Power – Ephesians 1:15-23

A text – Ephesians 1:15-23

1:15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason
1:16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.
1:17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him,
1:18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,
1:19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.
1:20 God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
1:21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.
1:22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church,
1:23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

A reflection:

Power. We know something about power and how it is wielded and how it can be abused. And how the use of power can take life away or can make life rich and abundant. Surely the believers in Ephesus would have been awed by Paul’s descriptions of the power of God from verse 19 onward. God used “his great power” to raise Christ from the dead and seat Christ in heaven, “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion” of Rome, of Greece, of Persia, of any kingdom the Ephesians had ever seen. Paul says this powerful God has placed all things under Christ’s feet.

This is the Jesus that Paul knows the believers in Ephesus already have faith in. They are brand new and ardent Christians. But Paul wants to introduce them to the power of the God Jesus worshiped and obeyed, the God who raised Jesus from the dead.

It is pretty easy right here, right now in the 21^st century, for us to think of God as far away and uninvolved in our present and even our future. But Paul wants the believers in Ephesus to know for certain that the greatest power in the universe has taken Jesus’s dead body and raised it back to life and will do the same for all believers in him. We can’t believe in the Resurrection without believing in power. And Paul says we can believe that the same power that raised Jesus will raise us, too. We are heirs to what Jesus has received from God.

So right here on a Wednesday morning, have a think about God’s power, about God’s love for Jesus and, because we believe in Jesus, God’s love for us, and about what we inherit by being believers.  That power never works the way we think it should, but it is dedicated to helping those who need it most.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for raising Jesus from the dead and showing us that your power is great enough to accomplish Resurrection. Help us to remember your great power and to respect you and be humble in your presence, even though you are our loving heavenly parent. Help us also to use what power we have in service to those you love and care for, the poor and forgotten. Amen.