YOU HAVE THE POWER! People often want things that are more powerful than what they already have. In simple terms, power is the ability to influence or control others, events, or resources. Power can be used for good or bad. You have power available to you. How can you gain access to it? And how will you use it?
In this series, we are studying the Book of Ephesians.
Paul wrote Ephesians as a letter to the churches in Ephesus. At the time he wrote the letter, he was in prison in Rome. He wrote the letter to encourage the Christians not to lose hope despite the opposition.
In relation to (1) the resurrection of Jesus; (2) His exaltation at the throne of God; (3) His having all things placed under Him; and (4) Him being placed as the Head of the church, we look at the gigantic scope of the power God exercises on our behalf.
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Let Us Invite God’s Presence:
Holy Father, thank you for the source of power you have made available to us. May we use it not for our own selfish benefit but for your name, honor, and glory. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Power can be divided into different forms, such as political power, social power, economic power, personal power within relationships, and spiritual power.
How we use the power given to us has to do with how we obtain it. Power can be used for good when it comes from the right source and is used responsibly and with a focus on the well-being of others.
Many people desire power. This is seen in their effort to have faster and more powerful cars. For instance, one company called Devel Motors created a car called the Devel 16. It is said to be the most powerful car in the world. It is extremely fast and has a strong engine. It is said to take speeds of up to 364 mph and go from 0-60 in 1.6 seconds.
Another company, Peterbilt, built a truck with three jet engines! This truck can go a quarter mile in just 6.5 seconds. It can reach speeds of up to 376 miles per hour before its two parachutes open up.
If I am going to go that fast, put me on a plane!
Christians have an even greater source of power called the power Holy Spirit. Why is this power not seen? The Lord has not closed the windows of heaven to this power. The problem is that we have distanced ourselves from Him. Our faith and focus are on the wrong thing. What we need to do is focus our faith on the true source of power. That power is found in accepting Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross and truly believing that Jesus is our source of power and strength. We must trust and believe that he is our Savior.
As a matter of fact, God has an abundance of grace and power available to us. But He is waiting for us to ask for it. Why do we not ask for it? It is because we don’t feel our great need for it. We rely on ourselves instead of relying on Jesus for our source of power. To obtain that power, we need to lift up Jesus and trust completely in His goodness and what He has done for us. This is what brings true strength, power, and salvation. (From Testimonies for the Church, volume 5, pages 166 and 167. adapted).
Similarly, Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians is that rather than admiring the various powers and deities of their culture, he is encouraging the Christians in Ephesus to understand instead that God is the One who gives them strength and power.
Our source of power is thus found in the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus sent when he left this earth. Jesus sends His Holy Spirit to His followers to give them His power.
This divine power cannot be measured in horsepower and it is more powerful than any jet engine or magic.
It has been displayed in four profound historical events carried out for the sake of saving us. They are (1) Jesus’ resurrection: when He wakes up from the dead; (2) Jesus’ exaltation at the throne of God, where he is now sitting at the right hand of God in heaven; (3) God gives Jesus control over everything: all things are under His control and (4) God place Jesus as the Leader, the Head of the Church. However, the power that God offers is conditional. What are the conditions?
Continue to Part 2, Praying and Thanksgiving.
Ephesians
(Lesson 3)
The Power of the Exalted Jesus
Part 2 Praying and Thanksgiving.
Greater power is available to us when we offer praise and thanksgiving to God.
Listen carefully to what it says here about praising God for pouring out his Holy Spirit on us.
“After a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit, our joy in the Lord and our efficiency in His service would be greatly increased by recounting His goodness and His wonderful works in behalf of His children.
These exercises drive back the power of Satan. They expel the spirit of murmuring and complaining, and (Satan) the tempter loses ground. (Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 299, 300)
This is exactly what Paul does after receiving the news that the believers in Ephesus were flourishing in their faith in Jesus and in their love toward one another.
Paul’s letter show us just how important it is that our prayers not just be in asking; our prayers should be filled with thanksgiving and praise. He suggests that the language of prayer is praise and thanksgiving.
God gives us many blessings every day. In return, we should thank Him for them. Even during hard times, instead of complaining, we should seek to see God at work in our lives and praise him for it. There is power in praise! Praise God for His mercy and grace. Praise Him for His power to transform our lives and make life better. Praise Him for what He has made available to us in Christ Jesus.
Paul makes this point in Ephesians 1:20–23.
20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 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.
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:20-23)
We must not only thank God for the blessing he gives us personally but also for the blessing he gives to the people in our lives and those in our circle of influence.
The secret to Paul’s power to endure hardship, trials, and difficulties is found in his prayer life. His prayers are filled with praise and thanksgiving.
Paul in Ephesians 1:16 tells the believers in Ephesus that he does “not cease to give thanks for them, making mention of them in his prayers”
He also expresses the same to the believers in Philippi and Thessalonica: as in Philippians 1:3-4
3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, (Philippians 1:3-4)
I Thessalonians 1:2
2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, (I Thessalonians 1:2)
I Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Rejoice always,17 pray without ceasing,
18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (I Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Now what does Paul mean when he tells believers to “Never stop praying” as in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Is he saying we should devote our lives to praying and lay everything else aside?
Of course not; we know this is not what Paul is saying. His point is not that we should pray and do nothing else!
So what does he mean?
Paul’s point is that we must move through life with hearts open to the presence and power of God, thanking Him for everything He does for us. He is counseling us to we give all our problems and worries to God as we experience the twists and turns that life brings and ask for his divine counsel, recognizing that our power comes not from us but from God.
God is our Father; He is our friend. Therefore, we must not be strangers to Him. We must choose to be His children, choose to be His friend and allow Him to lead us. Hence our power comes from choosing to submit our lives to God in the name of His son and our elder Brother Jesus Christ.
Too often, we pray to God only when it is convenient or when we are in trouble and, better yet, when we desperately need something.
On the contrary, Paul teaches a different idea about prayer. He takes the privilege of prayer seriously. Therefore, he prays for the believers in Ephesus by both giving thanks for them, as in Ephesians 1:16; and Ephesians 1:3–14. And asking God to help them, as in Ephesians 1:17–23 and Ephesians 3:14–21.
From these passages of scripture, we see that Paul believes that prayer is an important part of being a Christian.
Read Ephesians 1:15–23 and Ephesians 3:14–21 again. Notice Paul’s moving call for us to pray more. These verses are an invitation for each of us to consider our own need to pray not just for ourselves but for others.
How about pausing this video and taking time to pray? Pray for yourself, pray for your family, pray for your friends and others who are in your circle of influence. Praise God for His goodness, and thank Him for all the good things, the bad things he has turned into good, and the power he has given you through his son Jesus.
As believers in God and through the power of God’s dear son, we have access to God’s great power. Rather than relying on human power, how can we benefit from God’s great power?
Continue watching! Proceed to Part 3: Experiencing Insight From the Holy Spirit
Ephesians
(Lesson 3)
The Power of the Exalted Jesus
Part 3 Experiencing Insight From the Holy Spirit
Paul in Ephesians 1:16 says I
16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
Regarding his prayers, Paul tells of one primary request that he puts before God. That request is that God gave His Spirit to the Ephesus believers. He had already noted in Ephesians 1:13, 14 that the Holy Spirit had come into their lives at the time of their conversion when they accepted Jesus.
Ephesians 1:13-14
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:13, 14).
Now Paul prays for God to give them a renewed blessing of the Holy Spirit. He is asking God to give the Ephesians spiritual wisdom and understanding of Jesus in Ephesians 1:17.
Notice what it says about the height of this attainment in the book: Our High Calling.
“Here are revealed the heights of attainment that we may reach through faith in the promises of our heavenly Father, when we fulfill His requirements. Through the merits of Christ, we have access to the throne of infinite power. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32. . .
It is the mystery of God in the flesh, God in Christ, divinity in humanity. Christ bowed down in unparalleled humility, that in His exaltation to the throne of God He might also exalt those who believe in Him to a seat with Him upon His throne. “Exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,” will be given unto us “the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him” (Ephesians 1:17), that we may be able to “comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,” that we may be “filled with all the fulness of God.”—Our High Calling, p. 366.
So, Paul prays that the Holy Spirit will bring special insight to the Ephesian believers.
In his letter, he expresses that he prays for “the hope to which he has called them” (Eph. 1:18, ESV).
Paul also expresses in Ephesians 1:3–9, 11–13 that he prays that the Ephesians will remember the things God already did to save them.
You see, Ephesians 1:10 and 14 also show that Paul wants the Ephesians to know about the wonderful plan God has for them in the future as well.
When Paul talks about “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” in Ephesians. 1:18, NKJV, he is remembering the Old Testament idea that God’s children are His inheritance as expressed in Deuteronomy 9:29; Deuteronomy 32:9; and Zechariah 2:12.
Deuteronomy 9:29
29 Yet they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your mighty power and by Your outstretched arm.’ (Deuteronomy 9:29)
Deuteronomy 32:9
9 For the Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance. (Deuteronomy 32:9)
Zechariah 2:12
12 And the Lord will take possession of Judah as His inheritance in the Holy Land, and will again choose Jerusalem. (Zechariah 2:12)
Paul makes this same point in Ephesians 1:11.
11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11)
You see, Paul also wants the Ephesians to know that they not only obtain an inheritance from God. He wants them to know that they are God’s inheritance. Paul wants the Ephesians to understand their worth in the eyes of God.
When Paul prays for the Ephesians to have spiritual insight about “the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe” (Ephesians 1:19, NKJV). He is picturing the Holy Spirit bringing a new understanding of the enormity of God’s power and realizing it in our own experiences.
In all his prayers, Paul wants the Ephesians to know in a personal way everything that God has given them in Jesus.
Paul continues to express the greatness of God’s Power. He wants us to realize it. What more does he do to help us understand the greatness of God’s power and its availability to us? Watch Part 4: Participating in Resurrection Power
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Hebron Seventh-day Adventist Church
7902 Wheatly Street
Houston, TX 77088
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