‘Knowing God’s Power’
- Feb 13
- 6 min read
In ‘knowing God better’, we have in the past few weeks been looking at one of Paul's prayers in Ephesians. We have already covered hope, inheritance and now we’re going to reflect on ‘power.’
Note what Paul prays in Ephesians 1:18-20:
“I pray also 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 his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead."
Paul prays that we’ll have the eyes of our heart opened to the power available to us. "His incomparable great power for us who believe."
The word ‘power’ is used in so many ways today, e.g. power play, power nap, power broker, political power, economic power, social power.
What is power? Ephesians 1:19-20 gives us the answer.
The Ephesian culture that Paul was writing in believed strongly in the supernatural, in the spirit world. But Paul says that Jesus Christ is above every power and in fact holds all power, and Christians need to know this.
But Paul doesn’t ask God to use His power. He’s so aware that God is always doing something powerful in and around us, so he simply prays that the Ephesians (and us) see it and know it!
I love the story of Alexander the Great. He was stopped one day by a beggar who asked him for some bread. Alexander gave him the governorship of one of the cities that he had just conquered and the beggar was astounded by this. “I only asked for some bread,” he said. Alexander’s response was this. “You asked as a beggar, I gave as a king.”
What a great reminder that we may ask things of God as beggars, but He gives to us as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Paul prays that God would open our eyes to see the ‘great power’ that we already have in Christ, to grasp the significance of it, and see how our lives would be so different if we really knew it and lived in the experience of it!
There are lots of things we think we need, but Paul says, you don't need anything more than what you have in Christ, and what you have in Him is sufficient. We just need to realise it, or more to the point know it/HIM!
If you are in Christ, you have power (19). “That you may know...his incomparably great power for us who believe.”
We haven’t begun to scratch the surface in understanding the power available to us for living the Christian life. One of the excuses we often use to justify our ongoing, ungodly habits is, “I just can’t change. It’s the way I am!” But we can and need to change, not by our own strength and power, but by His!
Paul prayed that the Ephesians would grasp the incomparable power available to them for living Kingdom life. Our God is powerful. His power is so surpassingly great! It’s incomparable. It’s beyond measure and words!
Paul is praying the church at Ephesus forward. We need to do the same with purpose and vision. How does knowledge of an "incomparably great power" motivate our lives, our prayers and our future?
God's immeasurable power is "incomparably great."
‘Incomparably’ is huperballō in the Greek and means "to attain a degree that extraordinarily exceeds a point on a scale; to surpass or outdo." It’s ‘incomparable’ in that it goes far beyond human experience or limitations. How far? Well, believe it or not it’s "dead-raising" power and you and I can and ought to be experiencing it today. Wow!
The second word, ‘Great’, is megethos in the Greek. It’s used only once in the New Testament: here in Ephesians 1:19. It means having "a quality that exceeds a standard of excellence." It’s a supernatural power constantly available to believers; it’s never ever meant to be greatness at a distance!
I can’t emphasise this enough, that the power Paul is describing is vast, it’s ‘boundless,
limitless and measureless.’ The thing is, we ought to know it!
Paul stacks up one word upon another to impress upon us the extreme, massive,
immeasurable nature of God's full power at our disposal, working in and through us who believe.
We are so used to living in the ordinary, the mundane, that for some reason we have not allowed ourselves the slightest thought that things could be extraordinarily different!
How many of you have come to that point that your struggles are just too much, and you want to give up? Is it, I wonder, because we’ve lost sight of the One who can and longs to give us power?
J.B. Phillips says, “We have not only to be impressed by the “size” and unlimited power of God, we have to be moved to genuine admiration, respect, and affection, if we are ever to worship Him.”
Paul is on a reassuring exercise. What he’s saying is true. Why? Because he wants us to see that this power was first demonstrated in the resurrection of Jesus: "That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted" (v19).
Here in verse 19, he uses different words to describe God's power:
1) Dunamis - "That power" refers to intrinsic power. God’s constant dynamic.
A couple of weeks ago, Alice and I were sitting watching TV. It was early evening, when all of a sudden we had a ‘power cut.’ At first we found it to be a strange, yet an interesting experience, but as time went on it became a frustrating inconvenience, a disruption of a routine that soon felt like a disaster. Such was our time without power.
Now, imagine having hours, days, even weeks without knowing His power!
Let me say again, it’s supposed to be an intrinsic power. 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us, “the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”
2) Energeia - "strength he exerted". This is the active, operative, and supernatural work of God exerted in the believer. Just imagine you allow such to be operating in your life TODAY without a power cut! (See Eph 3:7)
3) Ischus - "mighty strength" - this is staying power, often described as the capacity to endure. It’s a raw force, that has the ability to prevail.
4) Kratos - "mighty strength" - this is sometimes translated as dominion with authority, and means just that. It refers to ultimate power.
All the above indicate the resources God provides for each of us in grace.
So, this power, which is ours, is an unbelievable almost indescribable power. The closest English transliteration we can get to from what Paul writes here is that in knowing God, we have a Mega, dynamic, energising, dominion giving, super power, endowed upon us because of our faith in Christ.
Paul’s prayer was that the church may know what they already have. Not what they may have someday, but what they have TODAY.
Stop for a moment and reflect
God's power is unrivalled and unmatched. You will not find or experience another power like it.
But sadly, life can still be difficult!
Like AW Tozer once said, "The church began in power, moved in power, and moved just as long as she had power. When she no longer had power, she dug in for safety and sought to conserve her gains."
Is this where we are today? Dug in, perhaps down and nearly out?
Listen, it’s not like any other power in this world. It is resurrection power, "which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead." (v19).
It’s not the power of your personality, or education, God’s power seems to work best where there’s no power at all, actually in death, in lifeless situations, in the cemetery of life where everything is lifeless, dark, dreary.
What would happen if we came alive (really alive!) to God’s power today?
Peter knew, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).
Richard Rohr wrote, “What is the source of your spiritual power? It’s radical union with God, not just doing good things or holding a role or function. Often we make the basis for ministry professionalism, education, and up-to-date-ism, which are all good in themselves. But in the end, the only basis for fruitful Christianity is divine union.”
We live and move by the power of God. In every area of life Christians are empowered by the Holy Spirit of God. Oh to experience it again!
We must learn to die to ourselves. Just as Christ died to any self-notions of power and greatness, so we too must die to any self-desires of position and authority and renew our ‘radical union with God.’
As we do, we come to see our own true weakness, and in turn depend upon God's power to enliven us, energise us, enable us, equip us and empower us!
Just imagine being free from powerlessness. We can enter each day knowing that God frames the day and not all our personal inadequacies. In fact, God’s power prepares the way for divine appointments with His power - presently, purposely, personally, and permanently directed toward us. Hallelujah!
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