The Power of Jesus Christ

(Ephesians 1:20-23)

In my last post I wrote about the power of God in us. In this post we look at the source of that power: the power of Jesus Christ.

The power of Jesus Christ is what is working in us to do the work of transformation. Here Paul briefly shows us who and what the power is working in us. We get a glimpse of the transcendent power and nature of the one who is at work in us.

And from this insight, we have hope, knowing the power of God and how He has given all of this power to us for the purpose of bringing us to Him.

Power of His Resurrection

In the first verse of this section we see the source of the power that was given so that we might come to God.

”…which he accomplished in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him sit at his right hand in the heavenly places…” (Ephesians 1:20)

The source of the power of transformation begins with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is better described by Paul elsewhere where he writes:

23 But the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him that raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification. (Romans 4:23-25)

Jesus died to set us free from sin and the Old Testament law. This is the beginning of our redemption in Christ.

Under the Old Testament law, only a death could provide redemption for the sins of people. Thus, the Israelites offered blood sacrifices of goats, sheep and bulls on the altar of the Lord in the Temple for the sin offering. These provided a temporary forgiveness for sin, but they could not take away sin. These animals did not sin and so they were acceptable as an offering because they were clean, but since they had no consciousness of sin or why they died, they could only go part of the way in cleansing people of their sins. They received forgiveness, but sin remained and the next time it reared it’s ugly head, people sinned once more and so were condemned again.

A perfect sacrifice was need of the kind that could take away sins permanently. This is where Jesus came in; to be that perfect sacrifice.

Jesus came to the earth as a man, subject to all the same issues and problems that men suffer. However, He did not sin, unlike man.

Jesus was perfect and so He should not have died because death is the punishment for sinning.

His perfection and lack of sin then made Him the perfect sacrifice. He was able to take the place of ALL mankind and stand in our place to die the death of a sinner, so that we would not have to die. His death gave us freedom from sin and the law, once and for all.

Because He had never sinned, He was not bound by death and so He was resurrected back to life. A sinner dies and stays dead, but Jesus did not sin and so He lives.

Now the purpose of His death and resurrection is made clear in the verse from Romans 3 quoted above. He died for our sins as the perfect sacrifice, and He was raised for our justification.

To be justified is to be made righteous. Justification is righteousness.

In Jesus we have righteousness, which we receive by faith. Because we believe Jesus died for us, we are able to take His death as our own by faith, and so we die too. And when we are dead, sin no longer has any power over us and the law ceases to exist for those who are dead. All of this is received by faith.

When God the Father raised Christ from the dead, this is what He accomplished in Christ Jesus for us. This is the power of Jesus Christ’s resurrection; that we can become righteous before God by faith.

Authority of Christ

As we continue on in these few verses of Ephesians, we see the great power of Jesus Christ in who He really is and where He sits today.

“…and made him [Christ] sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come; 22 and he has put all things under his feet…” (Ephesians 1:20-22)

Look how great and mighty and powerful Jesus Christ is! Yes, we know He is the Son of God, but in these few words we gain a glimpse of the One who has done so much for us.

Jesus is far above ALL rule and authority, far above all the kings and rulers of this world AND those who exist in the heavenly places. He is seated in the highest position of honour possible; the right hand of God. And not just for this present age, He continues to hold this place and position of ultimate power both now and in the ages yet to come.

We understand the power on earth of someone who is the “right-hand man” of a person who has power. The “right-hand man” wields all the power of the person they serve in their name.

And it is the same with Christ. He holds the totality and fullness of the power of the Almighty God and is authorised to wield it as He sees fit for the sake of those who are to be saved. That’s you and me!

If we never looked at Christ Jesus in awe-struck wonder before, knowing this should change our hearts and minds concerning Him.

Furthermore we see the love of His Father for Jesus Christ in that the Father has “…put all things under his feet.” Everything that exists in any realm, physical or spiritual, past, present or future, is subject to Christ. In fact the only thing that is not subject to Christ is God the Father Himself. Apart from the Father though, everything is under Christ’s power and control.

And yet in spite of this great power, authority and control, Jesus Christ cares for each of His people as individuals. He does not rule the masses as the kings of the earth do, who are unable to know their subjects individually. No, Jesus KNOWS each and every one of us more fully and more intimately than we even know ourselves.

He does not call us His “subjects” but He calls us His friends and His children.

In the next bit of Ephesians we see how He uses this awe inspiring power.

Gift to the Church

The power of Jesus Christ is given to us as individuals and collectively as the church. It is His desire for all people to come to Him, and it is through the mechanism of the church that we live, learn, grow and understand the will of God. The next part of Ephesians 1 shows us this.

“…and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” (Ephesians 1:22-23)

God the Father has made Jesus Christ the head over ALL things.

Why? For the church, which is His body since He fills the church spiritually with Himself.

All of this great power has been poured together in Christ for the sole purpose of bringing people to Himself and to the Father via the mechanism of the church. His power resides in the church to exercise His will in the preaching and teaching of the word of truth that exists only in Jesus Christ. Recall that He said of Himself, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

Since Jesus IS the truth and IS the way and He IS the life, then the best place a man can find these things is through the church that Jesus Christ established for He dwells in and fills the church.

But each person individually needs to seek these things through the church. We each stand before Christ alone and accountable for our life. And it is true that where the church is, so too there is the opposer who seeks to twist the truth and deceive the people of God.

In spite of the efforts of the devil and his people, the truth cannot be crushed or defeated. The truth of Jesus Christ stands alone so high and pure that it cannot be defeated. As we have seen, His power and authority is above ALL other forms of power and authority forever and ever, and that includes the false authority of the devil. Jesus has already conquered Satan and Jesus will give the same victory to those who seek Him and desire to escape the clutches of the devil and this world.

And as I mentioned in my last post, the power of Jesus Christ is the same as the power of God. It is the power to transform us into the image of Jesus Christ. And if we seek Him, He will be found by us so that the power of Jesus Christ will be manifest in our lives.

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