APRIL 24TH the Church will celebrate “Resurrection Sunday.” Perhaps that was the subliminal message tucked away in the back of my mind as I studied Paul’s epic prayer for the Ephesians this morning while I nourished body and soul, taking it all in with a fresh pot of coffee at hand. Wrapping your mind around the substance of his prayer could threaten a “blow out” but beyond that, have you ever noticed one of his sentences is over 130 words long? He’s on a roll and just prays on and on. Each phrase is loaded with dynamite truths – not possibilities, probabilities, prospects, likelihoods or chances – they are concrete realities! Listen up as he begins with “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
... that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come!” (Ephesians 1:17-21 NKJ)
QUITE A MOUTHFUL, wouldn’t you say? One could spend a lifetime ruminating on the fodder provided in that single passage of Scripture. And a sumptuous meal it would make indeed! However, I’d recommend slicing it into smaller portions for better digestion. Chewing on just a morsel now and then. Maybe something like this:
Think about why God gives us the “spirit of wisdom and revelation.” One thing is sure – it’s specifically related to the idea of getting to know Him better. OR,
Consider the necessity of “the eyes of your understanding being enlightened” so that you can begin to grasp what is meant by all the spiritual concepts which follow. OR,
What goodies are packed into “the hope of His calling” or “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” BUT
The one which rocketed off the page during my breakfast was “what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe.”
AMAZING GRACE! It is the very same “mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead.” That extraordinary divine force by which Jesus Christ was raised is the same power at work in and though believers today. The implications are staggering! Standing in awe of such colossal might existing to accomplish the perfect will of God in my life, leaves me wanting for words to express the wonder of it all on paper. I can only invite and encourage you to ponder the point for yourself in your own moments of daily devotion.
With so much going for us, why should we spend time worrying, fretting, hassled, complaining, nit-picking, fault-finding, moaning and groaning, discouraged, disheartened, depressed, disillusioned, doubting, just plain unbelieving? Yes, I think that’s it – just plain unbelieving. If we believe that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, by the authority of Scripture, we are obliged to believe in the offer of the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe.
So when we greet one another on April 24th with the familiar, “Christ is risen!” “He is risen indeed!” let’s remember that the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe is, in truth,
“according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come!”
Nothing less than Resurrection Power! AMEN
