Oct 21

Oct 21 His Incomparably Great Power

Faith/Trust, Jesus, Relationship with God, Holy Spirit

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2:20

The chorus of this old hymn is bumping around in my mind today, coincidentally building on the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6):

“At the cross, at the cross, Where I first saw the light,

And the burden of my heart rolled away,

It was there by faith I received my sight…”

—Isaac Watts, Ralph E. Hudson, 1707

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me! What a truth to hang onto. Consider the changed life of the apostle Paul, from his Pharisaic persecution of the followers of Jesus to his sold-out focus on sharing the way to Christ.

How did Paul become so alive in Christ? How do we? How do we live by faith in the Son of God? How did Charlie Kirk, till his death, openly teach Jesus to the youth on college campuses in the face of verbal condemnation? How does his wife persist?

Ephesians 1:19 speaks to a power from the Holy Spirit and from the Father that fills the believer, enabling him to live as Christ: his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength.

Priscilla Shirer* breaks down that multi-faceted power this way:

1.incomparably great power: dunamis or dynamite .raw power from the Holy Spirit living in you

2.working: energien or energizing .strength to use the power God has given from the Holy Spirit working in you

3.mighty strength: kratos plus ischus—power and dominion to overcome .used only of God, who can and will work it for us according to His providence

And so I live by faith in the Son of God, depending on the Lord’s amazing power every day—his incomparably great power for us who believe.

Nancy P

*Priscilla Shirer, He Speaks to Me, Lifeway Press, 2005, p.51-53

All Scripture quotations are from the NIV Translation 1973, 1978, 1984, unless otherwise noted