Ephesians 1:19-23
“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 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 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. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.”

Not only is God’s power seen in Christ’s resurrection but second Paul points to:

2. Christ’s Enthronement (1:20b)

In verse 20b Paul says, “… and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.” Not only did God raise Jesus back to life on the third day but forty days later Jesus ascended into heaven, where he is seated at the right hand of God the Father. To be seated at the “right hand” of a King was considered a position of privilege, power and victory. In heaven this position of privilege and power belongs to Christ alone. You see not only is Jesus alive forevermore, but he is also reigning forevermore. In the early preaching in the book of Acts, the preachers emphasized not only Christ’s resurrection but also his enthronement. They saw this as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. In Psalm 110:1 King David said, “The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’” When Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin, just before his crucifixion, he said that this prophecy pointed to him. The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Matthew‬ ‭26:63-64. Not only is Jesus in the place of power at the right hand of God but I want you to also notice His position, He is seated. To sit is a sign of completion, that the war has been won. On the cross of Calvary Jesus completed the work and won the war. His sacrifice didn’t just cover our sin it canceled it out. When Peter preaching on the Day of Pentecost, just 10 days after Jesus ascended into heaven, he concluded his sermon with these words in Acts 2:32–36, “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” ’ “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” So, why should God’s power in Christ’s enthronement matter to us, and what does it mean for us? It means everything. Christ, as the writer to the Hebrews says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews‬ ‭1:3‬. This means that if Christ upholds the entire universe “by the word of his power,” then we can take all of our problems to him, no matter how great or how small they seem to be. No matter how big the burden, how difficult the trial or serious the sin, we can bring it all to Jesus. This begs the question, if Christ has the power to deal with all our problems then why don’t we come to Him? For some it is ignorance that keeps us from coming to Christ, while for others it is unbelief and sin. Third God’s power is seen in:‬‬‬‬

3. Christ’s Supremacy (1:21-22a)
Verse 21-22 says, “for God put Christ “… 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 the one to come. And he put all things under his feet” It is here that Paul reminds us of Christ’s supreme power, that He is greater than any human power, any angelic being, and greater than any demonic being. He is above Satan and his demonic legions, for there is nothing or no-one superior to Christ. And Christ’s supremacy is not for a moment but will last for all eternity. The power of people comes and goes, nations rise and fall, even Lucifers time is limited, but Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. We do not need to fear that a hundred million years into eternity some rebellion will take place and remove Christ and His rule, no Paul proclaimed that Christ’s supremacy is not limited only to this age but also in the one to come. Christ’s supremacy above all other rulers involves both physical and spiritual powers. But, in the context of our struggle to live godly lives, the emphasis is upon hostile spirit powers. Later in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul said in Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” But even these spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places are subject to the supremacy of Christ. What does this mean for us, practically, it means that we do not need to fear our enemy, the one who came to kill, steal and destroy. Because scripture declares that we win. So how can we be victorious over Satan and his demonic host? James, the half brother of Jesus provides the practical answer in James 4:7, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” It is vital that Christians get the order right in this verse. For there are really two instructions, and we must be careful not to reverse the order. First, we must submit ourselves to God. That is, we must turn from our sin and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must be completely surrendered to God. Like the young man who gives up his civilian life to join the military, we give up our sinful lives and join God’s family. That is the first step, because if this never happens we will always struggle with Satan. Second, once we have submitted to God, we are to put the second part of the verse into practice: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” How do we resist the devil? By keeping in step with the Holy Spirit, who indwells all believers and enables us to turn away from sin so that we can follow the Savior, Jesus Christ. What about you are you focused on the problems or on Christ’s power and position. Are you surrendering to sin or to the supremacy of the Savior?

Scripture: Ephesians 1:19-23
“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 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 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. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.”
Paul starts out chapter one of the book of Ephesians 1:3-14, with one, long and complex sentence in the original Greek, by praising God for the gift of salvation. He praises the Father for planning our salvation, the Son for purchasing our salvation, and the Holy Spirit for applying that salvation to us. Then in Ephesians 1:15-23, which again is also one, long, complex sentence in the original Greek, the Apostle Paul prays for believers to grow in their understanding of, and appreciation for, the blessings of salvation. Now here in Ephesians 1:19-23 Paul shows us several ways in which God’s power is seen in Christ as he moves from praise and petition to declaring God’s power in Christ. There is a true story about a school fire in the town of Itasca, Texas, just before World War II that took the lives of 263 children. Almost ever family in town was touched by this horrifying tragedy. During the war Itasca remained without school facilities, but when the war ended, the town, like many others, began to grow and so a new school building was planned. This new school featured a brand new technology, something that was considered state of the art in its day and what the town would term “the finest sprinkler system in the world.” Civic pride ran high, honor students were selected to guide citizens and visitors on tours of the new facility to show them the finest, most advanced technological sprinkler system that money could buy. Never again would Itasca be visited by such a tragedy. With the postwar boom the town continued to grow, and seven years later it became necessary to enlarge the school. When they began construction on the new school wing it was discovered that their technologically advanced sprinkler system had never actually been connected to the city water supply. So crazy was this discovery that it was almost impossible to imagine. Some how connecting the sprinkler system to the cities main water supply had been overlooked. Regardless of how amazing this new system was said to be, it was useless because it was not connected to the source. Sadly this is the story with many Christians today. Far too few are really connected to Christ, the true source of our strength. There are many Christians that don’t know, understand, or appropriate the power of God that is available to them. Martyn Lloyd-Jones the Welsh Protestant preacher, who was influential in the reformed wing of the British evangelical movement in the 20th century once said: “The most urgent practical question for every Christian is this: Are we aware of the fact that the almighty power of God is working in us? Do we realize that we are what we are solely and entirely by the grace and the power of God? Do we realize in our own personal lives and experiences that it is this exceeding great power of God that accounts for everything in the Christian life? I press these questions again because I am convinced that the main trouble with most of us is our failure to realize the greatness of the salvation into which we have been brought, and which we enjoy together.” Just like Jones, the apostle Paul did not want Christians to be ignorant about the greatness of God’s power that is at work in us. So Paul prayed in verse 19a that believers would understand “the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him.” Then, he related God’s power that is at work in us to God’s power that is at work in Christ. Paul did this by showing us several ways in which God’s power is seen in Christ. First, God’s power is seen in
1. Christ’s resurrection.
In verses 19b-20a Paul prayed that believers would know what is the immeasurable greatness of God’s 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.” When Paul thought of the immeasurable greatness of God’s power, he turned first to Christ’s resurrection. For centuries people had lived and died, and yet when Christ came to earth he prophesied that God would raise him back to life again after he died. In fact, he even predicted exactly when God would bring him back to life, after three days, telling His disciples in Mark 10:33–34, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.” What He prophesied is exactly what happened! Now what kind of power could raise a dead person back to life again? There is no earthly power that could possible do that, only a heavenly power could. You see just as the cross is the greatest display of God’s love, so the Resurrection is the ultimate display of his power. But Paul did not stop here, he also wanted believers to know that God’s immeasurably great power was not only able to raise Jesus back to life again, but is also “toward us who believe.” That is, God’s immeasurably great power that is seen in Christ’s resurrection has practical benefits for us who are believers. So, how does the immeasurable greatness of God’s power benefit us? First, God’s power benefits us as saving power. Paul said to the Roman Christians in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” The immeasurable greatness of God’s power is able to save anyone, everywhere. There is no one who is beyond the grace of God because no one is beyond the power of God. Today many limit the Lords power in their life because they focus is on their failures instead of His power. There are many who will say, but you don’t know how great my sin is. But I don’t need to know, because there is no sin, no struggle, no secret that is beyond the immeasurable greatness of God’s power. Not only does God’s power benefit us as saving power but second, as a sanctifying power. God’s power changes us and enables us to live the Christian life. We don’t serve in our strength but through His power. Later in his letter to the Ephesians Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:20, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” Paul was proclaiming that the immeasurable greatness of God’s power that raised Christ from the dead is at work within us. It is God’s power that enables us to live godly lives. The problem is that too many Christians are not connected to Christ’s power. Just like the fire sprinkler, the system for God’s power is in place but it does not work because of unbelief and sin. That is why Paul prayed that believers would have “the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know… what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe” Ephesians 1:18–19. What about you are you connected to Christ? When it comes to His power we need more than just a head knowing, we need a heart growing.