Years ago, when I was first introduced to the idea that our prayers were meant to exert power over circumstances, someone cautioned that we weren’t to use the power indiscriminately. The example he gave was that we should refrain from using it to blow out the tires of the car that just rudely cut us off in traffic. Hah! I should hope not. Yet, some of the prayer requests I remember from that time are equally frivolous. I remember someone praying that her kitchen blender would be miraculously repaired so she wouldn’t have to buy a new one. Another reported laying hands on his car when it refused to start. I don’ t recall if that prayer worked or not.
Let me be clear: I do believe that God is intimately
involved in our day-to-day lives. I also believe that He is able to accomplish
miraculous things with inanimate objects. Jesus turned water to wine; he
stopped the wind and calmed the raging seas. However, when
Paul said that the same power that rose Jesus from the grave gives life to
our mortal flesh, I think he had something more significant than blenders or
automobiles in mind. The word Paul uses to ascribe life to our flesh is zoe
(ζωή);
its New Testament use is almost always with reference to the life that comes
from God: spiritual life. Paul
told the Ephesians when they were, “Dead in trespasses, [God] made [them] alive
together with Christ.” Same word: zoe.
Jesus said that He had come to provide abundant life to His
followers. It’s that word again. There are those who would twist His words to
mean Jesus promised an abundance of material possessions. If that were the
case, Jesus would not have used zoe. When a man asked Jesus to intervene to
provide his material wealth, Jesus
remarked, “Not even when someone has an abundance does his
life consist of his possessions.” Zoe is not about physical
life. Nor is the power we are given through Christ about physical reality,
though there may be instances of crossover because spiritual life is of a
higher order than physical life.
So, what is the power for? The old hymn “Power in the Blood”
spells it out nicely. The wonder-working power in the precious blood of the
Lamb, according to the hymnist, is so we, “would be free from the burden of sin,”
and “Over evil the victory win.” Those two verses summarize what the Christian
life is all about. Christ’s atoning death on the Cross of Calvary removed our
guilt, the burden of sin. We are freed from the penalty of sin because Jesus
paid the price for us. That same sacrifice also allows us to triumph over evil.
“God will not allow you to be tempted beyond
what you are able.” “Greater
is He that is in you.” “Resist
the devil, and he will flee from you.” That reminds me of another great
hymn: “Victory in Jesus.”
Another aspect of our victory over evil is the call to
spread the good news of our victory to all the lost souls around us. “Send the
light, the blessed gospel light; let it shine from shore to shore.” There was a
good measure of sound biblical teaching in those old hymns! They also taught us
that our condition would not always be restful. “Onward Christian Soldiers Marching
as to War.” The enemy of our souls will do whatever he can to thwart our
efforts to announce his defeat at the Cross. We are not at a picnic; we are at
war. The power Jesus grants will come in handy when we face the enemy.
There is a more subtle aspect to the power we have through
Jesus: our forgiveness rests on His work on our behalf. Although we have the
power to overcome temptation, the Bible clearly teaches that we will still sin
occasionally. It has always confused me that while Calvary provides forgiveness
of all our sin, we are still told to ask for forgiveness. John MacArthur
explains that there are two types of forgiveness: judicial and parental. God
the judge grants us judicial forgiveness on the basis of our union with Christ.
God the Father requires us to ask for forgiveness to restore the parent/child fellowship
that is hindered by our sin.
We can see this played out in our human relationships. When
my son sins against me, by disobedience for example, he does not cease to be my
son. However, our relationship is damaged. By asking my forgiveness, our
healthy parent/child bond is restored. If I sin against my wife by failing to
honor her as I should, she does not stop being my wife, but I can say from
personal experience, she will not be happy with me unless I ask for her
forgiveness. The power to forgive is an important part of the image of God’s
grace that followers of Christ are called to.
If you are having trouble seeing forgiveness as an aspect of
the power we have in Christ, look at what
Paul said to the Galatians. He said that the spirit and our flesh are at
odds with one another. After contrasting the works of the flesh with the fruit
of the spirit, he says, “Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the
flesh together with its feelings and its desires.” Our union with Christ in His
death, symbolized in our baptism, gives us the power to “follow the Spirit” as
Paul advises.
When you sing the contemporary chorus that says, “The same
power that rose Jesus from the grave lives in us,” it refers to spiritual
power. Far from being less welcome than physical power, it represents the
ultimate power in the universe: God’s power. I said before that spiritual power
is of a higher order than physical power. That is because our physical universe
is a subset of the spiritual “universe.” God stepped down from Heaven to create
the world as we know it. Another old song says, “He’s got the whole world in
His hands.” As such, He has the ultimate power to accomplish His will here on
earth as the Lord’s Prayer seeks.
When Paul wrote repeatedly that we are to live, walk, follow
the Spirit, he was inviting us to make use of the power that God provides.
Rather than trying to blow out the tires of the guy who crosses you, use your
power to calm your own heart and offer forgiveness to the guy who offended you.
That’s what the power is for: making us more like Christ.
Related Posts: Powerful
Meekness
