“I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 1:19-20 NLT).
God’s incredibly great power is “for us who believe.”
I don’t think any of us get this. If we did, we would never despair, never worry, never doubt.
Sure, we get it that God is powerful. We’re believers. We believe that God is Creator, that He formed the earth and hung the sun and moon in space. We believe He made everything.
We believe that God not only made everything, but He can do anything. We believe that He is omnipotent, all-powerful. Jesus demonstrated this divine capacity. He commanded the winds and the waves. He multiplied the fishes and loaves. He walked on the water. He died, was buried, and was raised from the dead.
We get all that. What we don’t get is that this power is “for us.” We don’t understand that this resurrection power is available to us. Maybe it’s fear that God’s power is against us. Or maybe it’s just ignorance. We don’t know about the power of God. But for many, it’s an old habit of self-sufficiency. We keep living in our own power, experiencing the stress and joyless struggle of self-effort. We live by the flesh, while Christ offers to empower us to live by the Spirit.
If we ever understand that the power that raised Christ from the dead is “for us,” then we’ll finally live the abundant life that Christ offers.
Do you get it?
Definitely not a “foolish” post for April 1.
I can surely see myself in the corporate “we” above. Just like the Gospel itself, the message is ironically simple — too simple for us to let go, I think, to our detriment.