Ephesians 1:19-21
The Working of His Great Might
Ephesians 1:15-23 is one long passage full of so much teaching that it has to be broken up for daily devotions, but I encourage you to read it as a whole as it naturally goes together. At any rate, we take up today those verses which speak to God’s mighty power—a mighty power worked by God on our behalf. We must first go back to verse eighteen and catch the subject and verb of the clause, “that you may know” (and we pick up the rest): “what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ when He raised him from the dead and seated him at His right hand in the heavenly places.”
So let’s break this down: 1) What follows is something God (the Father) wants us to know. 2) The Father wants us to know of “the immeasurable greatness of His power.” But this immeasurable greatness of God’s power is not some abstract greatness thereof. Oh, God is great in and of Himself, and he doesn’t have to do anything to prove it; He simply is great. But in this case, God is speaking of a specific instance of His great power. 3) The Father wants us to know “the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe.” So in this case, we are told that this power of God has a specific object which terminates on those who believe; that is, His power in this case works for us and on our behalf. 4) The Father wants us to know just how great this power is; simply put, the same great power which He exercised when He raised His Son from the dead and seated him at His own right hand in heaven. That’s power!
So how does this great power of God work for us? First, by birthing us anew upon saving faith. This is a work of God which no man could ever manufacture, not even by manipulation, which many preachers have tried to do over the centuries. Salvation is solely the work of God. And second, by empowering us to live godly lives. Yes, we are sinners, but through the power of the Holy Spirit working in us, we can overcome temptation. A denial of this is a denial of the power of God in our regeneration, a denial of this very passage. The same power that raised God’s Son is at work in us. We have no excuse not to grow in holiness and be a truly holy people.
Finally, this power that raised our Lord, raised him above every other conceivable power, visible or invisible. Satan and his minions bow before our Lord’s might. This is our Champion and he shall never be beaten, our King and he shall never be overthrown, our Lord and we shall serve no other.
