on the human institution, on various opinions and the appearance of the building and the amounts in the budget. All of those things are valid, - without them we could not function! - but they need to be kept in perspective. They need to be properly prioritized far lower than our understanding of the church as the body of Christ, filled to the fullness of Christ.
What would our church look like if each of us believed and lived the fact that we, the church – the body of Christ, are filled with all the fullness of Christ? What would that look like – what would it feel like – what would our priorities be – how would we care for one another? I’m not suggesting that we are a long way away, in fact I think that there are many ways as a church that we do live and believe this. But there are some ways where we do not. There are some ways that we focus just on the human institution and forget the spiritual reality, some ways that we focus on our needs and wants rather than letting God be in control. I believe this verse calls us to an extremely high view of the church, and calls us to ensure that Jesus is Lord – that we keep Him as the head over everything.
It is in the church that God has chosen to reveal His power. The church is full with the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way so that we can know God’s power. So all divine power/glory found in Christ is also to be found in the church.
4. Power for Us.
I began by asking us to keep in mind that all this description of the power of God comes out of Paul’s prayer that we would know this “incomparably great power for us who believe.” Talking about the power of God for many of us is one of those things that is outside our comfort zone. Actually, I guess it is not so much talking about it as it is thinking about encountering it – maybe that is where we tend to get a little bit more nervous.
I think the root of that is fear – more specifically a fear that you and I will not be in control. That we might end up looking foolish or silly or undignified. I wonder if we avoid God’s power because we are not really sure what will happen, and we are afraid to let Jesus be Lord and be the one in control. We have some misconceptions – some powerful misconceptions – that keep us from knowing the power of God. We think it has to be manifest in some weird, supernatural way that is strange and obscure, that will make us total fools and humiliate us. We assume it will be painful. We believe it will marginalize us, pushing us to the “lunatic fringe” in our society. Some of that comes from some bad associations with what is often called “the charismatic movement”, where we often hear and focus on some negatives. Maybe you have even had negative experiences with people talking about the power of God. Well I want to say that those misconceptions are exactly that – false ideas of what God wants to and needs to do when we let Him be in control. So what are the right ideas?
Scripture clearly teaches that when we are open to God, letting Him be in control and us seeking to be obedient, the result will be the fullest life possible. Maybe it will be strange – may it will be miraculous – maybe it will be “supernatural”. Maybe someone will think you and I are fools. Or maybe we will just live lives of quiet yet powerful obedience until the end of our lives. But regardless, it will be full. It will be powerful. Jesus said “I have come that you might have life, and have it to the full.” (Jn 10:10). Acts 1:8 says we will receive power to be witnesses for Christ. Paul taught that the result of a spirit-controlled life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Gal. 5:22). God’s power is for us.
Studying the life of Christ is incredibly instructive when we are thinking about God’s power and how people respond. At the beginning, the miracles and “signs and wonders” were attractive – people wanted to be around Jesus, invited Him to all the parties, listened to His sermons. The power of God was attractive. But then there was a shift – Jesus began to teach some things that were uncomfortable. He began to talk about repentance, He said He was the Son of God, He said that if anyone wanted to follow Him they had to surrender everything – leave their father and mother, take up their cross daily. In John 6, right after Jesus had fed the 5000, a bunch of people chased Jesus to the other side of the lake looking for more miracles and another free lunch. Jesus said “I am the bread of life” and started talking about them eating His flesh, and they grumbled and went away. Until the very end, when even most of Jesus’ closest disciples deserted Him at the cross. What is my point? The power of God in Christ has as its only purpose to bring us to Christ, and to change our lives and make us more like Jesus. And that is sometimes a hard road – but it is the road to the fullest life possible.
There is a reason we call demonstrations of the power of God “signs and wonders”. They are signs because they point to Jesus and His Kingdom reign – they validate Eph. 1:20-22 by demonstrating that Jesus is in control and is still directly active in the world today. But that is the main point – it is not the signs, but what they point to. It is not the miracles, but the Source. We “wonder” not at the manifestations, but at Jesus whom they glorify.
I believe, as strongly as I possibly can, that the purpose of the power of God is to change lives. It is to remake us in Christ’s image. And honestly, I don’t care how God chooses to do that. Hear me clearly on this, because I often think people misunderstand my stand on demonstrations of the power of God: I am more excited by evidence and growth in love than I am by any outward manifestation of power – I am far more effected by the testimony of someone whose life has been changed by God than by the method God used to change it. I don’t care so much how God chooses to speak or move or display His power – as far as I’m concerned that is totally and completely up to Him – what I care about is that people grow in love for God and for each other. What I care about is that our lives are changed to be more obedient and more Christlike and more empowered to live effectively in our world. I welcome, I embrace, any means God chooses to do this. My prayer for us every week is that God would be free to move and to work however He chooses to draw us closer to Him.
I know I’ve said a lot this morning, but I need to say one more thing. In our quick-fix, pill-popping culture, we want and expect the power of God to be instantaneous. To fix whatever is wrong immediately and miraculously. And sometimes it does. But the purpose of the power of God is to change our lives, to make us like Jesus, and that kind of inward transformation takes time. It takes the power of God working over time to conform us to Christ’s image. It is like planting a garden, not like flipping a switch. The results are measured in lifetimes, not in instants.
What is holding you back from experiencing more of the power of God? What is keeping you from allowing Him to be Lord of your life just like He is of all creation? I urge you this morning to hold back no longer. To allow God to open the eyes of your heart to know the power of God which “raised Christ from the dead and seated him at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.”
Only then will you and I know what it means to be fully alive in Christ, and only then will we live corporately as what we already are - the body of Christ, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
