Articles
Resurrection Power Toward Us
The resurrection of Jesus Christ was a marvelous demonstration of God’spower. Jesus was “declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4). “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony ofdeath, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:24). The apostle Paul desired nothing more than to know and understand “the power of His resurrection” (Phil. 3:10), and he wanted us to know it too! He wanted us to “know the surpassing greatness of His power” which is “in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead...” (Eph.1:19-20). Let us reflect for a moment on the power of God in raising Christ.
People who die stay dead. When we die our bodies decompose. After death, the heart no longer pumps blood and the body temperature begins to drop. Since blood is no longer being pumped, it begins to drain to the lower parts of the body (toward one’s back if lying down). The body becomes stiff within 24 hours. Once cells begin to die, the body can no longer fight off bacteria and decomposition increases rapidly, causing other things inappropriate to describe here. Jesus was dead for 3 days! He was well into the decomposition stage by then, not to mention His body was beaten to a pulp and nailed to a cross before even being buried. Yet the God of Power, the One who created the universe with the breath of His mouth (Psalm 33:6), gave life to Jesus’ lifeless organs, fluidity to Jesus’ stagnant blood, and freshness to His rotted flesh! Not only did God raise Jesus from the dead, but He raised Him all the way up to the heavenly places, seating Him at His right hand and giving Him authority over every physical and spiritual being in existence (Eph. 1:19b-21)! That is power!
The most amazing thing? God’s resurrection power works toward us who believe (Eph. 1:19)! By His grace and power, He raises us to life from our spiritual graves(Eph. 2:5) and sits us with Christ in the heavenly places too (Eph. 2:6)! What’s more, God gives us power, strength, and armor to fight Satan and the forces of wickedness in the daily spiritual war (Eph. 6:10-13). We are powerless to raise ourselves from the dead. We are powerless to seat ourselves in the spiritual realm, and we are powerless against Satan. Make no mistake, we need the surpassing greatness of God’s power every single day! Let us not be like the Sadducees who did not understand theScriptures “nor the power of God” (Matt.22:29). Brethren, let us seek to know God’s power and, most important of all, let us use it more in our lives!
