Morning Dew

 

Key Passage: Ephesians 1:15-22

 

Key Text: Ephesians 1: 19-20 “and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power ²⁰ which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,”

 

Knowledge is powerful. Understanding is liberating; But wisdom is most profitable. Wisdom has been defined as the application of knowledge. But without understanding there is no real knowledge. A popular preacher has the habit of saying, ‘you don’t have a financial problem, you have a wisdom problem”. ‘You don’t have a marriage problem, you have a wisdom problem’. ‘You don’t have a health problem you have a wisdom problem.’ In essence he believes that every problem confronting man, has a solution, but it requires that one pursues the knowledge that will be applied in wisdom and the problem will be solved. I like his hypothesis and I believe he is correct. The only addition I would venture to make is to say wisdom in the exclusive preserve of God and unless one is prepared to seek His face, wisdom may elude us.

So today’s passage tells us something quite profound and after being saved for over twenty seven years and being a pastor for about twenty one years, I can honestly say, I have never really contemplated the depth of this passage as I did recently and have just really began to understand the fundamental truth that undergirds the power of a believer in Christ Jesus.

Paul in praying for the Ephesian Church, prayed as follows:

 

Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶ do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: ¹⁷ 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, ¹⁸ 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, 

 ¹⁹ and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 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.

 

 

Paul felt it was vital for the church in Ephesus to know what the exceeding greatness of His power towards believers in Christ Jesus, which is according to or in other words aligned with and in the same context, with 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…

 

Ephesians 2:6 tells us, “and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”; this scripture tells us one very vital point, that we were raised with Christ and seated with Him in the same heavenly places in Christ Jesus, far above….

 So here is what I have learnt, and I will be summarising. That God made man and gave him dominion of the earth. That man sinned and lost his estate and dominion of the earth to the usurper, Satan in what is often called ‘the fall’. That Jesus Christ came in the form of man and suffered the death of a sinner on the cross for mankind, taking ‘the fall’ and falling to man’s lowly state, and in this way He somehow bound Himself to mankind and became one with us, except He did not sin. Then as He was raised from the dead, we were raised with Him. (God gave a powerful sign on this truth and you can find it in Matthew 27:51-53, please read this absolutely powerful sign).

 

Every man who believes in Jesus Christ, is automatically raised with Him and seated in the heavenly places far above…In raising Jesus from the dead, God exerted His power, the power to give life, the power of creation, and seated Christ and redeemed man in the heavenly places. Before man had dominion of the earth, but lost it, but in Christ Jesus the dominion was restored, but it extended into the heavens also. So the position of redeemed man is not just to rule and reign on earth with Jesus, but to reign from heaven with Him.

 

The authority of a believer is the authority of Jesus Christ, who is Lord over all. In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me, go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” The Church, which is the body of Christ, has been given the delegated authority of Jesus Christ, because we have been raised with Him and seated in the heavenly places, far above…

Far above what?  

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.

Here the bible tells us the scope of the authority and dominion. All. So there is no power in God’s creation that is not subject to Jesus Christ and by association, the Church. We are the executors of Jesus authority and power.

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.

 

So, it has become abundantly clear to me that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is basis of the power of the Church, but the Church needs to apprehend the fullness of this power and authority, so we can fully accomplish the mission of Jesus Christ on earth and grow into our role in the age to come.

 

How does this affect you as a child of God? You have this resurrection power resident in you. You have the mandate of Jesus Christ to act on His behalf. You and I are seated with Him in the heavenly places, far above….

 

Let’s pray: Father God, thank you for the authority we have in Christ Jesus as believers in Jesus Christ. Thank you that when you raised Him from the dead, we were raised along with Him. Thank you that you have seated Him at your right hand side in the heavenly places, far above all power and dominion. Thank you that we are seated with him there also. Please help me to learn how to exercise my authority as a believer and remember that the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, dwells in me and that power is available to me for the advancement of God’s Kingdom. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.