The Resurrection of Jesus Christ: A Demonstration of the Unmatched Greatness of God’s Power

powerful military force that is ready and able to defend us if we are attacked or if there's any

kind of warlike crisis. As individuals, we have education, technology, medicine, talented people

to provide us with at least some power to face almost any crisis. But in the face of this

coronavirus emergency, many people, many Americans have felt powerless. You may have. Sometimes I do.

And it's frustrating, isn't it? It's discouraging. Well, I have some good news this morning. On this

Easter Sunday morning, I want us to understand that God is in full control of everything. He is in full

control of this universe. God clearly demonstrated the unmatched greatness of His power when He raised

Jesus from the dead on that first Easter Sunday morning. It was a tremendous demonstration of the

mighty power of God. And I want you to listen to this. Take this to heart. God has made this same great

power available to us, you and me, as His people. In Ephesians chapter 1, Paul prays for Christians to have

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

both a knowledge of and experience with God's power. That's what we're going to look at this morning.

I want to invite you to open your Bible to Ephesians chapter 1. We're going to look at verses 16 through 23,

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

where Paul tells us about what and how he has prayed for these Christians. When we get to verse 19,

it just seems like Paul gets excited as he prays for them to experience God's power. And the reason I say

that is you look at verse 19, he just goes all out to emphasize the greatness of God's power. Let's look at

Ephesians chapter 1, beginning in verse 16. I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

prayers, that 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. Having 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?

Now, let's pay close attention to how Paul describes God's power beginning in the next verse, verse 19.

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,

far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named,

not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head

over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

The goal for us today as we look at this passage is the same as God's goal for the Ephesians,

to make sure that we have knowledge of and experience with God's great power.

The first thing I want us to consider is a question. Can you point to evidence of the unmatched greatness of God's power?

In other words, can you point to evidence of God's power in action?

Somewhere in history, in life, can you point to evidence of God's great power?

Well, Paul points out two powerful demonstrations that every Christian should be familiar with.

Let's look at it again. Number one, He raised Jesus from the dead.

That's the great demonstration of God's power that He is focusing on, that He's excited about,

and that we need to be excited about this morning.

Look at the verses again, verses 19 and 20.

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.

When God the Father raised the Son from the dead,

it was the greatest demonstration of power in all of history.

Now think about it with me.

You know, most of you, if you're a Bible reader,

there are a handful or so places in the Bible

where someone was brought back from the dead.

Three weeks ago, we looked at a passage in John chapter 11

John 11 · chapter mention

where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

Now, what I want us to understand when Jesus raised Lazarus

and all the other times that someone was raised to life,

what the Scripture is describing is someone coming back to life

in the same body, the same person, condition that they were previously in.

It was really a restoration of the earthly life of the person who was raised.

For example, Lazarus.

He died again.

Every person that you read about other than Jesus,

people who died and Jesus or one of the prophets

or one of the apostles brought them back to life,

they died again.

And they were buried.

And their body is in a grave somewhere in this world right now.

But the resurrection of Jesus is totally different.

When God raised Jesus on that Sunday morning,

Jesus had a new, glorified, resurrected body

that will never experience pain, suffering, or death again.

You know, that's the kind of body that we as Christians

will receive one day when Jesus comes back to this earth.

We will receive a new, resurrected, glorified body

that will never suffer any kind of disease,

experience a crisis, never die again.

Think about this new body.

Think about it in terms of Jesus' new body.

After Jesus arose from the grave,

people saw Him.

They touched Him.

They heard Him speak.

Some people even saw Jesus cook fish over an open fire.

They saw Him eat.

Jesus appeared in bodily form

to over 500 people

in different locations

over a period of 40 days.

And His appearance, His presence, His power

made a difference in the lives of His disciples.

After His disciples saw Him,

the resurrected Jesus,

and later were filled with the Holy Spirit,

they were just radically changed.

Before His death and resurrection,

they deserted Him.

They ran away.

They were cowards.

But after the resurrection,

they boldly and publicly declared

that Jesus Christ is the risen Lord and Savior

of all who will believe in Him.

Many of those disciples,

tradition tells us,

died by execution

because they would not renounce their faith.

They would not in any way compromise

their commitment

to the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

God demonstrated His power

by raising Jesus from the dead.

But that's not all.

That's not where He stopped.

We also see that He exalted Jesus

to His right hand.

Look back again.

Those same scriptures.

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.

The exaltation of Jesus

to the right hand of the Father

is also a tremendous demonstration

of God's power.

It also demonstrates the power

and the authority of Jesus

as He is seated

in that place of authority and power

there at God's right hand.

I want you to look at verses 21 and 22

because they describe

this authority and power

that Jesus now possesses.

And seated Him

in His right hand

in the heavenly places

far above all rule

and authority

and power

and dominion

and above every name

that is named

not only in this age

but also in the one to come.

And He put all things

under His feet

and gave Him as head

over all things

to the church.

Jesus Christ is alive right now.

He's at the Father's right hand.

He rules over everything

now.

And He will forever.

We saw last week

from Romans chapter 8

Romans 8 · chapter mention

and verse 31

that something else

Jesus is doing right now,

He's interceding for us.

He's praying for us.

He's there

representing us

before the Father.

He's there on our behalf.

He is for us.

And then one day,

one day Jesus is going to leave

that position

at the Father's right hand

to return to this world

in what will be

at that time

the greatest demonstration

of power and authority

that the world

has ever seen.

Jesus will come back

to this world

one day.

Now let me ask you,

do you know,

do you have

absolute confidence

that Jesus Christ

was raised

from the dead,

that He is seated

at the right hand

of the Father,

and that all this

was done

by God's mighty power?

Do you know that?

Are you truly

worshiping

and praising

and talking

to your living

Lord

this morning?

This past week,

someone sent me

an article

about Dabo Swinney

where he was making

some comments

about the coronavirus,

but he also talked

about his faith

in Jesus Christ.

He was talking

about this special

time of year

about the resurrection

and about Easter.

He said one thing

that helps us

see something

about the greatness

of God's power.

I want to quote Dabo.

He said,

over 2,000 years ago,

we had a major

world crisis

going on.

God took something

that was evil

and turned it

into eternal good.

He was talking

about the death

of God's Son.

The death

of God's Son,

the Lord Jesus Christ

on the cross

was the worst

act of evil

that's ever

taken place

in the history

of the world.

But what we need

to understand

is that God

had determined

beforehand

to use it

to bring about

the greatest

good

in the history

of the world.

The salvation

of all

who will come

to Him

through faith

in Jesus.

I want to ask you,

do you have

a real relationship

with the risen

and exalted

Lord Jesus Christ?

Think about it.

Do you know Him?

Do you talk to Him?

Do you listen to Him?

Do you love Him?

Do you worship Him?

Is He really

your Lord

and your God?

Do you serve Him?

Do you seek

to please Him?

That's what we do

in a relationship

with Him

if we have one.

If you don't have

that kind of relationship,

I want to encourage you

to come to Him

right now.

There is absolutely

no better time

to come to Christ

in faith

than Easter Sunday.

I want to encourage you.

Turn from your sin.

Repent.

Change your mind.

Put your faith

in Jesus

that when He died

on the cross,

He was paying

the penalty

for your sin.

Surrender your life

to Him.

Honor Him

as your King

and your Lord.

The Scripture

tells us very

clearly,

plainly,

that whoever calls

on the name

of the Lord

will be saved.

And I want to encourage

you to do that

if you've never done so,

if you're not

truly

one with Christ.

It is vitally

important this morning

that we understand

the greatness

of God's power,

but knowledge

is not enough.

We need to

experience it.

Here's the second question,

second major question.

Can you point

to your personal

experience

of the unmatched

greatness

of God's power?

In other words,

how have you

experienced

God's power

in your life?

Do you realize

that the power

of God,

the power

that God

makes available

to us

is the same

power

that He

exerted

when He

brought Jesus

from the grave

and exalted

Him to His

right hand?

Look back

at verses 19

and 20

one more time

and let's look

at it in the

New Living

Translation.

I also

pray

that you

will understand

the incredible

greatness

of God's

power for

us

who believe

Him.

this is the

same mighty

power

that raised

Christ

from the

dead

and seated

Him

in the

place of

honor

at God's

right hand.

I want to

make something

very clear

about God's

power.

God makes

His power

available to

us

to accomplish

His

purpose

not our

own.

God does

not give us

power

to go on

an ego

trip.

God does

not give

us power

for selfish

or worldly

goals.

Most of

you know

that God's

overall goal

His ultimate

goal

is for us

to become

like Jesus.

That's what

He's working

in us

every day

in every

situation

to accomplish

if we're

Christians.

God wants

us as His

children to

grow spiritually

and to

develop

Christ-like

character.

And He

promises

us the

power to

be able to

do that,

to succeed

that.

You know

in the last

three chapters

of Ephesians,

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

chapters 4,

5,

and 6,

Paul describes

some of the

ways that

God wants

to exert

His power

in our

lives

and bring

about change

in us.

God does

not save

us with

the intent

of leaving

us as

we are.

When God

saves us,

He puts

His Spirit

in us

and He

works

in us

to change

the way

that we

think,

the way

that we

speak,

the way

that we

live,

the way

that we

interact

with people.

I want

you to

look at

some

examples

in Ephesians

4 through

6 of the

kind of

changes God

wants to

work in

us

through His

power.

First,

God will

empower us

to develop

humility,

gentleness,

and patience

according to

chapter 4

verse 2.

God works

in us,

enables us

with the

power,

if we'll

cooperate with

Him,

to develop

humility,

gentleness,

and patience.

God gives

us the

power to

use our

spiritual

gifts and

talents to

be a

blessing to

other people,

to help

other people,

to serve in

and through

our church,

to strengthen

the ministry

of our

church.

Are you

using your

gifts that

way?

Number

three,

God will

give us

the power

we need

to get

rid of

ungodly

behaviors,

things like

sexual

immorality,

greed,

lying,

anger,

rage,

even

alcohol

abuse.

We find

this in

Ephesians

Ephesians 4:25

chapter 4

verses 25

through

chapter 5

verse 18.

And these

are just

some of

the behaviors,

sinful

behaviors,

that God

will empower

us to

overcome.

Number

four,

God will

empower us

to live

godly

lives in

our homes

and develop

healthy

family

relationships.

There's an

extensive

passage,

Ephesians

Ephesians 5:22

5 verse 22

through chapter

6 verse 9,

where Paul

specifically

addresses

wives,

husbands,

fathers,

parents,

children.

God wants

our homes

to be

healthy.

He wants

the relationships

in our

home to

be loving.

He has

given us

instructions

on what

we need to

do, the

mindset, the

lifestyle we

need to be

involved in

in order to

make this

happen.

It's not

easy.

It's not

easy living

with other

people, is

it?

But God

will give

us the

power over

time to

gradually

grow and

become loving

husbands and

wives and

parents and

children.

Let's look at

one more.

God gives

us the

power to

resist

temptation and

overcome the

evil power and

influence of the

devil in any

demonic force.

That's in

Ephesians chapter

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

6,

specifically

verse 12.

I want you

to think.

Everything that

God calls us

to be and

do, he

supplies us

with the

power, the

ability to

do it.

Do you

really and

truly believe

that?

Well, the

answer is

found in the

way you are

using God's

power.

power.

How have

you responded

to God's

offer of

power, to

his indwelling

spirit who

provides that

power?

Have you

responded with

doubt, with

denial, or

maybe with

delight?

Let's think

about it.

Have you

doubted God's

willingness to

work powerfully in

your life?

Have you

doubted it?

Some Christians

do.

Some Christians

really live like

they are

deists.

They're

practical

deists.

They believe

that God

created the

world.

They believe

that God

has saved

them.

I'm talking

about people

who really

and truly do

not expect

God to be

actively involved

in their life

on a daily

basis.

God.

They believe

in God.

They trust

Jesus as

their Lord

and Savior.

But the way

that they

live, the way

that they

think, they

really show

that they do

not expect

God to be

actively involved

in the details

of their life.

Let me ask

you, do you

expect God to

work His

power in

your life

on a regular

basis, on a

daily basis?

Now, some

people deny,

let me ask

you, have

you denied

God's

willingness to

work powerfully

in your life?

Some Christians

do that.

They may not

think about it

in these terms,

but some

Christians, just

as some people

in general in

the world, have

a victim

mentality.

mentality.

They think

that they're

trapped in

some kind of

unhealthy or

even sinful

behavior, and

they can never

change.

Oh, they see

other people

have changed,

but in their

mind, they're

different.

Such things

have happened.

Certain people

have betrayed

them, hurt

them, and they

think they're

beyond hope

when it comes

to change.

When a

Christian thinks

like that, what

they're saying

is they don't

think God can

or will work

in their lives

to change

them.

So I want to

ask you, do

you really

believe, do you

have confidence

in the fact that

God can change

you?

God can

let me ask you

one more

question about

this.

Have you

delighted in

God's willingness

to work powerfully

in your life

by the way that

you cooperate

with Him, by the

way that you

seek to listen to

Him and obey

Him?

You know, that's

what we all

should be doing.

That's what God's

goal is for us,

to trust Him,

that He has the

power to change

us, and then to

obey Him as He

goes about changing

us through

primarily His

Word and His

Spirit.

You know, God

works in His

power in our

lives in all

kinds of ways,

really.

But the

primary ways are

through His

Word and His

Spirit.

You know, God's

Word, the Bible

that you have,

provides us with

everything that we

need in terms of

what we should

believe and how

we should live as

people who are

children of God,

who want to

please God.

So let me ask

you, are you

reading that Word

regularly?

Are you

obeying what

you read

faithfully?

God's Spirit

gives us the

desire and the

ability to obey

God's Word and

to please God in

the process.

We have that

desire.

We have the

responsibility as

Christians, indwelled

by the Spirit of

God, that's our

real power source,

He is our real

power source, we

have the

responsibility to

be sensitive to

His presence,

and then obedient

to His leadership.

And I want you to

think, keep in

mind, the Holy

Spirit will teach

and guide us most

clearly from what

He has already

given us in the

Scriptures that He

inspired men to

write.

And we can always

be sure that He

will never, the

Spirit will never

lead us to do

something that is

contrary to

Scripture.

before World War

II, there was a

small town in

Texas where a

school fire broke

out and took the

lives of 263

children.

Now, as you can

imagine, in a

small town, just

about every family

was touched, broken

broken by that

tragedy.

Well, during the

war, during World

War II, there was

no money, and the

town was not able to

rebuild their school.

But after the war was

over, the town did

rebuild, and they never

forgot the fire.

They were able to build a

new school that

featured what they

called the finest

sprinkler system in the

world because they were

determined a tragedy

like that would never

happen again.

Well, in the post-World War

II era, towns boomed, and

this little town had a lot

of growth to the point

that seven years after the

school was built, they had

to expand the school.

When they began adding a

new wing, they discovered

something that just floored

them, shocked them, they

could not believe.

Their world-class sprinkler

system had never been

connected to the water

line.

Can you imagine that?

A town, a group of people

who were so concerned for

the welfare of their

children that they

overlooked hooking up that

sprinkler system to the

water line.

That is a parable of how

many Christians fail to

hook up to, be sensitive to,

and obedient to the Spirit

of God, their source of

power who indwells them.

A lot of times we fail to

utilize God's awesome power

that He demonstrated by

raising Jesus and seating Him

at His right hand.

That's the kind of power that

a lot of times we ignore, that

we waste.

I want you to understand on

this Easter Sunday, God in

demonstrating His power by

bringing Jesus back from the

grave, exalting Him to His

right hand.

God wants to use that same

power in your life.

He wants to use it in a way in

you and through you that will

first of all bring glory to

Himself.

That will truly be a blessing to

other people.

And as you glorify God and

bless other people, you're going

to find that you're experiencing a

lot of joy and satisfaction.

It's going to be just a byproduct

for you.

I want to encourage you.

Think about this power.

It's available to you.

But do you want to experience?

Do you want to experience God's

power in your life to shape and

mold you into the likeness of His

Son?

If you do, trust Him.

Obey Him.

And be prepared to experience His

awesome power in your life every

day.

Let's pray together.

Father, we are people who are

powerless on our own.

When it comes to pleasing you and

living the life that you've called

us to live.

But Lord, we thank you that you have

supplied what we don't have.

Your great power.

Help us, Father, to desire it.

Help us, Father, to seek it.

And Father, as you speak through your

word and your spirit, help us to pay

attention.

Help us to listen to you.

Help us to obey you.

Help us to discipline ourselves to

listen and obey day by day,

situation by situation.

Father, on this Easter Sunday, we are

so thankful for the way you

demonstrated your power in raising

Jesus from the dead.

Asking Jesus from the dead.

We are so thankful for you.

Making Jesus from the dead.

Exalting Him to your right hand and

promising to send Him back to this

world one day where you will make

everything right and perfect.

But Lord, help us to not end this day

with just knowledge of your power or

even an appreciation of your power.

Help us, Father, to experience it by living lives that are sensitive to and obedient to your indwelling spirit.

Help us, Father, to truly be consciously aware of your presence and trust you and obey you,

even in the little details of our lives.

Thank you for this promise of power.

Help us, Father, to truly experience it every day.

And it's in Jesus' name we come. Amen.