Ephesians 1:19&20: And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength,
Which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His [own] right hand in the heavenly [places],
The Bible seems full of paradoxes. The last shall be first. The weak are the strong. You must die to live. Have you ever wondered what you really embraced when you decided to be a Christian. It is so easy to find the scriptures that make us feel good. I do believe in God’s promises. There are the messages, too, that are very sobering…you must die to live. What does it mean?
God wants us to “know and understand” what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power IN and FOR us who believe… So many superlatives describe His power IN and FOR us who believe! In and for us. Often we think of His power…what He does, who He is, how He works as being powerful. This scripture tells us His power is IN and For us who believe. What does it mean? I believe it means that His bidding is His enabling. He is on our side. He is not mad at us and withdrawn.
He is sufficient! We are not! He knows and understands that we have NO power. In this world, we fight for control. Control is not power. The Lord had all power but did not seek to control people or things. In and For us who believe…the believe means something more than knowing all the answers. We want all to be in a tidy box. We really do not care to leave much to faith. Not knowing the outcome of things does not make us happy. Sometimes you only “know” something because you know. If I know my husband well, I automatically know his response. God knows us very well, and He knows our response. Do we know Him so well that His response is based on knowing His character and not the immediate facts?
This power in and for us is based on the Lord’s resurrection. His power is life-giving when life has been taken. When man has done all he can do in crucifixion, God steps in and resurrects. Not only that, but He seats us in heavenly places. Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection is ours, too. So is the seating in heavenly places. Our challenge in this scripture is to “know and understand” that which seems to defy the understanding. His power in the paradox (to live you must die, etc.) is faith…the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of the unseen. We say these words so easily as a definition for faith. Look at all the unknowing that is within even the definition of faith. In all this unknowing, there is something that we believe. He resurrected Christ and seated Him in the heavenly places.
What amazes me in this scripture is that we are invited into this knowing of God and Christ…and ourselves. We have a crucifixion to attend, and it is ours. Then we are in the tomb (waiting room) for a while. Then we are resurrected and seated with Christ in the heavenly places. Think in terms of spiritual and not literal scenarios.
In and For us is very good news. When we are at our wits end, the end of our reserves, the end of seeing a way out, when we are in the middle of the dark night of our soul, it is such good news to know He is In and For us always. This is a personal knowing which is powerful but does not seek to control. Control is really an illusion anyway. Another paradox, His power within, is made strong in our weakness which trusts. I do not have the answers. I just seem to have questions that are having to wait and trust the In and For us God.
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