In Ephesians 1:19-23 (NIV) Paul speaks of God’s, "incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him 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 title that can be given, 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."
The testimony of scripture is that God’s power is incomparably great. Nothing in the entire universe even begins to rival the power of the living God. Nonetheless, in the Bible whenever men wanted to express the nature of God’s power, they would often turn to everyday objects to create a frame of reference.
- Job speaks of the strength of stone. Ezekiel spoke of flint, the hardest of stones.
- Daniel spoke of iron, which has the power to break and smash and crush everything.
- Isaiah the prophet speaks of God making a path through the mighty waters of the sea.
- The psalmist speaks of the Lord’s voice breaking the cedars of Lebanon.
- John had a vision of Christ holding seven stars in his right hand, a sharp double edged sword protruding from his mouth, and his face shining with the brilliance of the sun.
- In Acts, God’s power is described as a violent wind coming down from heaven.
- In other parts of the Bible God's power was described as a lion, an ox, a horse, a behemoth or a leviathan.
Floridians have learned to respect the power of the sea, with its thrashing waters. Roy, of Siegfried and Roy, learned to respect the power of a lion’s jaw after he was dragged off a stage like a rag doll, and nearly lost his life.
As a youngster I remember how a tornado went through a nearby town and lifted a church off its foundation and set it down several feet away. That same tornado pulled fully matured trees out of the ground like they were weeds. I discovered how a locomotive could flatten a nickel, how a falling tree could smash a truck like a matchbox car, and how iron could shatter the hardest stone. Yet nothing in the entire world even begins to compare to God’s power. His power is infinitely greater. For all practical purposes, God’s power is immeasurable!
Remarkably, Ephesians 1:19 tells us that God exerts his power on behalf of creation and on behalf of believers, in particular. His power is personal in nature. It is benevolent. " (His) incomparably great power (is) for us who believe," Paul says. "That power is like the working of his mighty strength." Let’s take a few moments to explore how God exerts his power in a personal way.
God exerts his power through creation.
The Bible speaks of two aspects in which God’s power is evidenced in creation. First, there is the fact of creation itself. You exist. I exist. This world exists. There had to be a first cause behind all that we see and know, behind all that exists.
- Genesis 1:1 (NIV) says, "In the beginning God created…"
- In Psalm 102:25 (NIV), the psalmist says, "In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands."
- In Colossians 1:16 (NIV)Paul says, "For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him."
Last Sunday night over hundred people watched The Case for the Creator broadcast. A surprising number of scientists are abandoning Darwin’s theory of evolution in favor of the God hypothesis. That hypothesis states that in the beginning God created the heavens and earth. It is statistically inconceivable that all of creation could come into existence by coincidence, by the blind, uncaring processes set forth in the theory of evolution. It would take billions upon billions of chance mutations to create even a single cell, let alone the complexity of a multi-cell organism.
Michael Behe, a biochemist at Lehigh University said, "My conclusion can be summed up in a single word: design. I say that based on science. I believe that irreducibly complex systems are strong evidence of a purposeful, intentional design by an intelligent agent."
James Tour, nanoscientist from Rice University says, “Only a rookie who knows nothing about science would say that science takes away from faith. If you really study science, it will bring you closer to God.” We're going to be discussing some of this tonight at church at 6:30 PM, if you are interested.
But in Colossians 1:17 (NIV) the Bible speaks of a second evidence of God’s power in creation. "He (God/Christ) is before all things, and in him all things hold together." God is both the creator and the sustainer of the universe, holding all things together. Astrophysicists have concluded that life would cease to exist or never could have existed, if one of the following items were true. Slower rotation of earth. Faster rotation of earth. Two to five percent further from sun. Two to five percent closer to sun. One percent change in sunlight. Smaller earth. Larger earth. Smaller moon. Larger moon. More than one moon. Earth’s crust thinner. Earth’s crust thicker. Oxygen/nitrogen ration greater. Oxygen/nitrogen ratio less. Greater or lesser ozone.
Hugh Ross, PH.D notes, "Many scientists feel certain that a heavenly body half the size of Mars collided with the earth at precisely the right time in the earth’s development. The collision knocked much carbon dioxide out of the earth’s atmosphere, averting a life-preventing runaway greenhouse effect and allowing the right atmospheric chemistry. It also increased the speed of rotation. The moon was formed from part of the colliding body, and became a vital element in stabilizing the earth’s axis and rotation, creating the environment for life. Odds of this event happening in such a precise way without God are beyond reason."
Romans 1:20 (NIV) says, "For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities— his eternal power and his divine nature— have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that men are without excuse."
God exerts his power through Jesus Christ.
Let’s take another look at Ephesians 1:19-21, "That (God's) power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him 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 title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come."
There are some who believe that God created the universe, but that he is no longer involved. Since what the Bible says about creation has been vindicated by science, could it be that what the Bible says about God’s involvement in creation could also be true?
John 3:16 (NIV) says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." God did not abandon creation. Quite the contrary! God loves the world. His love compelled him to exert his power in a most unique way, through the sending of his only Son, Jesus Christ. The creator was entering his own creation. John 1:1-4 (NIV) says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men."
John 1:10-12 (NIV) continues, "He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…"
John 1:14 (NIV), "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
When Jesus entered into creation there were a lot of skeptics. People demanded proof that Jesus Christ was the creator and that he was God in the flesh. During his life Jesus demonstrated God’s power in a variety of compelling ways. But the primary evidence that Jesus gave for his identity was something completely beyond his own power. He promised that upon his death, he would be resurrected from the grave. He promised that the Father would raise him from death to life.
In Matthew 16:21 (NIV) it says, "...Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the Law, and that he must be killed and on third day be raised to life." The resurrection would be a proof, not only of Christ’s identity as the Son of God, but that our creator God loves us. Our creator is personally involved in creation, is willing to die for us, wants to give us life, and has not abandoned us as some might suppose. Upon his death we're told in scripture that God raised Jesus from the dead. 1 Corinthians 6:14 (NIV) says, "By his power, God raised the Lord from the dead…"
God’s further exerted his power through Christ when he exalted Christ to his right hand. Ephesians 1:20-21 says that God, "seated Christ at his 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."
Philippians 2:9-11 (NIV) says, "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 confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
So God’s power is evidenced in that he created the world and sustains our existence. His power is also evidenced in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from death, but also in Jesus'exaltation to the right hand of God.
God exerts his power through his Church.
Paul doesn’t skip a beat. He proceeds to speak of God’s power exerted in the Church. In Ephesians 1:22-23 (NIV) Paul says, "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."
A while back I was reading 2 Timothy 3:5(NIV) in my daily devotions and I came across a verse where Paul describes those, "having a form of godliness, but denying its power."
I thought about that verse for days. Maybe you have asked this same question. What is the evidence of God’s power in your life and my life? What is the evidence of God’s power in this church and around the world? The evidence of God’s power is that we are being brought under the headship of Jesus Christ, such that we become the fullness of Christ in our world. Our purpose is not each one pursuing his own purpose, but all of us fulfilling the work which God created for us to do.
One reason people doubt the power of God is because they refuse to acknowledge the self-evident eternal power that lies behind the created order of things, in all its beauty and sophistication and intelligent design. Another reason people doubt the power of God is because they don’t understand how God demonstrated his power in the sending of his only Son, Jesus Christ, that whoever believes in Jesus shall not die, but have eternal life. They also don’t understand how God demonstrated his power in defeating the power of sin and death by raising Jesus Christ from the grave.
But a last reason people doubt the power of God is because they don’t understand how God demonstrates his power in the Church.
- When someone acknowledges her sin, confesses her sin to God, repents from sin, and pledges to live her life for Christ in the waters of baptism.
- When someone begins walking by faith, trusting in Christ, obeying his commands, and becomes increasingly transformed into Christ’s image.
- When someone discovers God’s purpose for his life, and completes the works God prepared for him to do, and becomes the presence of Christ in his world.
- When someone changes his priorities around to include Christ, begins attending church regularly, gets connected into a Life Group, gets involved in a Lifestage ministry, begins reading his Bible, begins memorizing scripture, learns to pray, develops his personal testimony, helps a person in need, shares his faith, leads a person to Christ, gives financially to work of the Church, finds his ministry, trains for a ministry, encourages someone in his faith, or goes into fulltime Christian service or on the mission field.
- When someone breaks a pattern of sin, brings her thought life under the control of God’s Spirit, changes her attitude, and develops a godly habit.
All of these things are the evidence of God exerting his power through the Church. We measure God’s power at Lakeside and at any other church, not by the failings of the weak among us, but by the power of God in the most Christ-like among us. There are extraordinary changes that have taken place and that are taking place, that give clear evidence to God’s power. Let these changes be the occasion for deeper faith!
But let me cover one last, important base concerning God’s power.
God exerts his power through all who believe.
In Ephesians 1:19 Paul says that God’s incomparably great power is for us who believe. The whole point for discussing God’s power today is that you might discover how to unleash God’s power in your life. It begins with a different understanding of creation. God’s behind this thing we call life. He has a design. He has a purpose. We're not here by chance.
It begins with a different understanding of Christ. Jesus Christ is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe. Jesus Christ died for our sins so that we might live for God. Jesus was raised to new life by the power of God so that we might have eternal life.
It begins with a different understanding of church. The Church isn’t perfect. If it were perfect, it wouldn’t need Christ and wouldn’t be under grace. God’s power fills up everything that is lacking within the Church. We are being sanctified and are being made holy.
Last, it begins with a different understanding of conversion. Conversion is a process, not an event. Conversion is about the process of change that God wants to begin in your life, whereby he transforms you into Christ’s image. That process begins with faith.
It begins with a person saying, "I believe in God’s power! I want God’s power to be real in my life! I repent. I confess. I pledge myself in baptism. In the power of God’s Spirit, I walk in obedience from this day forward."
So what will it be? God's power is in creation, in Christ, and in the Church. Is God's power in you?