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When one thinks of power, it is likely one’s attention is drawn to words like authority and influence. Money, politics, position and information are realms associated with those who are the most powerful people in our world. That means those who are the wealthiest, who are heads of state, who are above us in the pecking order in family, work place, school, and clubs and those who have control of the most information are more powerful than the general population. This is a fact of life. But, there is another fact of life that is lost to those who are not surrendered to Christ Jesus. All of this world’s authority and influence is nothing compared to that of the Son of God. And, that truth changes everything.

 

Expedition Ephesians
Above All, Now & Forever
May 29-30, 2010
Pat Smith

Ephesians 1:19-23

Isn’t it a pleasure just to stop, sit and rest? Yet the word “rest” almost seems like a four-letter word. We are on the go keeping this appointment, completing that project, getting to this game, going to that event, investing in those relationships. If we felt we could stop maybe we would. It just seems totally implausible or even, dare I say it, so undesirable. We are so wired to be on the move that sitting and resting can seem totally counterproductive. A moment at rest is perceived as a wasted moment.

Our young grandsons were recently left in our care for a few days. They live out of town and we had never kept them overnight. Before their arrival, our daughter-in-law gave us a very helpful orientation to the boys’ current norms. About our younger grandchild, one year old Tucker, she said, “He’s still crawling but don’t let that fool you. He is constantly on the move so you’ll need to watch him at all times. He can be there one second and gone the next. He never stops.”

After our three days with the boys we can confirm that Tucker is a guy on the move. But, we also know he can stop. Take for instance after nap time. When I heard him stirring I would open the door quietly. When he saw me, his eyes lit up, he came over, stood and reached up to me. I picked him up and held him to me. It felt as if he was melding his body to mine as he lay his head up on my shoulder, placed his arm up over my back and just lay still for several minutes. How could being a grandfather get any better than that! The most wondrous part was when he would intermittently pat me on the back and contentedly hum. He was at rest. Those moments of connection were incredibly powerful.

Paul arrived in the city of Ephesus in the year 52 AD. Paul and those with him, taught about Jesus for about three years. It is a great story that you can read in Acts chapter nineteen. It says there that “all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord” during that time. There were forces at work against the message of Jesus. Ephesus was home to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the temple to Artemis goddess of the hunt. Worship of the goddess was huge not only to the spiritual life of the region but also to the economy. A common affirmation was, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” As the message about the one, true, living God was made known, powerful forces threatened the followers of Jesus.

The letter we know as Ephesians was written about five years after Paul left the city. Nineteenth century English poet and philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge describes this letter as “the divinest composition of man.” One of the twentieth century’s greatest New Testament teachers, John Stott, makes reference to it as “the gospel of the church.” The message of Ephesians is timeless. It is especially significant for us who are zpc as this chapter in our life unfolds. The first half of Ephesians is rich with information about God, Jesus and who we are in Christ. The last half gives practical instructions for personal and church life. Nineteen hundred years after it was written one Jesus follower in China outlined this letter in just three words: sit, walk, stand.

Like my grandson Tucker (did I mention to you how wonderful my grandsons are?), . . . like Tucker who settles into my arms after waking up, we are invited to stop, sit and settle in for the opening half of this letter. We are invited to just be. This sitting is not idleness. We sit and rest and welcome the fullness of God who fills us to overflowing with his word. It is full investment. It is a time to be supremely attentive. Who is God? What has he done? Who is Jesus? Who are we in Jesus? These are the questions that are asked and answered in these opening chapters. We need to examine these same questions and answers. So, we are to sit and allow God’s word to work itself deep within us.

Let me invite you to open up your bibles to chapter one of this remarkable letter. We are going to start our reading at verse eighteen where a most remarkable prayer begins. It is a three point prayer about hope, riches and power. Glenn led us through the first two points two weeks ago. Today, we will talk about the third point. Although we have been standing up in honor of God’s word during this series, I’m going to ask us to stay seated as a reminder of being still before God. Sit; rest; open yourself to all that God wants to show you. “Lord, put us at rest before you. Let these words have their way with us. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.” Remember, this is God’s holy word. Let’s give voice to these words together.

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of this glorious inheritance in the saints, and his 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.

 

Every time we read God’s word he intends for us to gain understanding by the work of his Spirit. We pray that for each of us today.

Why would Paul pray that we would “know . . . [God’s] incomparably great power”? We need to focus first on the word “know”. In the western world we think of knowledge in the way of the Greek philosophers. Knowledge is information. It is data that lines up in orderly fashion. We hear the word “know” and we think “understanding”.

However, the Hebrew meaning of the word “know” adds an extremely important layer on top of understanding, a layer that fills it up to overflowing. To know is to experience. It is not just head. It is heart. When we speak here at zpc about “a heart for Christ alone” we mean experiencing Jesus in the deepest part of who we are. To know is to experience God’s word in our heart and soul by the work of God’s Spirit as we surrender to Jesus.

Why does Paul pray that we will experience the power of God? Because apart from God we are utterly powerless. That statement may startle you. Everything in our suburban environment leads us to believe we are powerful! We have possessions, relationships, jobs, degrees, connections and resumes that give proof to our power. Every culture in every time is forged to give benefit to those who are the most powerful.

Last year Forbes Magazine published its first ever list of the “World’s Most Powerful People”. Writers Michael Noer and Nicole Perlroth settled on four dimensions by which power would be measured: influence over lots of people, control of relatively large financial resources, operation in multiple spheres and active use of their power. Who are the five most powerful people in the world according to Forbes? Barack Obama (President, United States of America), Hu Jintao (President, People’s Republic of China), Vladimir Putin (Prime Minister, Russia), Ben Bernanke (Chairman of the Federal Reserve, USA) and Sergey Brin and Larry Page (founders of Google).

Beyond people, politics and economic forces there are other forces at work around us and in us. We experience the power of emotions, chief of which are, according to one poll, anger, love, and fear. Ideas have power. According to author William Rosen, the most powerful idea in history was the idea that inventors should have ownership of their inventions. Attributed to Albert Einstein (and likely an urban legend) is his response to the question “What is the most powerful force in the universe?” Einstein’s purported answer? “Compound interest.”

There are still other forces at work in and around us. Satan is real and his influence is still present on planet earth. Societal and personal evil, hatred, self-absorption, addictions, tyrannical rule, greed, selfishness and violence are all forces with which we must reckon. There are earthquakes, winds, floods and fires. There are perfect storms where any combination of factors can send us reeling in fear and dread. Whether distant and global like the BP gulf oil disaster or up close and personal like family difficulties, there are powers that threaten us in every direction. We cannot even do the good we desire to do most of the time. If we are honest, anything and everything can point to how powerless we are.

Just think with me for a moment. Out of that whole list, is there anything or anyone that will retain its relative power forever? The answer is “No.” Powerful leaders come and go. Powerful nations come and go. Powerful ideas come and go. Powerful forces come and go. Compound interest, well, maybe it lasts forever. But, we get the point. Power can be as fleeting as the next moment. How long does it take for a person to go from influence, wealth and impact to ruin? Just a heartbeat. Ask Bernie Madoff, former congressman Mark Souder, and the employees of Enron.

Look at verse twenty-one. Paul summarizes all the forces that can threaten us when he writes of “rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given.” And here, in these verses, God raises up a banner proclaiming for all who will see it, “I am not powerless! My power is complete!” Paul says in verse nineteen that God’s power is “incomparably great”. Do you believe that? Do you understand that? Do you experience that? God’s power is great beyond compare.

The people of Israel knew God’s incomparably great power. One event crystallized their experience of this God of supreme power. What do you think it was? Turn with me to the second book of the bible for a moment. We’ll read from Exodus chapter six. The preeminent demonstration of God’s power was the rescue of Israel from slavery in Egypt. Starting in verse two, God says he is almighty, he is LORD, he hears and he remembers, all pretty powerful affirmations. I’ll start reading at verse six. [Read verses 6-8.] God will redeem his people from the most powerful empire of the day. He does this “with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.” God will take his people and they will live to honor him by his power. They will know at the depth of their being that he is the LORD their God. God is power full. The exodus proved it for the people of Israel.

There is yet one more question to ask about the power of God like that shown in the exodus. This question regards the motivation behind God’s power. It is Moses himself who tells us the reason God brings his power to bear for his people. Decades after the exodus power event, Moses refers to it in Deuteronomy chapter seven. He says, “[God] brought you out with a mighty hand because he loved you. Know therefore that God is God.” The motivation behind God’s power is love. Because he loves, he stood powerfully with his people in their distress and rescued them.

In our Ephesians text, Paul writes that there is now new evidence, deeper evidence, of the power of God. Beyond the exodus of Moses and the promised land, God’s power is now evidenced by the resurrection of Jesus and the enthronement. Look again at the last part of verse nineteen. 

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 . . . .

God has taken every power of this earthly life, gathered all of it together in one lump and placed it before the alive-again and reigning Jesus as a place for him to prop his feet. The powers of this life that seem so large and threatening are no more than an ottoman to Jesus. They are as nothing, now and forever. Who benefits from the power of God? Look at verse nineteen. It is for “us who believe.” Look at verse twenty-two. It is “for the church.” Everyone who has surrendered to Jesus has the power of God at work on their behalf in every single moment.

The tendency at this point is to want to know how we can go around displaying God’s power, like going from meek Clark Kent to Superman. “Pat show us where the phone booth is so we can get out there and win our friend to Christ or get the job of my dreams or re-build my relationship with my dad.” Remember, however, that we are sitting, we are at rest still in these opening chapters of Ephesians. We are to understand and experience the power of God increasingly at the core of our being. It is not about how we wield it outwardly. It’s how we trust ourselves to it deep within. Paul is going to bring up the power of God again in chapter six. There he speaks of outward impact. Here he speaks of confidence, certainty and conviction.

The United Kingdom declared herself at war with Germany on September 3, 1938. Three long years later, England still suffered under Hitler’s powerful onslaught. With all his public bravado, Prime Minister Winston Churchill knew the future hung by a thread. On the evening of December 7, 1941, he received word of Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. That night Churchill wrote in his diary, “We have won the war.” His conviction was based on the knowledge that America would now commit herself to stand fully with besieged England against her enemies. It took almost four years for Churchill’s confident statement to be born out, but he proved to be right. The war was won. Confidence, certainty and conviction were his because he knew the power of America.

Confidence, certainty and conviction should be our watchwords in every single moment and situation because we experience the power of God who loves us. Will we still face great challenge? Yes. Will suffering still be ours? Yes. But, Paul assures us in the eighth chapter of Romans that in the face of present sufferings the power of God is at work in us. People and circumstances can come against us. We can be falsely charged of wrong. People can condemn us. Paul writes of trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, lack of physical necessities, danger and violence as present realities. He asks, “Can anything separate us from the love of God?” And he declares, “No! In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Tucker Smith has a one-year-old level of life experience. He doesn’t have our more grown up knowledge of the forces of this world. But, he knows enough. He knows to rest, to be at peace, to fully entrust himself to my arms, to me, relying on my power for his protection and safety. We are to live with confidence, certainty and conviction in the love and power of God. Because of God’s power we live at peace.

In Psalm 147 we find this definitive statement: “Great is our Lord and mighty in power!” Let me repeat that. “Great is our Lord and mighty in power!” Do you know this? Are you experiencing this in the face of all that threatens you? You can and should. “Will you say it with me as your declaration? [Read.] “Great is our Lord and mighty in power!” Let’s read it again as if we do! [Read.] Confidence, certainty and conviction. May we live in God’s power now and forever.