The Immeasurable Power Working For You

Many of us here in Caloocan have a Meralco outlet in our homes. We plug in a small appliance, like a phone charger, and we draw the little bit of electricity we need. We use that power every day, but it's easy to forget that our small outlet is connected to a massive, city-wide power grid—a grid with the power to light up stadiums, run factories, and move trains. The power available is immense, even if we only use a fraction of it.

In our spiritual lives, we often make the same mistake. We live our lives drawing on our own small, limited reserves of strength, completely forgetting that through faith, we are plugged into an infinite power source. After praying that God would open our eyes to see our future hope and our present value, Paul now prays for us to see a third reality: the incredible, dynamic power of God that is available to us right now.

I. The Scale of the Power: Beyond All Measure

Paul begins by trying to describe the sheer magnitude of this power, and you can almost feel him struggling to find words adequate for the task. He prays we would know, "And what is the exceeding greatness of his power..."

A. A Power Beyond Comprehension

Paul isn't talking about ordinary strength. The Greek phrase here is to hyperballon megethos tes dynameos, which literally means "the surpassing greatness of his power." He is piling up the strongest words he can find to communicate something that is beyond our normal categories. This isn't just great power; it's a category-breaking, mind-boggling, immeasurable power. It is the same power that spoke the universe into existence out of nothing.

B. A Power with a Purpose

This is not a dormant or abstract power. This is the active energy of God that is upholding the entire cosmos at this very second. It is the power that is driving all of history toward God’s desired conclusion. Paul wants us to be absolutely stunned by the sheer scale of the force that is at the heart of reality, because he is about to make it intensely personal.

II. The Direction of the Power: Aimed At Us

This is the most stunning and life-changing part of the verse. This immeasurable power is not a random force in the universe. Paul says it is directed "...to us-ward who believe..."

A. A Personal Power

Let this truth sink in. The same infinite power that fuels the stars and holds the galaxies in their courses is personally and intentionally directed toward you. It is working for you, in you, and on your behalf. It is not a distant power we admire, but a present power we experience. The God of the universe has personally invested His own omnipotence in the lives of His children.

B. A Conditional Power

This power is specifically for those "who believe." Faith is the channel through which this divine power flows into our lives. Our faith does not create the power, any more than plugging in a lamp creates the electricity in the Meralco grid. But our faith is the act of plugging in. It is our personal trust in Christ that connects our weakness to His infinite strength.

III. The Standard of the Power: Measured by God's Might

How can we possibly begin to grasp this "exceeding great power"? Paul knows we need a benchmark, a tangible example. So he provides a standard of measurement: it operates "...according to the working of his mighty power,"

A. The Meaning of "According To"

When Paul says "according to," he doesn't mean we get a small piece out of God's power. He means the power we receive is proportional to, or in keeping with, its source. If a billionaire gives you a gift "according to" his riches, you're not expecting twenty pesos. You are expecting something that reflects the scale of his wealth. In the same way, the power God gives to us is on the same scale of magnificence as its source: His own mighty working.

B. The Ultimate Demonstration

This phrase is Paul’s way of saying, "You want to know what this power looks like in action? Let me give you the ultimate demonstration." He is preparing to point us, in the very next verse, to the single greatest display of power in the history of the universe: the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. The power working for you is not just any power; it is resurrection power.

Conclusion

Paul's third great prayer is that our spiritual eyes would be opened to the reality of the immeasurable, personal, resurrection-level power of God that is actively at work for every single believer.

We are not living our Christian lives with a small, quickly-drained battery pack of our own limited strength. We are plugged into the divine power grid of Almighty God. The question is never whether the power is available; the only question is whether we are living in light of that truth. How would your approach to fear, to temptation, to discouragement, to evangelism change this week if you truly knew that this "exceeding great power" was working for you? Let us stop living like our faith is powered by a cellphone battery and start living with the bold confidence that comes from being connected to the very power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead.