This week, we have been looking at a section of a
letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of our Bibles called the
book of Ephesians where we have discovered that our identity as a follower of
Jesus should result in us praying in light of our identity. So far this week,
we have discovered that praying in light of our identity results in us
expressing appreciation to God for His activity in the lives of others.
Wednesday, we discovered that praying in light of our identity results
in us asking God to give us the capacity to understand and function according
to our identity as a follower of Jesus. When we pray in light of our identity
as a follower of Jesus; when we pray with an appreciation of all that God has
done for us in Jesus, the result will be that we will be motivated to ask God
to give us the capacity to understand and live our lives in light of who He is
and to ask God to make fully known to us who He is in terms of His character,
and conduct.
We also discovered that praying in light of our
identity results in us asking God to shed light upon the significance of our
identity as a follower of Jesus. When we pray in light of our identity as a
follower of Jesus; when we pray with an appreciation of all that God has done
for us in Jesus, the result will be that we will be motivated to ask God to
shed light upon and grasp the significance, in the core of our beings, of the
confident expectation that we have for the future and of the radiance and
splendor of the salvation we possess as a result of our identity as a follower
of Jesus. Today, we will see a fourth aspect of our identity in Jesus that Paul
wanted God to shed light upon, in the core of the beings, of the members of the
church at Ephesus in Ephesians 4:19:
and what is the surpassing greatness of His
power toward us who believe. These are
in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He
raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and
authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in
this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under
His feet,
What is so interesting here is that the phrase
“surpassing greatness” in the language that this letter was originally written
in, literally means exceeding a standard of excellence to an extraordinary
degree. Paul then reveals for us that what exceeded a standard of excellence to
an extraordinary degree was His power toward us who believe. In other words,
God’s power towards those who placed their confident trust in what He had done
through Jesus life, death, and resurrection, exceeded any standard of
excellence to an extraordinary degree.
Paul’s point here is that there is no comparison when it
comes to God power towards those who trust in Him. Paul then explains that
God’s power towards those who trust in Him is in accordance with the working of
the strength of His might. Now this
little phrase literally means according to His mighty strength.
And it
is here that we see Paul reveal for us that reality that praying in light of
our identity results in us asking God to shed light upon the significance of
God’s power towards us who find our identity as a follower of Jesus.
Now a natural question that arises here is “well Dave how
do we know that God’s power exceeded any standard of excellence to an
extraordinary degree?” If those questions are running through your mind, I have
good news for you. And that good news is that Paul provides four evidences by
which God demonstrated that power exceeded any standard of excellence to an
extraordinary degree.
First, in verse 19 and the first past of verse 20, Paul
reveals for us the reality that God’s exceedingly excellent power was
demonstrated by God bringing Jesus back to life. God brought about, or put His
exceedingly excellent power into operation when He brought Jesus back to life
after being dead as a door nail in a tomb for three days.
Second, in the second half of verse 20, Paul explains
that God also seated Jesus at His right hand in the heavenly places. As we discovered last week,
the Heavenly places simply refers to Heaven. Paul’s point is that God not only
brought Jesus back to life; God brought Jesus back to life and brought Him up
to Heaven never to die again.
And if that was not enough, Paul explains that Jesus went
to Heaven without dying so that He would sit at God the Father’s right hand.
Now, in the culture of the day, sitting at one’s right hand was an image of the
position, prestige, and power that a person had. Paul unpacks this reality in
verse 21 by explaining that Jesus position, prestige, and power was far above
all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named,
not only in this age but also in the one to come.
Now what is so interesting is that the phrase “rule and
authority and power and dominion” were all words that were used to describe
transcendent or supernatural agents and their rule and authority. Paul’s point here is that God the Father had
given to Jesus a position that was greater than any other being in the universe
in this age or age to come, which is another way to say for all eternity. And
it is here that we see Paul reveal for us the reality that God’s exceedingly
excellent power was demonstrated by God bringing Jesus to a position of
preeminence and prominence over angelic powers and authorities.
Third, in the first part of verse 22, Paul explains that
God the Father put all things in subjection at His feet. In other words,
God the Father has placed all things under Jesus authority. Now all things is pretty comprehensive: God has placed
everything that has been created under Jesus Lordship and Leadership. And it is
here that we see Paul reveal for us the reality that God’s exceedingly excellent power was demonstrated by
God bringing Jesus to a position to rule over all creation. God demonstrated
His exceedingly excellent power by bring Jesus to a position where He was large
and in charge over all of creation, whether natural or supernatural, for all
eternity.
Paul then provides
us the fourth evidence by which God demonstrated that His power exceeded any
standard of excellence to an extraordinary degree in the second half of verse
22. Let’s look at it together:
and gave Him
as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him
who fills all in all.
In the second half of verse 22
Paul reiterates the reality that God gave Jesus Christ as head over all things.
But this morning, did you notice who God gave Jesus to: God gave Jesus, who is
head over all things, to the church. In other words, God gave His son Jesus,
who is large and in charge over all of the creation, to the church. And it is
here that we see Paul reveal for us the reality that God
demonstrated His exceedingly excellent power by bringing Jesus to a position of
preeminence and prominence over His church.
Now when Paul states that God
brought Jesus to a position of preeminence and prominence over His church, it
is important to understand that Jesus is not simply the CEO of an organization.
Instead, Paul explains that the church is His body. You see, the
church is not an organization. The church is an organism. The church is Jesus
body, of which He is the head. The church is not mine. It is not the Elder’s,
or the Deacon’s, or even yours as the congregation. The church is Christ’s. He
does not sit on top of a board. As the head of His body, we are a part of Him.
When we recognize who Jesus is and respond to what
He has done to rescue us from our sin by placing our confident trust in Jesus
as our Lord and Leader, we become part of His body. And as part of His body we
are a called out community of believers that is placed in a distinctive
environment to be distinctively different. It is not by happenstance that we
are here at this time, at this place. We were placed here by Christ, as part of
His body.
Now another question that could arise here is “Well
Dave if God demonstrated His exceedingly excellent power by bringing Jesus to a
position of preeminence and prominence over His church and if we are part of the
body of Christ, then why are we here?
Why would Jesus place us here?
Paul provides the answer to that question in the
last half of verse 23 when he states that the church is the fullness of Him who fills all in all. But what does
that mean? Now this phrase does not mean that we fill
out Christ, as though Christ was lacking something that we needed to give Him. Instead,
the meaning of this statement is much deeper, something mystical.
You see the church is not somewhere we go, the
church is something that we are. What the Apostle Paul is conveying to us this
morning is that the church is the vehicle that Jesus uses to reveal Himself to
the world. When we become followers of Jesus, we are united in Christ by the
Holy Spirit and become part of His body. And as part our identity as a follower
of Jesus, we experience God as we come together as the called out community
called the church. And Jesus, by His Spirit, uses the church, which is His
body, as a vehicle to reveal Himself to the world.
To try to wrap our minds around what Paul is saying
here, let’s look at it from another perspective. When we read the gospels, we
see what Jesus did in His body. We see God enter into humanity to take on
flesh. We see Jesus filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit at His baptism to
accomplish the kingdom mission that He was give to reveal and explain God to
the world, die for our sins, and be raised from the dead.
When we come to the Book of Acts, we see what Jesus
did in His body, the church. We see what followers of Jesus, filled with the
Holy Spirit did to accomplish the kingdom mission that they were given. And in
the same way, Jesus is still at work in His body, which is the vehicle that He
uses to reveal Himself throughout the world as we live our lives in light of
our identity in Christ.
So here is a question to consider: What does your
prayer life say about where you find your identity? What does your prayer life
say about how much you know about your identity as a follower of Jesus?
Because the timeless reality is
that our identity as a follower of Jesus should result in
us praying in light of our identity. Praying in light of our identity results
in us expressing appreciation to God for His activity in the lives of others. Praying
in light of our identity results in us asking God to give us the capacity to
understand and function according to our identity as a follower of Jesus. Praying
in light of our identity results in us asking God to shed light upon the
significance of our identity as a follower of Jesus. And praying in light of
our identity results in us asking God to shed light upon the significance of
God’s power towards us who find our identity as a follower of Jesus.
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