LIVING IN THE POWER OF CHRIST

1. In Christ we have hope: Ephesians 1:15-18 (NKJV) Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: "...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints..."

In order to have any sense of spiritual growth in our lives, we need a knowledge of Christ that comes to us in a personal way. This is the factual knowledge that comes to us through the work of God's Spirit in our lives. This is the difference between knowing about" and knowing" by experience. I knew about Jesus long before I ever got saved. In a sense I had some knowledge of Jesus. It was not until my salvation, however, that I knew about being a saint-[Christian] in a personal way.

This is a really important issue when it comes to our desire to see people come to the experience of faith in God for themselves. We learn from the apostle Paul in this text that the way to start is to pray for people before we ever consider talking to people about the life of faith. We witness the most effectively when we live who we are in Christ.

2.  In Christ We Have Power [19-20] "...and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places..."

One of the great issues in our world today is the sense in which people feel powerless. We have not really begun to understand what the real intent of faith for our lives and for our church is all about until we come together as a church in God's power to carry out our mission in the world around us. We are called to be salt and light, to give witness to God's mighty power to bring about justice, hope and love. Yet it is more than clear that none of this can take place within our own strength. It is when we are in touch with and energized by the power of God which is intended to work within us that we begin to sense the possibility of changing the world around us.

In some ways, Paul points to the fact that this power of God that can work within us is not something ordinary. He prays for the church continually that they will have the spiritual knowledge it takes to be the powerful church God desires us to be.

3. In Christ We Have Victory [21-22] "...far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church..."

These thoughts take us back to one of the central themes in all of scripture namely: God's people live under the power of a divine promise that no matter how long the road may seem or how dark the night may appear to be, God's victory over all unrighteousness is certain.

We live under the promise of the resurrection, the power of God within the community of faith and the affirmation that "all things" have been put under the feet of Christ who is, "head over all {things} to the church."  

It is the certainty of God's victory in the long term that powers our life of faith in the short term.

4. In Christ We Have Fullness"...Which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."

We learn in this short verse that Jesus Christ brings fullness, which is completeness and full maturity to our lives as God intended them to be.

The New Testament vision of a church that is healthy and whole, a church where people may discover the fullness of Christ, is a church that is bound together as the Body of Christ. This is a church where Christ is the head.

This is not something that comes about because we hang a mission statement in the halls of the church building or open with prayer at our meetings. When Christ is head of the church, there is evidence of our openness to God, to each other and to the cries of a dying and lost world.

One of the reasons we don't experience the fullness of Christ in the church these days is that we have too low a view of Christ and the church. It is seen as just another social grouping by too many. We will gain the power God has for us when we regain a very high sense of Christ as the head of His Body, the church. Perhaps it would help to re-center ourselves on Paul's words in Ephesians 5:25 Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.

The Apostle Paul's prayer actually opens up God's design for the church. In Jesus Christ we have hope, in him we have power, in him we have victory and in him we have fullness. Colossians 2:9-10 ^For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; ¹⁰ and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

Invitation: Are you complete in Christ? Have you confessed your sins to Jesus and asked Him to forgive you? Have you invited Him into your life? If not, now is the perfect time in the privacy of your own environment. If you will you will never regret it, but if you refuse you know where you will spend eternity so seriously think about it!