The Christian’s Strength (2)

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man…Ephesians 3.14-16

The strength of His might
God commands His people to be strong. Obedient servants of the Lord aspire to such strength, and act in ways that allow the might of God, not their own strength, to show through. Knowing we can be strong in the might of the Lord, it is our duty to seek that strength, that we might live, not ordinary, nondescript lives, but to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10.31).

The strength we seek is that which accords with the revelation of God’s glory, in His Word and in the creation. In the presence of God’s glory, as He makes Himself known and draws us by His promises to partake of His own being (2 Pet. 1.4), we are imbued with the strength He intends us to know and express. By bringing us into His glory, God strengthens us with His might, so that we live for His glory in every area of our lives.

But that strength is not, in the first instance, physical or material. We cannot gin up the strength of God’s might by our own efforts, whether individually or in collaboration. Rather, as Paul explains, the strength of the Christian, which he gains in the presence of God and His glory, is the power of God’s Spirit at work in us, willing and doing of His good pleasure (Phil. 2.13). God has invested us with power, exceedingly abundant power (Eph. 3.20), the power of His Spirit (Acts 1.8), so that we might be strong in His might, by and for His glory.

The strength of the Christian is the experience of God’s glory and the demonstration of God’s might, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and unto the glory of God.

When we are thus strengthened, we go beyond our own abilities and experiences into manifestations of the Spirit’s power which testify to the reality of Jesus Christ, alive from the dead and ruling in our lives.

Manifestations of strength
This power flows by the might of God unto certain specific manifestations. Above all, the power of the Spirit is God’s rule, bringing forth in us righteousness, peace, and joy (Rom. 14.17, 18). We have no strength of our own for such things. Only as God strengthens us by His Spirit can we expect the righteousness of Christ to flower in us, His peace to obtain in our souls and lives, and His joy to be our prevailing attitude and outlook. We seek to be strengthened by the Lord’s might for these ends, as we come before His glory and earnestly plead that we may be transformed into His image.

Further, the power of the Spirit is power to worship God in a manner acceptable to Him, and of maximum benefit to us (Jn. 4.24). Without the power of God to worship, the focus of our worship too easily turns to ourselves, and what we want or enjoy. As God’s power operates in us in worship, we grow strong to lose our own lives that we may exult in the life of Jesus, celebrating Him, exalting Him, submitting to Him, partaking of Him, and being renewed in Him, as we worship Him in Spirit and in truth, and He brings us into the presence of the Father with joy.

As we grow strong in the power of God’s Spirit, we will walk in all the commandments of God, and thus bring holiness and love to greater and greater fulfillment in our lives (Ezek. 36.26, 27; 2 Cor. 7.1; Matt. 22.34-40). As He teaches us the Law, and thus imparts His mindset (Rom. 8.5-9), the Spirit of God blossoms into that fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control which characterizes His presence and increasing rule in our lives (Gal. 5.22, 23).

Filled with the Spirit and overflowing with His power (Jn. 6.63), we offer to God thanksgiving and praise, and submit ourselves to one another, so that we might serve and edify one another with the various spiritual gifts the Spirit is pleased to bestow (Eph. 5.18-21; 1 Cor. 12.7-11).

In the power of the Holy Spirit we bear witness to Jesus Christ, proclaiming and living the Gospel of the Kingdom in a power that goes beyond mere words (Acts 1.8; 1 Cor. 4.20).

Finally, the power of the Spirit is power to illuminate the revelation of God in His Word and world, exposing our sins, immersing us in God’s glory, and transforming us, from glory to glory, into the image of our Lord Jesus Christ (Jn. 16.8-11; 2 Cor. 3.12-18). In reading and meditation, study and prayer, we know the power of the Spirit as the source and seedbed for all other expressions of the might of God. We cannot expect to be strong in the Lord if we neglect to seek His glory and might in His Word and prayer.

Evidence of faith
Here is power that issues in supernatural strength, strength that is the might of God, not our own strength, and that can come to expression in every situation and setting of our lives. We have no strength of our own to do any works of righteousness, worship, ministry, witness, or understanding. Only as God, by His Spirit, unleashes such power in us, will we be strengthened by His might for glorious good works. By faith we seek the power of God, enabling us to go, in every area of our lives, exceedingly abundantly beyond where we have ever been before. Thus we show abundant evidence of a lively faith in every area of our lives (Heb. 11.1).

Even though we may be weak in the world’s eyes, bereft of the world’s strength or assets, and under oppression by enemies or detractors, we may be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might, as we yield to the inward rule of Christ by His Spirit, waiting on and obeying Him Who makes all things new (2 Cor. 5.17; Rev. 21.5).

The strength of the Christian comes to expression as power that the world knows nothing of, and in the presence of which it can only wonder, marvel, lash out, or submit with joy to the Lord. Do you long to know such power? To be strengthened with God’s might, to live for His glory? The true believer understands what God requires, and what He offers, and daily seeks to be strengthened by the Spirit, in the might and power of God.

For reflection
1.  Does it seem to you that Christians today are living in the might and power of God? Explain.

2.  How important are daily times in the Word of God and prayer for being strengthened in the Lord? How would you counsel a new believer to use these times to gain that strength that can allow him to go beyond his own abilities into the might of the Lord?

3.  Meditate on Ephesians 3.20 and Philippians 2.12, 13. How should you expect to know this power, strengthening you to live for God’s glory?

Next steps – Transformation: Identify some areas of your life where you would like to be strengthened with God’s might to live for His glory. What will your life look like in these areas as God begins to strengthen you?

The glory of God is always at hand, if we know how to discern, enter, and express it. Our booklet, Christians on the Front Lines of the Culture Wars, can help you learn to recognize the glory of God, and to glorify Him in even the most everyday details of your life. Order your copy by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.