Power Belongs to God
One of the great problems we have as Christians is remembering the power of God. He asks, “Is anything too difficult for Me (Jer 32:17)?” Our calculated reply is, “No, all things are possible with God.” Learning Christ in every circumstance, for better or worse, teaches us to say, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” The alternative was taught by Jesus Himself, who said, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” Therefore, in order to do what is pleasing to God, we must receive power from God through Christ.
Power belongs to God (Ps 62:11). This echoes Jonah’s teaching, “Salvation belongs to God (Jon 2:9),” for the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation for those who believe (Rom 1:16–17). Even so, Christ, the wisdom of God and power of God (1 Cor 1:24), Himself belongs to God (1 Cor 3:23). Christians belong to Christ, and all things belong to us (1 Cor 3:22). Here is the intimate link to our accessing the power of God. If the Spirit of Christ is in us, then the power of God is in us (Mic 3:8; Zech 4:6; Lk 4:14; Acts 1:8).
Lord Acton famously said, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts, absolutely.” The power of God is not corrupt, nor can it be employed for corrupt ends. Therefore, there is a clear distinction between the power of men and the power of God. God has absolute power, but because He is righteous, all of His power employed ends in justice.
People in power, and who exercise power, are almost universally known to be corrupt. I suppose if we knew their hearts, like God knows their hearts, we would find the wickedness in every leader with any power. The sins of powerful leaders either find them out while in office, or their sins follow after them. Human power makes men into devils. Sometimes the gathering of two words says enough, “Cayman Islands,” or “Swiss Banks.”
Scandals of the powerful are forever being exposed: FIFA; Watergate; Whitewater; Black Sox; etc. Some are punished. Some go free. Sometimes people are so powerful that the ones who expose the criminal corruption of the powerful are wanted for treason. Despite human corruption at every level of administration, God has established government authority (Rom 13), in order to prevent anarchy and chaos. The heart of man is desperately wicked. No one is excluded.
If sinful fallen man is so unreliable with human power, why would God give any man His own power? The reason is spiritual warfare. Man’s rebellion against God has created a civil war among men. Without God in the world, man is fully subject to Satan. The god of this world usurped dominion from Adam at the fall from Eden. Satan enslaved Adam and his progeny. Man is helpless against the wiles and ways of the prince of the power of the air. Lucifer is a liar and a deceiver and man simply spins in his confusion. Who can break the power of sin?
Jesus Christ came into the world for a number of reasons. One of them was to save His people from their sins (Mt 1:21). Another reason was to destroy the works of the devil (1 Jn 3:8). Jesus set His captive people free by doing battle with man’s arch enemy.
Christ is the power of God. He displayed His power over wind and waves. He cast out demons from within the souls of men. He healed people both physically and spiritually. He went to the furthest extreme to display His power over man’s last enemy. Death has lost its sting. Power belongs to God, and Jesus Christ is God.
The power of God now dwells in the hearts and minds of those who have received the indwelling Holy Spirit (Rom 8:9, 11). The Spirit is actively demonstrating the power of God in many ways. The most significant way God displays His power from within a saint is through sanctification (Ezek 36:27; Rom 15:16; 1 Thess 5:23; 2 Thess 2:13; 1 Pet 1:2). God’s Spirit is powerfully transforming believers in Jesus Christ from the inside. What are some of the ways we can see the power of God at work in Christians?
First, God causes us to abound with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom 15:13). When a Christian experiences some spiritual growth, she delights in it, because it is evidence of God working in her. This becomes part of her ever-more-powerful testimony shared with others. Christians have a hope and a future, and this is the witness of God’s Word and God’s Spirit.
Second, God demonstrates His power to convert the souls of men through the Spirit and power (1 Cor 2:4; 1 Thess 1:5). The foolishness of preaching is only foolish to the Jew and to the Greek. Every born again believer is a living testimony of the power of God unto salvation through the proclamation of the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Third, Christian conversion highlights the contrast in power and purpose (Eph 2:2). Before conversion, Christians were ungodly sinners, children of wrath, as the rest of humanity. The prince of darkness empowered them as sons of disobedience to do his will, which is always to sin against God (Eph 5:6). The evidence of a Christian’s victory over sin’s power and control, no matter how small, is a demonstration of the power of our Holy God to triumph over sin, death, and the devil. It is a lifelong struggle (Rom 7), but our hope is in the saints’ everlasting rest (Heb 4:9).
Fourth, the Holy Spirit’s occupation of the inner man is the location of God’s operation in the world (Col 3:16). The regenerate human soul (heart and mind) is the power plant for godliness. Christians have no power to please God without the power of the Holy Spirit, who grants us faith (Phil 1:29; 2 Pet 1:1) and increases our faith through sanctification. This manifests as a fruit of the Spirit’s work in us, by the production of faithfulness (Gal 5:22).
The powerful realignment of a person’s whole life is usually slow and subtle to human observation. Unrighteous reputations are difficult to discard. Even vocal testimonies of one’s change of heart are not often believed because of past behavior. Through years of maturation, evidenced by much fruit, a Christian is known. She will be the first to boast, “These good things were not my works, but the works of Him who lives in me.” Even if the world, or the church, does not believe our testimony, this transformation honors God.
Fifth, the power of God is the gift of God to display God’s power, love, and discipline (2 Tim 1:7). Christians must not use God’s power for their own gain. It is an abomination when men get rich and powerful as a result of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This can only lead to pride, and pride can only lead to a fall, and even destruction (Prv 16:18). Therefore, we must conclude that the power of God should produce humility and a desire to serve Christ without recognition.
How perverse it will be on the day of judgment for those who claimed to have served God, saying, “Lord, Lord, did we not do this and that in your Name?” Why would Jesus reply, “Depart from me, I never knew you (Mt 7:21–23)?” It is because selfish men used the power of God to build their little empires and were found guilty of stealing glory from God. They peddled the Word of God for profit (2 Cor 2:17). They had their own interests, not the interests of God at heart (Ezek 34).
Simon the Magician exposed his wicked heart when He asked to purchase the power of God (Acts 8). For this reason, we must be very careful with what God entrusts to our stewardship. Daniel knew who to give credit to for the power and wisdom given to him (Dan 2:23). He also knew where the power of the king came from (Dan 2:37). In the same way, Jesus knew where Pontius Pilate received his power and authority to crucify or set free the King of the Jews (Jn 19:10). The Sadducees did not understand the Scriptures nor the power of God (Mk 12:24). It is required of a steward that He be found faithful. While learning the power of God, we must also learn not to abuse the power of God.
Jesus Christ was declared to be the Son of God, by the witness of the Holy Spirit, because of the display of God’s power in raising Him from the dead (Rom 1:4). Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, is seated at the right hand of the power of God (Lk 22:69). He displays His power through His wrath against the wicked, and He displays His power through the salvation of those to whom He has shown mercy.
There is so much more that could be said of the power of God, but by way of application let us learn from Jesus and what He did with the power of God, “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him (Acts 10:38).”
Christian, learn: God is with you through the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you. Here is the power of God for victorious living. You have been created in Christ Jesus to perform good works prepared beforehand that you might walk in them (Eph 2:10). God has chosen to display His power over the devil and his oppressions, in and through you.
As the power of God surges in you, make the most of your time here on earth in this life. Learn Christ through the Bible. Pray in the Spirit for more power to gain victory over the sin that so easily entangles you. Practice the power of God in doing good to everyone, especially the household of faith. Finally, remember where to ascribe glory, for whatever power you have to do good in this world is from God. It is written, “power belongs to God.”
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
March 27, 2021
