The Greatness of His Power

And what is the immeasurable greatness of his 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 and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:19-20) 

The third truth that Paul prays for us to know is the immeasurable greatness of his power. Let’s think for a while about the terminology he uses.

· Immeasurable: Paul’s original term was the fascinating word huperballo where huper means ‘above and beyond the norm’, as in English expressions like hype, hyperactive, hyperbole and hypermarket, and ballo means ‘I throw’ (think of a ball). So, to coin a word, God’s power is ‘hyperballistic’. Like a rocket through space, it goes far beyond what we can imagine. It is all-surpassing power.

· Greatness: Our prefix ‘mega’ (as in megaphone, megahertz, megalomania) is related to the original term used here and conveys the idea of greatness. 

· Power. The word is dunamis. Obviously all the ‘dyna’ words in English stem from this. God’s power is dynamic, explosive.

· Working: Two words are used here—the noun energeia and the verb energeo. They have to do with being effective, with making or actualising. So God’s power is energising and productive. It works! As the old gospel song says, it is wonder-working power. 

· Great: English words ending in ‘crat’ or ‘cratic’ such as autocratic, democratic, plutocratic all draw on this Greek word (kratos). The idea is of strength, forcefulness, dominion. 

· Might: God’s power is mighty. 

We could sum up these terms in a more contemporary fashion as the Christocentric, hyperballistic, megathonic, dynamic, effective, theocratic, mighty power of God! Sounds impressive, eh?

But the Scripture gives us an even better summary. This power is like the power God worked when he raised Christ from the dead! And it is ‘for those who believe’! 

This is almost too much to comprehend. Is it really true? Can such a resource be ours? The answer is Yes! When it comes to spiritual warfare, we have access to such power that no sin, no wickedness, no addiction, no passion, no habit, no fear, no discouragement, no dismay, no darkness, no demon, no terror can overcome us. We can do the impossible! We need an ongoing revelation of this great truth of the indescribable, unsearchable dynamism that is ours in Christ. Lord, please open our eyes that we may see.

What next?

1. How was the resurrection achieved? (Rom 8:11)

2. Which of the following is not relevant to apprehending the power of God in our lives? Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8; Eph 3:20-21; Jude 1:20; Nehemiah 7:69.

3. Which two things can we do to achieve stronger faith to claim God’s power? See Mark 9:24; Romans 10:17.