Ephesians 1:16-20. 16I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places…
There’s a song lyric that says, “The same power that rose Jesus from the grave lives in us.” Have you heard that song? If this is true it is pretty awesome. Do we have the same power that rose Jesus from the grave living in us? If we have Jesus, we do!
In today’s verses, the Apostle Paul is praying for Christians. Look at verses 19-20 again. It can be a little bit hard to understand, but Paul is praying that we would know that we have God’s resurrection power in us – the same power that brought Jesus back to life. This is the power that give us a new life too – God’s life inside of us.
Do you have a favorite superhero? How did they get their super powers? One of my favorites is Spiderman. Spiderman got his power from a radioactive spider, something outside of him. But then that power went into him and it became a power that changed everything about him. He is now a man but also a spider. He’s a spider-man.
Having Jesus is the same. We get a power from outside of us, that comes to live inside of us. We are still ourselves but we are also like Jesus. We are a Christian. And that changes everything about us. What does it change about us and our life?
First, it gives us a victory that is assured. Just like for Spiderman, life is not easy, but with Jesus we will always win in the end. No pain or problem on earth has the final say when you have resurrection power. Just like Jesus’ cross led to the empty tomb, every hard thing we go through leads to us getting better and stronger with Jesus.
Second, we have nothing to prove. Most people spend their whole lives trying to prove that they are the best, the smartest, the coolest, the most popular or best looking. Most people spend way too much time comparing themselves to everyone else so they can feel better about themselves. But with resurrection power we don’t ever have to do that again. When Jesus walked out of that empty tomb there was nothing left for him to prove. With Jesus there is nothing left for you to prove either. He’s not keeping score. So just rest. Take it easy in God’s love.
And finally, with resurrection power we are able to overcome sin and stop being so selfish. Every day you are being bombarded with messages telling you to do more, be more, be your true self, and then never once fail at getting yourself to where your heart wants to be. But this is pride, and pride is the root of all other sins. But resurrection power removes all pride because it is the power of God’s love for you no matter what.
To be united to Jesus and his resurrection power is to have the power of God making all things new inside of you.
You: In what way does having resurrection power sound like being a superhero?
You with Jesus: With resurrection power you can know that you are loved by God no matter what happens to you. How can this also give you the power to help others and be kind, even to enemies?
Prayer: Father, the same power that rose Jesus from the grave lives in me. I’m still trying to figure out what that means exactly, but help me to trust it even when I don’t understand it. Amen.
TLICfamily 