Ephesians 1:20 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Ephesians 1:20

Comments

That power is compared here to resurrection power, which is very interesting. There was commotion at the time of the resurrection but not in connection with the resurrection itself. There was an earthquake which rolled the stone away from where Christ was buried and the fruits of it were first seen by the women who went to the tomb, but the actual resurrection was something invisible and silent. And yet what a miracle, what an astonishing miracle. Christ was truly dead. He tasted death for all his own and took upon him the sins, the guilt for sin of millions and millions of people throughout the ages, from every land and nation who would in the course of time be saved. So much of his suffering was in his soul and especially his separation from the Father, the eternal punishment and separation which we deserved, but his body was limp and dead and utterly crushed. He was raised, we read in various passages, by his own power. It was also by the power of the Holy Spirit, and here it is by the power of the Father. There is no contradiction because all members of the Godhead were involved in the resurrection of Christ. The Father had to endorse the perfect success of the Son’s offering of himself for sinners, leaving none of it to be punished in the person who had committed the sin. The one who was so wracked with the torments of death was raised to life. There is a reflection of the mighty power that works in the salvation of each individual, to restore from death, to give life, to make new and transform, and to raise above the powers of darkness and the dominion of sin. What a powerful act is conversion.

Application

If only we could appreciate our own conversion. As Christian people, we try to witness to those who are spiritually dead and they are unable to grasp what we are talking of. You can bring a person to grasp the essence. ‘Oh, you Christians say that Christ was the Son of God, and he came to suffer and die for sinners, and he made an atonement so that people trusting in him can be forgiven.’ They can see theoretically some form of the message of salvation – enough indeed to be judged by God for rejecting it – but they cannot feel the need of it, and they do not grasp the deep reality of it. How hard it is in witness, and what a difference it makes when a heart is mysteriously softened, and the Spirit of God is at work, and illumination is given and light dawns in the eyes. That is a miracle of God. It is the power of God at work.

Do you remember what happened when you were saved? Your chief concern was the salvation of others around you. That concern may have faded; if so, what a shame, but then it was your chief concern. ‘If only I could get through to this one or to that one’, and you would pray before the Lord for them and their salvation. You did not mind if people at work or others or in the family scorned you for your faith. When you were first converted you were happy to be scorned ‘for his name’s sake’. And how you saw through this world. Previously, you used to be all attention, and every earthly accomplishment you heard of was amazing: ‘Isn’t that wonderful! Wonderful world, wonderful society!’ But at conversion you saw through it and the sin and the selfishness and the marks of the Fall of man. Suddenly there is a conscience and the person wants to do that which is right and is disturbed at their sin. There is a difference between a Christian and a worldling. When a Christian stumbles into sin – maybe she loses her temper, maybe he commits some acts of selfishness or greed – they are mortified. Instead of proudly and stoutly withstanding any call to be ashamed of what they have done, they hardly need that call. There is an anguish within, and the person repents before God and apologises perhaps and mends his or her ways. What a difference. It is the power of God at work. There is a person who is struggling for righteousness, who is hungering and thirsting after it, and desires to please God. This is the power of God. There was a time when we were not capable of that sort of humility and self-searching. Now there is the desire to please the Lord. Only God can give understanding of the truth. Only God can give longing and desire for salvation. All this, we may say, has happened to me, and if you cannot say it, you need the Lord and you need to come to him and call upon him for salvation.

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Ephesians 1:20 Commentary and Bible Study

Explain meaning of Ephesians 1:20