Ephesians 3:20-21 - "Exceedingly Abundantly Above All"

Todaywe're looking at the last two verses in Ephesians chapter 3. Along withPhilippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”, theseare two of the most quoted verses in the Bible that we hear when people finishtheir prayer. “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above allthat we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be gloryin the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen”. Whata powerful ending to this chapter!Paulseems to want to use every word possible to convey to us the vastness of God'spower as found in Jesus Christ. He has ended each of the two previous chapterswith praise to God for His great victory in Christ. He tells us that Christ'spower is so great He arose from the dead and ascended far above all (1:19-23).He teaches us that His power is so great He has reconciled Jews and Gentiles toeach other, and to God; and that He is now building a temple to the eternalglory of God (2:19-22). But in the paragraph before us, Paul shares theexciting truth that this, far “above all power”, is available to us! Itis even "above all that we ask or think." In other words, thepower of Christ, like the love of Christ, is beyond human understanding ormeasurement. And this is just the kind of power you and I need if we are towalk and war in victory. Theword "power" is again dunamis, which we met back in Ephesians 3:7;and "working" is energeia (energy) found in Ephesians 1:11, 19; 2:2;3:7; and 4:16. Some power is dormant; it is available, but not being used, suchas the power stored in a battery. But God's energy is effectual power—power atwork in our lives. This power works in us, in the inner man (Ephesians 3:16). RememberPhilippians 2:13, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to doof his good pleasure”. We can’t even begin to imagine what it means that theeternal, creator God of the universe, through His Holy Spirit, is working inus!!!!! I'llnever forget I had a car for years that when it got cold below 30° the crazycar wouldn't start. Somehow or another, a disconnection took place between thebattery and the starter as I tried to start the car. I'm telling you, myfriend, in Christ Jesus, all the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ, allthe power of the Holy Spirit that dwells in us, all the power that God wants usto have to live and do what He wants us to do, to be what He wants us to be, toaccomplish what He wants us to accomplish, is available in us. Ifwe could only understand and believe this and comprehend this! But our lack of experiencingthis power being released in our lives is because a disconnection has takenplace. Maybe, like my car, we get cold in our Christian experience. We're notreading our Bible. We're not praying as we should. We've lost fellowship withthe Lord. We've allowed some sin or corruption to get in our lives and heartslike the corrosion on the battery cables. I'm telling you my friend, when thattakes place we lose that connection. The power is still there, but we have lostthe connection because of unbelief, unconfessed sin, careless living and becauseof lack of love or grace that we need in our lives. Myfriend, oh my friend, today realize the available power, the resurrectionpower, the power that raised Jesus from the dead. God Himself is at work in usif we'd only allow Him to flow through us for His glory. Note in verse 20 “ToHim be glory in the church by Christ Jesus”. This power is not given to usso we can build bigger churches, live better lives, or even to do a greater workfor Christ. No, it's all to the glory of Jesus Christ. That power is available butwhen we want to use it selfishly, God doesn't give it to us. He doesn't releaseit within us. But when we live for the glory of God, oh, awesome and wonderfuland powerful things take place for His kingdom's sake.