Shedding light upon the significance of God’s power towards those who find their identity in Jesus...

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.