Jesus Christ Is Our Power

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Jesus Christ Is Our Power

Picture the sun rising on a beautiful, clear morning. We see it slowly peeking out over the horizon, as time passes it becomes more noticeable, the heat increases, the light becomes stronger until it is fully visible, a ball of light casting its intense glow over everything. The earth awakens each day to this light; plants grow and life is sustained. In much the same way, the Son rises in our heart. We accept him into our life and he progressively overcomes the darkness of our old life, a life without him and full of self. As bits of this darkness are forced away through our increasing knowledge of him, the Son blazes forth, in ever greater intensity, into our everyday life. We become partners with him as we become more and more aware of his power in us.

I believe the Bible calls us to this progression of experienced power when it says, “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Ephesians 5:14). We see in this verse a wonderful promise of seeing Jesus Christ work in and through our life and circumstances. When Christ shines on the life of the believer, things happen!

Our focus here is on spiritual power. There are many kinds of power: secular, political, physical, informational, and even personal. However spiritual power, God’s power imparted to us by Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, trumps all other power whether it be earthly power or other supernatural power.

More and More

The Son-powered life is Christ, the power of God, living in and through us. However, knowing this fact and experiencing the reality of that relationship are two different things. The Son-powered life begins at the moment of spiritual birth and develops as we cultivate our relationship with Christ. We learn to trust Christ daily to live his life in and through us.

As I’ve spent time studying God’s Word, I have found that many scripture verses relate to one another even though they may be from different places in the Bible (this is one of the key principles of the Sonburst diagrams). One verse may tell us one thing and another verse amplifies that thought, principle, or picture of who God is or what he desires for our life. When we actually put these verses together we can see how God has woven his message throughout the Bible. Here are several verses that illustrate this principle, particularly as it relates to experiencing Jesus Christ as our power.

In the Old Testament we read:

Lord … may those who love you rise like the sun
in all its power!
                                                     —Judges 5:31

‘But for you who fear my name, the Sun of
Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings.
And you will go free.’
                                                     —Malachi 4:2

And then Paul tells us in the New Testament:

I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit.
I did this so you would trust not in human
wisdom but in the power of God.
                                                   —1 Corinthians 2:4–5

But to those called by God to salvation …
Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
                                                   —1 Corinthians 1:24

In these verses, we see a demonstration of God’s power being brought to those that love him. As an added bonus, we also experience healing and freedom and salvation and wisdom. This is Son Power actively working in us and through us!

Paul tells us that this power, from God’s unlimited resources, begins internally. A work must be done on the inside of us in order for this power to be properly operational. Our inner person must be strengthened by the Holy Spirit, so Christ can more fully possess our heart and life as we trust in him to do so. In this way, the roots of our spirit being can grow deeply into the soil of God’s love. As this happens, God can bring to perfection in us, the “fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
                                                   —Ephesians 3:14–19

As we grow in our relationship with Christ Jesus we experience not only more and more of him, but more and more of his love, and power, and grace in our daily life.

Less and Less

As we experience more and more of Jesus in our lives, we also can start to happily experience less and less of self. In the book of John we read these words spoken by John the Baptist, “He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less” (John 3:30). This process can take place without us noticing, but eventually we should see evidence of this occurring in our lives as we cultivate our relationship with Christ. This is literally the power of Christ beginning to permeate our entire life.

The object of our faith is critical. If we trust in the power of self to live the Christian life, we will fail. Self is always ultimately powerless. Self relies on the old “try harder self-effort” model and is intent on meeting the demands of the law through works. We try and try to do and be what God wants, but, unfortunately, the flesh is incapable of satisfying the perfect, exacting demands of the law. However, when Christ is the object of our faith, we trust him to live his life in us, and we accept his power to achieve it. As we learn to become less and less, Jesus Christ becomes more and more.

Paul wrote to the Colossians, “For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God”(Colossians 3:3). As our life becomes more and more “hidden in Christ,” he takes increasing control. This happens while we progressively focus our attention on Jesus and his desires for us. The true, ultimate goal for each one of us is to have a life completely hidden in Christ.

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