Ephesians 1:15-23 God’s mighty power

Ephesians 1:15-23

What does it take for you to become a Christian? What does it take for you to remain a Christian? How do you stay Christian?

Is it simply a lifestyle choice, like which gaming console you prefer, and as long as it delivers the goods – well, that’s my team. You know I’m an Xbox man – until the Playstation4 arrives with better features and whoops over we go to that.

Is that it? Christianity is just the best lifestyle choice we’ve found and so we’ll stick with it until... well, something better comes along?

Well, this morning we see that YOU remaining a Christian has nothing to do with YOU at all. Because, you see, you lack the ability to remain a Christian. However much we want, we cannot become a Christian and we cannot remain a Christian, because the power that is necessary to achieve that is the power to raise someone from the dead.

Now I’ve certainly never done that, and I’m pretty sure you haven’t either! I don’t even have the desire to try. Can you imagine? You’re at your grandfathers funeral and instead of paying your respects you flip open the coffin and start commanding in a loud voice “Granddad, arise!”

We don’t have that power. And that is the power that is necessary for us to remain Christian. Without that power, we would not follow Christ. 19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.

Oh, we could probably still go through the motions, go to church, pray, perhaps even read the Bible. We could make an external show of it. But inside we would be cold, dead, empty. No life-giving Spirit within. And there are many such “Christians” (churchians) today. Perhaps that’s you. Perhaps the words of v19 and 20 make no sense to you because you’ve never experienced this power.

Is Christianity a lifestyle choice? Or is it a meeting with the Living God?

On a hill outside Jerusalem a man who claimed to be from God – indeed, claimed to be God Himself – hung on a cross. His opponents mocked him, his friends mourned him, his mother, weeping, watched as he died. This was a man of great power, able to do incredible miracles. But now he was dead. And all that power was for nothing.

Or was it? See, he had said three times to his followers that he would suffer and die and then rise from the dead. He had told them that he had the power to defeat death. Three times he said it, and three times they nodded their heads while not believing a word he said.

On the Friday he died. On the Sunday he rose from the dead.

Yeshua bar Yosef (Jesus, son of Joseph), the man from Nazareth, showed himself to be the Christ, the Promised Rescuer, the King of the World, Gods Son, the Son of Man given all authority in heaven and on earth, by rising from the dead.

When people say there’s no evidence for God – take them to the resurrection. There is the evidence for God. A dead man who raised himself to life. It is impossible. So impossible his followers did not believe it (remember the end of Mark’s gospel – the women run away trembling and afraid after being told by the angel that Jesus was risen). No one expected it. These weren’t brainwashed fools – these were practical men and women, salt of the earth. They knew like we do that when someone dies they stay dead. Jesus upended their entire world view. Blew apart what they knew was possible. But even then they did not stride out in victory proclaiming the truth about Christ. No, after spending 40 days with them on earth after his resurrection, he ascended to heaven, and they huddled together in a room in Jerusalem, about 40 of them.

When suddenly the Holy Spirit, the very resurrection power of God came upon them. He stood them on their feet and sent them out the door to proclaim the great truth that Christ is RISEN FROM THE DEAD! So repent and believe. And three thousand people immediately responded. And the church has never stopped growing since then, by the power of the Spirit.

And HE is the one who is active in you, if you belong to Christ. It is his mighty power that sustains you, that keeps you alive. The Holy Spirit is our life support system. Without him, I die. Instantly.

How gracious our Father is to us! He calls us from death to life, his breath suddenly coursing through our lungs, his power raising us to new life…and keeping us alive, spiritually alive.

I have not stopped thanking God…this is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.

As we saw last week, every believer has this same power. There are no second class Christians because there is no second class Holy Spirit. He is equal with the Father and the Son, one God in three Persons. Eph 4:4–6 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all.

If you are a Christian, God Himself lives within you. If you are a Christian you belong to God, you are his Temple, his Holy house.

Changes the way you think about yourself, doesn’t it? It changes the way you act. It makes it harder to sin, doesn’t it, when you remember that you are God’s Holy house!
It’s hard to sit there looking at porn on the computer if you remember the truth of God’s power at work in you. It is hard to lie when you remember you are God’s Holy Temple. It is hard to cheat on your taxes, or gossip about someone, or be cruel, or be ungrateful, or moan about where we live or the people we live with, or be impatient, or be full of bitterness - when we remember His mighty power at work in us.

No, we are different, a song of praise to God because we belong to him, because his great power works within us. The Trinity within you, keeping you alive. Oh, that we would understand this! It would change our lives!

That is why Paul thanks God for their faith in verse 15 Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, 16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. We might have expected him to say “well done for you faith” or “keep it up” or something like that. And that’s what he would say if Christianity had anything to do with our own efforts. If this was a religion of the world with its rituals and offerings and ways-to-do-things-to please-the-gods then that would be exactly what he would say. But he says Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus … I have not stopped thanking God.

Why?

Because it is God’s power at work in us, keeping us alive.

Praise God!

Ok, so that’s my introduction, now for the proper sermon. Ha! The theme of God’s power at work in us is the main theme, both in this prayer and the corresponding on in 3:14-19. There he prays 14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.

Isn’t that beautiful. That’s coming up.

But there’s a few more things in this prayer I just want to bring to your attention for you to think upon, to treasure in your hearts, to express as praise to our God.

1. Faith leads to love

15 Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, 16 I have not stopped thanking God for you.

The NLT, unusually, leaves out the first part of this verse “For this reason”. As we’ve just seen, Paul thanks God for their faith in Christ Jesus and the natural result of that: love for God’s people – and he does it because of vv3-14. If we have faith in Christ we are blessed with every spiritual blessing. We are united with Christ, chosen to be holy and blameless. We are adopted into a new family – his family. We are a family united in holiness, united in forgiveness of sin, united in gratitude (thankfulness), in praise and glory to God. We all have the Holy Spirit, our guarantee that we belong to God. How can we not love each other!

Look around this room: this is your family. And we are called to LOVE each other. Seek the best for each other. Keep encouraging, keep pushing away from sin and towards Christ. Keep meeting together to pray and read the Bible. Keep saying “C’mon, let’s go to church, let’s go to Bible study” because sometimes we need help to do what is right. We’re a team: come on, keep going, don’t give up. You are not alone.

Oh, love can be difficult. Sometimes our fellow Christians are not all that loveable. Sometimes we can hurt each other deeply. That’s why we have the very power of God at work in us. We may not be able to love as we should – but the Holy Spirit can!

2:19 we (Gentiles) are no longer strangers, but now citizens and part of God’s family. All of us at one point were outside – but now, in Christ, we are part of God’s family, a world-wide family.

I’ve experienced the truth of this. Wherever I have lived in the world I have always found a family in churches that teach the word of God. Faith in God leads to love for God’s people everywhere.

I thank God that here in this church we are loving each other more and more. We are becoming a family, the family of God. Praise God, and by his grace let us get better at it.

As Jesus said: Jn 13:33–35 (NLT) Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. And as I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you can’t come where I am going. 34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

We love each other because Christ died for us, and through his death raised us to new live. We love each other with his mighty power which raised Christ from the dead. That is the power which drives the love that we have for each other. And as we love each other and our love is on display to the world, to Notodden, God is most glorified.

Let us love one another so deeply that people around us are asking questions “What’s with that Rock Church group? They really care for each other. I’ve never seen anything like it. Maybe there is some truth to this Christianity after all.” Amen? Amen!

So, God’s mighty power, the same power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the heavenly realms – that same power is at work in YOU, enabling you to turn to Christ, keeping you in Christ. It is not your own efforts but his. Our faith in him is shown in our love for his people – that is the power of the Spirit at work. And he 18 floods our hearts with light so that we can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called. He is gracious to give us his word and (in 4:11-12) we see he gives us faithful men to teach it so that we can know him and marvel at his magnificence.

Why? Why does God do all these things? Well, for some strange reason he gets great pleasure from taking dead sinners, rebels against him – and making us his friends, his sons and daughters – trophies of grace. For we are

2. God’s rich and glorious inheritance.

V18 continues: his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.

This is not a new theme. God’s people are often called God’s inheritance in the Old Testament (e.g Ps 33:12 (NLT) What joy for the nation whose God is the LORD, whose people he has chosen as his inheritance.; Je. 10:16 Je 10:16 (NLT) But the God of Israel is no idol! He is the Creator of everything that exists, including Israel, his own special possession. The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is his name!)

We exist to give God glory. This church is on display to the world, both the seen and unseen worlds – saying “glory to God!”. “Look what God has done!” Together with our brothers and sisters around the world, we are God’s masterpiece (2:10) , a holy Temple (2:21) built for the praise and glory of God. We are saved so 2:7 God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

Doesn’t that fill you with confidence? We are his. He will not abandon us. We are his treasured possession, a display of his glory for ever and ever!

Praise God for his glorious goodness!

Friends, all these blessings are found in Christ, and nowhere else. There is nowhere else we can go to find God’s blessings. There is no greater power in this world. The powers that are in this world are no match for His mighty power which can raise the dead, raise them right up to heaven! There is no other place where we can understand God, understand ourselves. All wisdom and knowledge is found in Christ. Without him, all other knowledge becomes worthless, twisted by sin. In him, we have every spiritual blessing. In him we are complete.

19 This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.

Live for Christ, and fear no darkness, for he is supreme! Serve him with joy, for his mighty power is at work in you. Do not be afraid, for you are holy. And rejoice, for in him we find fullness, completeness, wholeness. In Him we are home, filled with Christ. Praise him!