Power at Our Disposal

We have all witnessed unprecedented power at various times in our lives. Have you not sat through a violent thunderstorm and marveled at the power in the wind, the rain, and the lightning? You may have been taking shelter from a tornado, only to emerge from safety after the storm passes and shudder at the power of destruction in those storms. You have seen the power of nature in the devastation along the Gulf Coast of the United States, the annihilation from the tsunami’s in Indonesia, or the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that occur from time to time. You’ve seen the power of an idea in the birth and development of this great nation, and in its struggle for civil rights among its citizens. You recognize the power of one sermon to change a life, and to change eternity for a soul. You can grasp that one verse of an invitation song would be powerful enough to empty hell.

Paul wrote in Romans 1 about the power of the “good message” of Jesus Christ. He says it is the “power” unto salvation for everyone who believes, Jew and non-Jew. Can we grasp that kind of power? Or have we become so numb to the message that we cannot comprehend the power inherent in it? It is my belief that many do not, or cannot, recognize the power of change in their life, because they really didn’t have a conversion experience. Their life didn’t undergo any radical change. Perhaps they didn’t give up any former lifestyle to become a Christian, and therefore, perhaps they wouldn’t have an appreciation for the power of transformation. Using a storm analogy, contrast the experience of a man who endured a raging flood from a relatively high position, against the experience of a man who, along with his wife and children, were pulled from the raging water only seconds before being overcome.

We would never proclaim a gospel that omits the need for baptism, and rightfully so. In faithfully teaching the necessity of baptism, have we failed to proclaim a gospel founded on the need for repentance? There is power in the blood of Jesus, and power in the waters of baptism that brings us into contact with His blood. But there is power in the lure of sin, and power in the ability to overcome sin through the power that comes from above.

There is also divine power in the strength we receive from the Spirit of God. According to Romans 8:11, there is the power of life. Paul makes an argument that because “the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us”, that same Spirit “will give life to our mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in us”. Did you get that? The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to give immortality to our mortal bodies!

Who can say that the Spirit of God dwells in a Christian and yet, does nothing?

In addition, the same Spirit Paul writes about in Romans 8, is an agent of inner strength to the Christian. The words of this same Spirit, through Paul, are clear:

“I pray… that God would grant you … to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man…” (Ephesians 3:14-16). Further, Paul talks about the scope of this power that we, as Christians, have, in verse 20.

“Now, to Him, who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us…”.

FAR MORE ABUNDANTLY BEYOND ALL THAT WE ASK OR THINK? In other words, I cannot imagine the power that is at my disposal.

The power of God, through His indwelling Spirit, is a privilege reserved for God’s children. Let’s not live beneath our privilege.