REVIEW AND INTRODUCTION
In this message, I would like to consider how
we may receive the power of God. What is it? How do we receive
it? Why do we need it?
THE OPPRESSED ARE POWERLESS
How do we gain such a victory in our own personal battles to overcome
and grow? How do the weak become strong? How do the foolish shame
the wise (1Co 1:27)?
EPHESIANS 1:15-23: EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING
THE PRAYER
We have been given this same power to subdue what
has oppressed us, so we have not been left destitute. But how
great is our need to appreciate this treasure given to earthen
vessels (2Co 4:7)!
CHRIST'S POWER OVER ALL OTHER OPPRESSIVE POWERS
This power by which Christ rules over all these hostile spiritual
forces is the same power that is available to his Body, the Church
(Eph 1:19,22-23). Christ's power surpasses all these forces, and
that power is given to the saints. Do we want it?
This immeasurably-great-exceedingly, incomparably-great-power
(ability, capacity) works, or operates, in those who believe (1:19;
3:7). This is a prayer that the saints may recognise and receive
the divine power of God. Remember, the Ephesians were more than
familiar with the concept of power and the reality of spiritual
forces ruling the world. Here they were being offered a power
far greater.
EPHESIANS 3:14-19
Paul's prayer is that all the saints may comprehend that which
surpasses knowledge.
RECEIVED THROUGH FAITH
POWER, LOVE AND THE FULLNESS OF GOD
Paul then goes to say:
What are we to obtain/attain/possess? The "width and length
and the depth and the height". Does this phrase refer to
the vastness of God's love? It could, but there is another possibility.
In Romans 8 Paul mentions some things which threaten to separate
us from the love of God:
So back in Eph 3:18-19, we may understand this as:
EPHESIANS 6:10-20: THE BATTLE IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES
POWER TO PREVAIL
In the first and second parts of this series on the
subject of power, I have attempted to address various aspects
of power. I have tried to stimulate us to a consideration of the
ways in which we all have power. What does it mean for a Christian
to have access to the Seat of Power over the whole universe? What
are the spiritual powers of the world which are arrayed against
a Christian and with whom people seek to court favour?
Let me start by quoting from the book "Bury
my heart at Wounded Knee":
"When I was young I walked all over this country, east and
west, and saw no other people than the Apaches. After many summers
I walked again and found another race of people had come to take
it. How is it? Why is it that the Apaches wait to die-that they
carry their lives on their fingernails? They roam over the hills
and plains and want heaven to fall on them. The Apaches were once
a great nation; they are now but few, and because of this they
want to die and so carry their lives on their fingernails."
This is a lament by him for the plight of his people
and for their helplessness. We know that Deuteronomy 28 specifically
speaks of Israel, but when I read its curses they make me think
of what oppressed people in many situations suffer.
(Cochise of the Chiricahua Apaches, pg. 155)
Dt 28:65-67 "And
among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole
of your foot have a resting place; but there the LORD will give
you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul. 66 Your
life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night,
and have no assurance of life. 67 In the morning you shall say,
'Oh, that it were evening!' And at evening you shall say, 'Oh,
that it were morning!' because of the fear which terrifies your
heart, and because of the sight which your eyes see."
What is it like to live under oppression, be it overt, physical
and extreme, or subtle and psychological? What options would you
have available to you? Well, you would learn not to be too threatening
to your taskmasters, otherwise you might be in for some beatings
to make you somewhat less so. You would learn to be inoffensive,
and maybe even safest of all, invisible. If they don't notice
you, then you have a good chance of not getting into trouble.
But it is a degrading way to live.
Let's turn to Galatians 4. Paul tells us that we were once oppressed
by bullies-weak and beggarly beings-and
that there is a constant threat that we may be tempted, for one
reason or another, to fall back under their oppression.
Gal 4:8-9 But then, indeed,
when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are
not gods. 9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known
by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly
elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?
The alternative to falling back under their control, whatever
and whoever "they" have been in our past, is to become
stronger than they are, so that we can prevail over and eventually
conquer them (1Co 1:27).
Isa 9:1-5 (Phillips) But there shall be no gloom
for her who was once in misery. There was a time when he brought
contempt upon the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but
now there will come a time when he will bring glory upon the road
to the sea, the land beyond Jordan, the Galilee of the nations.
2 The people who moved in darkness have seen a shining light;
upon those who lived in the land of the shadow of death the light
has shone! 3 You have made them exuberant with rejoicing and filled
their hearts with joy. They rejoice before you as harvesters rejoice,
as men who share the spoils of battle. 4 For the yoke which bore
them down, the bar which bowed his shoulders, the whip that drove
him on, you have smashed to pieces, as on the day of victory over
Midian. 5 For the trampling boot of battle and the garment stained
with blood shall be burned as fuel in the fire.
I would like to consider the power that God has made available
to us as explained primarily by Paul to the Ephesians.
We are promised every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places:
Eph 1:3 Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
These spiritual blessings are the means to be filled with the
fullness of God.
Eph 1:22-23 And He (God)
put all things under His (Christ's) feet, and gave Him to be head
over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness
of Him who fills all in all.
So those who are members of the Church are to have
the fullness of the nature of Jesus Christ.
Eph 3:19 …to know
the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled
with all the fullness of God.
We are promised every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
and the purpose for this is so that we may be filled with the
very fullness of God. What does this mean for us?
Eph 4:13 till we all
come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son
of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ.
Paul mentions two prayers in which he beseeches God on behalf
of the Ephesians for the realisation of this purpose.
Eph 1:15-17 Therefore
I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your
love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you
(thanks for our brethren should also be a constant part of
our prayers), making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give
to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of
Him.
Paul prays that they may have eyes to see things which cannot
be seen.
Eph 1:18-19 the eyes
of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what
is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of
His inheritance in the saints (the riches of the glory of God's
inheritance which is found in the saints), 19 and what is
the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according
to the working of His mighty power.
Paul prays that we may better understand:
Do I want to understand these things-or is
what's happening in the latest TV serial more interesting? We
are offered a Spirit of comprehending what is yet in the future,
of understanding a glory we have never seen, and of acquiring
a sense of power that we have rarely felt. This is the very same
Spirit that Christ had and has:
Isa 11:2 The Spirit of
the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of
the fear of the LORD.
RESURRECTION AND LIFE
The working of this great power, God's Spirit, was
manifested in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Eph 1:19-20 …and
what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe,
according to the working of His mighty power, 20 which He worked
in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His
right hand in the heavenly places.
This incomparably-great power that God wants us to
comprehend, receive and become competent in using is manifested
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Php 3:10; Ro 1:4).
Ro 1:4 and declared to
be the Son of God with (in) power according to the Spirit of holiness,
by the resurrection from the dead.
The power of God is thereby revealed as being life-giving,
all the power and might that is needed to become fully alive-life
in abundance. It can make someone who is totally dead fully alive.
Isn't that what we most need, power to become fully alive?
Jn 4:14 "but whoever
drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But
the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain
of water springing up into everlasting life."
Through the power of God, we are made alive. Life
requires power. We can't live without power. Yet because of past
oppression, fears and the sinful habits, in what ways are we rejecting
receiving power that could enrich our life and the lives of others?
1Co 15:45 And so it is
written, "The first man Adam became a living being."
The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
2Co 3:6 who also made
us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter
but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives
life.
Eph 2:5 even when we
were dead in trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ
(by grace you have been saved).
To become circumcised in heart means that
we become more sensitive to what is happening around us. This
must increase not only our joy, but also our pain.
2Cor 13:4 For though
He was crucified in weakness (just as we should be doing to
ourselves daily), yet He lives by the power of God. For we
also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power
of God toward you.
Col 2:12-13 buried with
Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through
faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13
And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision
of your flesh (i.e. numb, deaf, blind, lacking real sensitivity),
He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses.
Php 3:10 that I may know
Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His
sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means,
I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Do we feel as though we are becoming alive with Christ?
The reality of that power working in us and changing us now is
our guarantee of our own future resurrection to eternal life.
1Co 6:14 And God both
raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.
The power by which God subdues everything to Himself
is the power by which He will resurrect us to eternal life, and
it is the same power that we have been given to subdue everything
in ourselves.
Php 3:21 who will transform
our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body,
according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all
things to Himself.
What things has God subdued? He subdued the darkness,
the chaos over the earth, the raging sea, the dragons of the deep.
Job 26:12-14 "He
stirs up the sea with His power, and by His understanding He breaks
up the storm. 13 By His Spirit He adorned the heavens; His hand
pierced the fleeing serpent. 14 Indeed these are the mere edges
of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder
of His power who can understand?"
He subdued the nations before Israel as the people
entered the promised land.
Returning to Ephesians 1:20:
Eph 1:19-23 and what
is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe,
according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked
in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His
right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality
and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named,
not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 22 And
He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over
all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of
Him who fills all in all.
Jesus Christ has been raised to the right hand of God (1:20; Ps
110:1), above all the rulers, authorities, powers, lordships,
and above every name that opposes Him (1:21; Col 1:16). He has
become the head of every rule and authority.
Col 2:10 and you are
complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
He has power over everything that has ever oppressed us. He has
totally disarmed, exposed and humiliated them (Col 2:15; 1Co 2:8).
Col 2:15 Having disarmed
principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them,
triumphing over them in it (the cross).
How have the powers that have oppressed you and me been disarmed
and exposed?
Again, we have a prayer for the strengthening of
the heart with divine power. Paul's prayer here reinforces what
his earlier prayer requested: the inner strengthening through
the Holy Spirit to produce the fruits of love, and personal knowledge
of both the power and the love of Christ. These together explain
what it means to have the fullness of God.
Eph 3:14-16 For this
reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16
that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory
to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner
man.
Paul asks that we be enriched in our spirits according
to the very richness of God's own Glory, that with the riches
of His own glorious Spirit we may be divinely strengthened in
our hearts (Eph 3:16). The prayer is for the strengthening of
our hearts through power, in contrast to our outer being.
2Co 4:16 Therefore we
do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing,
yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.
Indeed, it is the heart, not the flesh, that really
needs empowering and strengthening, so that we can endure our
struggles and overcome, as Paul says in Romans:
Ro 7:22,25 For I delight
in the law of God according to the inward man.
That requires power. We need these experiences so that our
hope is real.
25 I thank God; through Jesus Christ our Lord! So
then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the
flesh the law of sin.
Ro 5:5 Now hope does
not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in
our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
To be like Jesus Christ-is this what you hope for?
The hope of our calling is the fullness of God.
Col 1:27 To them God
willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this
mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of
glory.
Ro 8:10 And if Christ
is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is
life because of righteousness.
So the Spirit of the Man who has the power and authority
over every rule, dominion and lordship in this world dwells in
a Christian. What does this mean for you and me in our struggles
to overcome?
Gal 2:20 I have been
crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ
lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live
by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for
me.
Returning to Ephesians 3:
Eph 3:17 that Christ
may dwell in your hearts through faith.
It is received through faith (Eph 3:17; 1:13-15,19;
Heb 4:2).
Eph 1:13-14 In him you
also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
14 which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire
possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
We are sealed by the power of the Holy Spirit because
there is no other spirit which is stronger. No other spirit can
overcome it. It therefore guarantees our success, provided we
use it and don't lose it.
Faith is the prerequisite to receive this strengthening of the
heart (Gal 3:2,5).
Jude 1:20 But you, beloved,
building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the
Holy Spirit.
Faith is the essential ingredient for receiving the strength of
God-His incomparable power-and
it is received by asking in prayer for it (Jas 1:5-8; Mk 11:24;
Eph 6:18-20).
Mk 11:24 "Therefore
I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that
you receive them, and you will have them."
What therefore undermines our efforts to gain and grow in power
in our spirits is doubt, worry and anxiety, all which cause us
to be like a wave tossed and driven by the sea of activity and
confusion around us. We are told that in that state we cannot
expect to receive anything from the Lord (Jas 1:8).
In Paul's prayer, the purpose for his request for such empowering
is clearly defined: so that we can be rooted and ground in love
(Eph 3:17; 4:15-16; 1Co 16:13-14).
Eph 3:17 that Christ
may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted
and grounded in love…
When people are more powerful than others, the carnal response
can be to treat the others with contempt. Too often the oppressed,
when freed from their oppression, become oppressors.
Eph 3:18-19 may be able
to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length
and depth and height; 19 to know the love of Christ which passes
knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
The RSV translates verse 18 as "power to comprehend",
the NJB as the "strength to grasp". The word "grasp"
or "comprehend" is elsewhere translated as:
So the word means much more than just to understand. It
means to obtain, to attain, to perceive, to possess.
Ro 8:38-39 For I am convinced
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height,
nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Neither "height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation"
can separate us from the love of God. So height and depth are
here contrasted with the love of God, and associated with powers
that may try to separate us from this. Here "height and depth"
seems to correspond to the highs and lows of experiences possible
in the world, but which in the end lack real substance. The "breadth
and length and height and depth" in contrast shows the multi-dimensional,
many-faceted nature-i.e. the fullness, the
completeness-of the calling God gives us and
of the Spirit God provides to make it possible.
Eph 3:18-19 "[I pray] that you might be able to obtain,
to attain-to comprehend fully with all the saints-the incomparable
vastness of the power of God, and that you might be able to know
the love of Christ, both of which surpass knowledge, for the purpose
of enabling you to be filled with the very fullness of God. Now
to Him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more
abundantly than all that we ask or even think, to Him be glory
in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations (including
ours) for ever and ever. Amen."
This is the power needed to realise all the promises of God towards
us (Eph 1:3-14). It is the power by which we can then comprehend
the love of God and Jesus Christ (Eph 1:5; 2:4; 3:17,19), and
then walk in their example (4:2,15-16; 5:2,25,28,33; 6:24). This
is the glory to be displayed in the Church (Eph 3:21).
Eph 6:10-13 Finally,
my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts
of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the
whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the
evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Therefore our struggle is not against flesh and blood. We have
been lifted to a different realm:
Col 3:1-3 If then you
were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on
things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and
your life is hidden with Christ in God.
So surely we need divine power to be able to withstand
the spiritual, powerful and cunning attacks of the enemy. Or are
we ignorant of the power he wields against us (2Co 2:11)? He
tempts us (1Co 7:5), he blinds minds (2Co 4:4), he appears good
(2Co 11:14), he has power over the flesh (2Co 12:7) and he hinders
us in various other ways (1Th 2:18).
God has made available to us the strength to wage warfare and
the power to attain the goal.
Isa 52:1-2 Awake, awake!
Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean
shall no longer come to you. 2 Shake yourself from the dust, arise;
sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion!
Jn 1:12 But as many as
received Him, to them He gave the right (or power, or authority)
to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.