We are filled with the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and yet too often we live like we are powerless. God is inviting us to be conduits of His immeasurably great power to affect massive change in the circumstances and lives around us for His glory.
“…the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you” Romans 8:11
We weren’t saved and set free by God to be passive spectators during the hardships of life. Too often Christians sit on the sidelines watching the battle rage before them believing the lie that they have no influence on the outcome. We disqualify ourselves because we aren’t strong enough or mature enough or together enough to impact the negative situations we see. We pray earnestly for God to do something about that broken relationship, the devastating sickness, or a terrible addiction but don’t know what more we can do because we don’t really know who we are.
It points back to the lie that deep down we believe we “don’t have what it takes” when scripture after scripture says we have been made new and are identified with Christ. Paul tells us that “the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you” (Romans 8:1). What Paul is saying is profound and can be particularly hard to believe. Every child of God is filled with His resurrection power! You see, when Jesus saved us He made us new and He filled us with His Spirit – the same Spirit that raised Him from the dead. Christ has equipped us to be influencers not spectators on this Earth.
Imagine if your grandfather passed away and in the will he bequeaths a million dollars to you. The Executor of the Estate moves the money into your account and sends you a letter informing you. But you never read the letter. You live the rest of your life pinching pennies, struggling to get by when in fact you are a millionaire. The money is there you just never used it, it never changed your life or anyone else’s. I think of this often in terms of the power Jesus infused us with at the moment we accepted Him as our Savior. For almost 20 years I lived in poverty of power when in fact I was rich in power. I truly didn’t understand the value of the gift Jesus had given me in His Holy Spirit.
Paul gets that this is a hard one for us to grasp so he prays specifically for the Ephesian believers to be enlightened about God’s power for them. Ephesians 1:18-20 says, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you … and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.” Jesus died so that we could live full of Him, His nature and His Spirit. We are not believers who live in a defeated realm. Ephesians 1 goes on to say that we are seated with Christ in heavenly realms far above all powers and principalities. We are not subject to the evil of this world nor are we eye to eye with the enemy fighting tooth and nail for our breakthrough. We are seated far above all of the evil and negativity, exerting the power and authority of Jesus to take back what is ours and to receive our glorious inheritance.
Acts 1:8 says “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” We are empowered with the Holy Spirit for a purpose (Psalm 106:8). God’s will is abundantly clear in scripture, that all nations would turn to Him. He is a Creator who loves the entirety of His creation and wants to use each of us as demonstrations of His unmatched goodness and infinite love for all to see. His resurrection power flows through us giving us authority to call things into being, power to bind the lies of the Devil and loose the promises of God, power to define the people around us in accordance with Heaven’s perspective rather than man’s, power to cast out demons, and power to heal the sick.
Too often believers forget that the enemy’s power is minuscule in comparison to the resurrection power of Jesus at work in us and through us. I pray today you are encouraged to walk confidently in your true identity, a child of God, wielding the power of God to affect change on this Earth. We were not crafted and called to be a passive priesthood but an army of conquerors pushing back darkness and ushering in the promises of Heaven on this Earth.