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, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ~Eph 1:18-21
God’s power is incomparable or immeasurable as alluded to by Paul. We cannot really measure how powerful our God is. But the ability to compare or measure is of such great importance in human endeavour that it makes it possible to visualise and instantly compare things. One of the greatest “inventions” of man is the ability to measure time by observing how the earth rotates about its axis and revolves around the sun, which of course results in the concepts of time measurement, so we notice that when the earth rotates and gets back to its original position, we are able to divide that period into 24 hours. This ability helps us live better lives – we know when to cultivate, when to harvest, when is the best time to work, etc. In essence, God’s wonderful creations that we see in nature helps us measure and number our days.
Also, the ability to compare a certain length to a certain standard (kilometre in today’s SI unit system) is also a concept that began with the use of physical creation – the cubit, the handspan, the feet, etc. Measuring things or comparing things around us is done to help us gauge which is bigger, stronger, heavier, more powerful and to determine which item or element will be better suited for any given situation.
To measure one thing against another, there must be of the same physical or chemical composition, you cannot measure weight and compare it to length. And there must be a standard to compare it against.
Now let’s take the concept of power which is defined as the ability or capacity to do something or act in a particular way. And Mechanical power is the rate at which work is done. There is a rate at which a man can do a particular job – and that ability can be influenced by a number of factors which include, skill and experience. Mechanical machines like cars have their own rate of work which can be comparable against each make using the standard we call horsepower. But with God, we tend not to have a standard to compare his power to.
First Chronicles 29:11 says: Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendour, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.
This alludes to the fact that power and greatness originate fromGod and Paul also did mention that that great and immeasurable power was seen in the raising of Christ from the dead. No matter what we may achieve as mortals on earth, NO ONE can raise another from the dead using the physical medical practices. Death means that one transcends the earth, and on to the spiritual. Therefore, physical practices cannot reverse death, only the power of God can. And the power of God cannot be measured or compared with any other power, for there is no frame of reference for which we can compare. You can only compare or measure something when you have a frame of reference, (something you have seen or witnessed) to be able to compare to some other phenomena. But NO ONE has seen God hence it will be impossible to be able to measure the amount of his power and ability, although we can see his invisible power through what he has made – Eph 1:20.
Paul did mention that God is able to do IMMEASURABLY MORE than all we can ask or imagine (Eph 3:20) and this is according to the POWER THAT WORKS IN US.
Oh, wait…..that power is at work within us? Yes, it is! In Romans 8:11, he said that if the power that raised Jesus from the dead dwells within us; again alluding to that power dwelling within man. And Jesus also did tell his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they receive power through the holy spirit – Acts 1:8, showing that that power is experienced or received through the holy spirit. Paul did say again in Romans 1:16 that he is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation. The gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, the power of God is immeasurable, it is at work within us through the holy spirit. The only thing that comes close to showing us the measure of the power of God is that it is the resurrection power. It is that same power that raised Jesus from the dead. It is the power that calls things that be not as though they were. It is that same power that said, let there be light and there was light. That power can do immeasurably more than we can imagine. And we need to know that upon baptism we receive that power of the holy spirit (Acts 2:38). And interestingly it is a gift. Therefore, the immeasurably great power of God has been handed down as a gift to those who have believed.
So as we begin to the new year, we ought to remember that God’s power is within us and what that can do is immeasurable and above what we can ask or imagine. It is through this power that we can create wealth (Deut 8:18), live amazing lives, do all throughs through Christ (Phil 4:13) because that his divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness. (2 Pet 1:3)
Soar on! Happy New Year!
Made Perfect In Weakness 