TITLE: Plugged into Gods Power Source

2. TITLE: Plugged into Gods Power Source • TEXT: Ephesians 1:15-23 • THEME: The believer should use the life-changing power of God.

4. How can you enjoy the life God intended for you?

5. I. Know Who Christ Is (16-17)

6. Ephesians 1:16-17 “I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[a] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.”

7. We are often held back by a limited view of who God is. It's difficult to rise above your situation if you're not fully convinced that God is bigger than your situation

8. Knowing God "I and the Father are one." (John 10:30)

9. Knowing God "I and the Father are one." (John 10:30) "He who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9).

10. If you want to experience the fullness of God, get to know Jesus. This is why Paul prayed that God would give you "a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him."

11. I. Know Who Christ Is (16-17) A. Understand His Power (20)

12. Ephesians 1:18-20 • 18” 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, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,”

13. Romans 8:38-39 (RSV) “For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

14. I. Know Who Christ Is (16-17) A. Understand His Power (20) B. Understand His Honor (20)

15. Ephesians 1:20 (NLT) “Jesus has been seated "in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms.”

16. Calvin Coolidge "Men are honored not for what they have received, but for what they have given."

17. Philippians 2:6-9 NLT “Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal's death on a cross. Because of this, God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name that is above every name...”

18. Hebrews 12:2 NLT • “He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward. Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God's throne in heaven.”

19. J.B. Phillips, “God With Us” “Many otherwise intelligent people have never read with adult attention either the four Gospels or the Letters of the New Testament. When they so do, to my certain knowledge they not infrequently become converted. Indeed, I know of no adult who has seriously studied the New Testament and rejected the stories of Christ as mythical or the evidence of changed lives in the Letters as mere fabrication.”

20. I. Know Who Christ Is (16-17) A. Understand His Power (20) B. Understand His Honor (20) C. Understand His Authority (21)

21. Ephesians 1: 21 “ ... far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come...”

22. Klyne Snodgrass "whatever powers exist—real or imaginary, human or nonhuman—they are all subject to Christ." • NIV Application Commentary of Ephesians, p. 77

23. Philippians 2: 9-11 NIV • “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

25. How can you enjoy the life God intended for you?

26. II. Know Who You are in Christ (18)

27. Ephesians 1:18 NIV “...having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.”

28. Ephesians 1:18 Living Translation “I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called.”

29. "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" • You say, • "But, I'm in the middle of a crisis." God will get you through it. • "But, I'm facing opposition." God is going to give you the victory. • "But, I've already lost so many battles." God will turn the curse into a blessing. • "But, I'm in pain!" God will never leave you; he will be there with you to give you the strength you need to overcome every challenge, every setback.

30. Ephesians 1:18 • “... that you may know...what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.”

32. How can you enjoy the life God intended for you?

33. III. Experience His Power (19-20)

34. Ephesians 1:19-20 • “…the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe, according to the working of his great might…This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand...”

35. Ephesians 1:22 • “God has put all things under the authority of Christ, and he gave him this authority for the benefit of the church.”

36. What benefits? • If you need God's power to do right, you can have it. • If you need God's power to be holy, you can have it. • If you need God's power to overcome sin, you can have it. • If you need God's power to do his work, or to do his will, you can have it. • If it will benefit you in your walk with Jesus Christ, • His power is available to you—the very same power that raised Jesus from the dead.

37. 1 Peter 4:1 • “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.”

38. What God’s power has done • God's power didn't save Joseph from prison, but his power got him through it • God's power didn't prevent Moses being exile, but God's power enabled him to stand up to Pharaoh. • God's power did not prevent Nehemiah from becoming a slave, but God's enabled Nehemiah to rebuild the wall • God's power didn't prevent Jairus' daughter from dying, but God's power raised her to life. • God's power didn't prevent Bartimeus from being born blind, but God's power restored his sight. • God's power didn't prevent Paul and Silas from being thrown in jail, but God's power delivered them. • God's power didn't keep Paul out of prison, but God's power allowed him to write letters.

40. APPLICATION • 1. For some you need to get to know Christ for who he really is. You need to get rid of your misconceptions and distortions by learning who Christ is. • 2. For some you need to understand who you are in him. You are God’s inheritance whom he takes delight and joy in and promises a bright future. • 3. For some you need to understand that the power that brought Jesus to life is at work in you. But suffering and pain precede resurrection. Believe Jesus will deliver you.

42. When someone is rescued from the flames, they're not thinking about their weakness; they're overjoyed that someone would risk it all to save them.