First thing I want to ask you is this -- What's the greatest source of power you can think of?
Next thing I want to ask you is this -- Has that power ever brought anyone back from the dead and given them a new, sinless, sickless, weakless, glorified, eternal body?
And the last thing I want to ask you is this- Wouldn't it be fair to say that whatever raised Jesus from the dead 3 days after He died, and transformed His body to a new, sinless, sickless, weakless, glorified, eternal body is the greatest Power ever?
And the last thing I want to ask you is this- If you could somehow tap in to that Power and live a live filled with such Power would you want to?
Because the Bible says we can. Not only does it say we can but it says we should! And not just the special people! Not just the top 10%, but ALL who belong to Jesus!
You see, the Resurrection of Jesus was more than just a proof for the past (The work Jesus came to do was finished, victory won, death couldn't hold Him so He rose)
And it's more than just a hope for the future (Jesus is the Firstfruit of Resurrection! When I die I will also rise into a new, sinless, sickless, weakless, glorified, eternal body)
It's also a source of Power for us to live in today! That was the desire of Paul- 'to know Jesus and the power of His Resurrection...' and that was his prayer for us- 'that we might know... the immeasurable greatness of His power towards us...'
And that Power is the Power Of Change!
And let's look no further than Paul to bring that point across! Here is a man whose goal was to be the best- best student, best Pharisee, best position in society, as we read at the start he had much to boast about!
Here is a man hell bent on destroying the Church of Jesus Christ! If I could compare him to a movie character it would be the Terminator, because at the beginning of Acts it's easy to get the picture that, in the chaos and fear of the persecution, it's only Paul doing it!
He was at the stoning of Stephen, the guy in charge maybe. He was the one who went to the high priest asking for letters so he could walk the 217km journey to Damascus JUST to murder some Christians.
Yet, when he met Jesus on his way there he changed! You can read of his conversion in Acts 9 and how he was blinded by a great light, was led to Damascus where a man called Ananias came and prayed for him and scales fell from his eyes and he could see again.
And we read that he was filled with the Holy Spirit, and immediately he began preaching in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God!
We see it in the Disciples too. One night they are running away from Jesus, scared that they may too be beaten and killed, cursing out young girls who ask if they were with Jesus, to standing in front of kings proclaiming Jesus is the Son of God and Saviour of mankind!
That Power is the Power of Victory!
1 Corinthians 15:54-57 'Oh death! Where is your victory? Oh death! Where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of death is the law. But thanks be to God, who gave us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ'
Do you live in fear? 'God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of POWER and love and a self-control!' Gideon, Moses, Peter, they all overcome their fear when they tapped into this Resurrection Power!
Do you struggle with sin and temptation or anger or jealousy or lust or letting go of things from the past or anything else? 'Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world!'
Are you familiar with suffering, trials and persecution? Take heart 'Jesus has overcome the world' and He calls us to 'come to Him and He will give us rest!'
'I can do all things through Him who gives me strength!' 'When I'm weak He makes me strong!'
That Power is the Power of Hope!
Hope for eternal life, hope for a future!
That Power is the Power of Answered Prayer!
That Power is the Power of Effective Witness!
It's the Power for everything we need to accomplish the task God has called us to do!
And unlike in those super hero comics and movies, we don't need to be bitten by radioactive spiders or expose ourselves to some other radiation to 'get' this Power but rather we are just to ask!
That Power is of course the Holy Spirit! The 3rd Person of the Trinity! The One Jesus said He would go back to the Father and send to us, to fill us, guide us, comfort us, to strengthen us, to help us, to empower us to live a life pleasing to God!
And Jesus says 'if an evil father knows how to give good gifts to a son who asks, how much more will Your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to those who ask?'
Final question -- Is this the experience of our lives? Are we living in the power of the Holy Spirit? Is our witness effective? Do we win more battles than we lose?
If not, why?
Let me try to answer using Finding Nemo to illustrate. Do you remember that film? Do you remember Nemo got lost and his father swam across the ocean trying to find him? And as he is looking he asks for directions and he's told to ride the EAC, the East Australian Current, which is like an expressway, and that will take him to Sydney harbour.
Well, let's say it like this. ALL Christians are like fish in the sea, and that EAC is the Resurrection Power! And if we're living in the will of God we'll be swimming in the EAC, living in the Power of the Resurrection!
But if we are living outside of God's will then we'll be swimming outside of that Current, living outside of the Power of the Resurrection. Still swimming yes, but not in the Power that we should!
And let me close with 3 reasons why we're not:
1) We're not really Christians and therefore are enemies of God and not entitled to the Holy Spirit.
2) We are Christians but living in sin;
We are Christians but won't let go of the world
We are Christians but are seeking our own gain and glory before Jesus'
3) We don't know it is there!
Well, now we do and we need to let go, dive in and experience living in the Power of the Resurrection!
