Okay, brothers and sisters, when you get a chance, would you grab a Bible and would you open with me to Ephesians chapter 1? Ephesians chapter 1. One of the joys that we have in opening God's Word together is that as the Holy Spirit has done ever since creation, He changes the world by the power of His Word and He intends to change you this morning by it.

And I wonder if you are willing and able. To be changed. Some of you bring many doubts into this room, and I want you to say every question, every doubt you bring, is perfectly acceptable. Ask the question. Let's talk about it together. In a time when the world is asking lots of questions about theology, the existence of God, the means of salvation through Jesus, we want this place to be a place where no question is off limits.

And you can bring it, and you can ask it. And I wonder if you have eyes to see The beauty of who Jesus is. And the book of Ephesians was written not to solve a problem or to fix a crisis like most of the New Testament epistles were written. It was written to show us the beauty of our triune God and it was written to help the Ephesian church see what the church is called to be.

In chapters 1 to 3, we're all about what God has done for us. And chapters four to six are all about what we, in light of what God has done for us, are then called to do and to be. And last week we saw that we can have the eyes of our hearts enlightened, to be opened, so that we can see the hope, the riches, and the power.

And as I read these verses, verses 15 through 23 of Ephesians chapter 1, it's just two sentences in Greek, we just scratched the surface last week of this subordinate clause under the idea of God's power, which tells us three things. It tells us where the power is, or when the power happens, where the power is, and why God displays His power.

And so as I read God's word in these verses, Would you begin to think about and ask yourself where in the text are those three questions? When, where, and why did God display His power? Would you stand with me if you're able? And let's read Ephesians chapter 1, verse 15, down through verse 23. And we'll focus just on the last several verses, 21 through 23, this morning.

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in all my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you.

What are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe? According to the working of His great might, that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places. Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come.

And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Friends, the grass withers and the flowers fade, but God's word stands forever, and this is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God, you may be seated. This week, some of you, uh, were with me in the midst of the ice storm.

I was driving back, um, in North Texas, and when I was driving, it was, it was, um, you know, my defrost was on full blast, and my windshield wipers were pretty much useless. It was just like sleet and snow, and it was weird. And there were cars with their hazards on the side of the road, pulled over, 18 wheelers that were, that were, you know, starting to, to drift back and forth.

And, and I realized in that moment, I think I'm in control. I'm doing the 10 and 2. I'm, I'm, I'm checking my mirrors. But my car, the conditions of the road, and the weather reminded me that I am not in control. And there is a deep fear in all of us when we're on the road, in the ice storms, when we're trying to learn how to navigate through the ice, and in life, there's a deep fear.

No matter the culture, no matter your economic standing, no matter your race, no matter where you live, there's a deep fear. That you're not in control.

And the truth of the gospel is, you're not in control. You think you are. You have the illusion of control. We think that if we just work hard, that we'll have a measure of success. That is true, in general. Until the job cuts. We think that if we just invest wisely when we're young. KU students, you hear all the time, start investing as soon as you can because when we're older, we'll have a nice retirement fund.

That's true. Until the market falls out from under us. We think, well, if we just take care of our bodies, we eat right, we practice the right diets, and we exercise, then we'll be able to live and have an amazing life up to our 80s, 90s, even to 100 years old. And that in general is good advice and good, and that's true until we receive the diagnosis that we never expect.

And the beauty of what the gospel reminds us is that though we are not in control, The immeasurable greatness of the Father's power is fully displayed for us in the resurrection and the reign of Jesus. And that same power is at work in His church, in you, by the power of Jesus. And friends, some of you even this morning have told me how hard your week has been.

It's felt like a long week. We had like nine teenagers hanging out at our house all week, doing virtual school. It was amazing, it was fun, it was like a giant slumber party, but it felt like a long week.

I see those thumbs, that's right, that's right. Yeah, hi guys. You know what?

Some of you have been through long seasons as well. Some of you are angry. You've really tried to be in control and to be organized with your life. Your life, you're not driving through an ice storm, but you feel like your whole life is an ice storm. And the good news of the gospel is, is you have a loving Heavenly Father, if you know Him, who says it's okay.

In the immortal words of the great theologian, Jesus take the wheel. Who sang that?

Who sang it? Thank you. All right. Some of you are better theologians than I am, and He's got it. And in this passage today, we see the immeasurable greatness of God's power. When did we see it? Where do we see it now? And why do we see it? So would you lower your eyes to the text and would you look at me, look at it with me first.

Notice in verse 20, verse 19 says, according to the working of His great might, that He worked in Christ, there it is, when, when did He display His immeasurable power for us to be able to look back and see? When He raised Jesus from the dead. The word that he uses, agero, to raise, is this striking word in Greek.

It's a word that he uses of Jairus daughter, when he raised Jairus daughter. It's a word that is used of Lazarus, when Jesus raised Lazarus. Come forth, rise. It's a word that means to be raised. Awoken from the dead. It means literally to come awake again. Jesus had the power to raise the dead. And at the cross, the Father in heaven had the power to raise Jesus from death.

But don't get confused. This was not like Jairus daughter. This was not like Lazarus. Jesus didn't rise again only to later die as they did. Jesus rose again to be a mark for us. Of a picture of the new heavens and new earth. New creation breaking. Because He rose to exist eternally, bodily, forever, as our representative.

Perfect humanity. Who defeated our greatest enemies of sin and death. And the radical good news of the gospel is that we believe in the strangest of things. That God the Father rose His Son on the third day from the dead. So that we who have faith in Christ. Will also be raised with him in the end when he comes to make all things new.

Hallelujah. But notice this is not just a kind of universal gospel. Notice what the Apostle Paul says. He says that this is true, earlier in the text, of whom? Toward verse 19. What is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who are American? Mm, doesn't say that. Toward us, who live in the 21st century, doesn't say that.

Toward us, who what? Class, believe. I wonder if you believe.

I know you say you do. But is your life marked by the kind of grace that says, I believe? Is your life marked by the kind of love that says, I believe? Listen, some of you in this room are full, you have tons of doubts. And we are so glad you're here. Join the club. You have many questions. Wonderful. Bring them.

Let's talk about it. Bring your neighbors. They're empty chairs. You see these empty seats? Fill them with people who have doubts in this community, and let's talk about those. One of the most notorious men with doubts was the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. And did you know that when he was exiled at St.

Helena toward the very end of his life, Napoleon began to understand the gospel and became a Christian. In fact, he was reconciled with his church. And there is a old book written in 1878 by John Richard Phillips. And it's called The Surprising Case of Religious Conversions. And it just catalogs these amazing stories.

Of these men and women who have had remarkable conversions, and it's beautiful to read. And Napoleon wrote in his memoir at St. Helena, he said that the gospel possesses a secret virtue. A warmth which penetrates and soothes the heart. I know men, and I tell you that Jesus Christ is not a man. Superficial minds are, see a resemblance between Christ and the founders of empires and the godly men of other religions.

And that resemblance does not exist. There is, between Christianity and all other religions whatsoever, the distance of infinity. Imagine Napoleon Bonaparte writing these words as he's crushed, as he gardens at St. Helena, as he learns and reflects upon his life and he sees the beauty of Christ. In every other existence, but that of Christ, many, how many are the imperfections?

Where is the character that has not yielded and vanquished obstacles? He continues to write. Christ proved that He was the Son of the Eternal Father by His utter disregard of time, because He holds all of time in His hands. And all of His doctrines signify one and the same thing. Eternity! Christ speaks, and at once generations become His.

By stricter and closer ties than those of blood by the most sacred, the most insoluble of all ties, tighter even than the strength of empires. And so if you're in this room and you don't yet believe, but you're curious about the beauty of this place and what this congregation is about, we want you to know that this passage can apply to you.

If you believe that nothing in your hands do you bring simply to the cross of Christ, do you cling? That you admit that you are not able to earn your merit before the Father in heaven, but that you say to Him, I am unworthy, I am a sinner in need of grace. You see, the church is the only social organization in the world where membership is given to those who admit that they don't deserve membership.

That they're desperately in need of grace. Do you believe? When did the Father display His immeasurable power? Answer, at the resurrection. When he rose Jesus from the dead. Where is this immeasurable power seen now? Well, look at the text. Continue to look with me. It says, He raised him from the dead and he seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places above every name that is named.

That is that when he raised Jesus from the dead and where does Christ display the immeasurable greatness of the Father's power? In 20, verse, in 20, the second half of 20, when it says 20b in your notes, that means the second half of verse 20. When he was seated at the father's right hand. When you read it in Greek.

The grammar suggests that being raised and being seated is one motion, one action, one thing. When he was raised, he was exalted. When he was raised, he was seated. Now, in this room, if you come to a really important room, or you go to, uh, you know, you walk into the Oval Office, for example. Right? The most important person in that room, the President, remains seated while everybody else stands.

And here Jesus It's seated at the right hand of God the Father. He is there right now, interceding for you. And for me, as our representative, perfect humanity, fully God, able to pay our debt because He's human, and able to pay it infinitely because He's God. And Jesus is seated, and He's not just seated before a few people that are there, He is seated before the cosmos, everything in the world, every person, every animal, every tree and shrub, every mountain grandeur.

Bows in adoration to Jesus. Every star, every galaxy, everything that exists in the world, it stands before His arrayed might, and Jesus remains seated. Why? Because His work for us is done. He accomplished for us in His life all that Adam could not do, and He rose again from the dead. By His Father's immeasurable and great power, to be seated in session.

That's where we get the word session. In session by the Father. So that He might eternally intercede for us. When was the Father's immeasurable power displayed? At the resurrection. Where is it displayed now? Seated in the throne room of God, at the Father's right hand. Where Jesus. Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above, what's the text say?

Every name that is named. Now I know some of you think that, well a lot of you have a lot of names. How many people are looking at my social media feed? That begins to own you after a while. Especially those of you who make your living on that. How your portfolio is doing, that begins to own some of you who are financial planners.

Because you have clients who are waiting for those returns to come back for them. Students, some of you look to your grades. It names you. And the gospel reminds you that you are far more than a GPA. You're far more than entrance into med school. You're far more than entrance into any other kind of school.

He gives you His name. And He is far above all rule and authority and power. I wonder if you believe that.

When did He display His power? He displayed it at the resurrection. Where does He display His power? He displays it. In Christ, who is seated at the right hand of God the Father, and why does he display his power? Why did the Father display his immeasurable, the immeasurable greatness of his power? Notice what he says, he says, and he put all things under his feet, verse 22, and he gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him, Who feels all in awe when he says that he subjected everything under his feet.

Here Paul is alluding to Psalm chapter eight, verse six, where it says, you have given him dominion over the works of your hands, and you have put all things under his feet. Psalm eight speaks of humanities dominion in their role in creation. Adam in the garden was meant to be God's vice Regent. He was meant to cultivate the garden and extend the garden across the world, to extend God's glory to the ends of the earth.

But sin shattered that purpose, didn't it? Because Adam disobeyed God. And when Adam disobeyed God, all of sin, thorns and thistles began to grow on the ground. All of sin infected Adam and Eve, and all of their posterity. All of their children, and all of their children's children, and every person in this room, including And so when Paul alludes, and he says he has put everything under his feet, what Paul is saying is that that first Adam that we think of, Psalm 8 alluding to, is fulfilled in the second Adam, the greater Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was also placed in a garden called the world in the ancient Near East, who was also, though Jesus was never married, Jesus had a community of called his disciples who he cultivated the truth in and sent them out to extend his glory through all of the earth.

And here, Paul, mystery of mystery, as he's writing this, says a good Jew who has become converted to the gospel. He is saying where Adam failed, Christ succeeded. Where we were meant to rule but lost, Christ has reclaimed it. Where sin and death once held dominion, Christ now reigns. Supreme, hupe taxon in Greek.

He is above everything, which is subjected, hupe taxon, under his feet. It, the Greek word means that Jesus has absolute authority. The Father has placed everything under his feet. It is an echo back to the garden. Every earthly power, every spiritual force, every nation, every ruler, every system, nothing is outside of Christ's sovereign rule.

Hallelujah. May not be an ice storm, may be a death, diagnosis, crisis in your family. Your Savior knows your name, loves you, and is in control. And what is even more staggering to us is that He says that the fullness of Him who fills all in all. This can be understood in two ways. In some sense, the presence of God fills the entire world by His common grace.

His reign is over all things, sustaining everything by the power of His word. That's true. But also Christ fills the church. Entirely by His special grace, which is Paul's emphasis here. And in Christ, all of His fullness is given to His church to be a picture of the counter cultural community for the common good for the world.

That is to say that when you look around this room, you are knit together as a vine, just like the etchings around this room of the vine. They bring us all in. We are all part of the vine, just as Dan and Jewel read earlier. And Jesus says in verse 5 of John 15, apart from me. You can do nothing. Why?

Because we are united back into the original Adam, the true and better Adam, Jesus. The ultimate Adam, the one who came to accomplish everything for us that we have failed to do. And this means that the power that raised Jesus from the dead will also raise you. As Colossians says, your life is hidden with Christ in God.

And that same power that raised Jesus from the dead gives us His Spirit to indwell us and to strengthen us. So that in the midst of the temptation of all of your apparent sexual desires, you have the ability and the power by His Holy Spirit to resist those. And to walk in light with the truth of who He has called you to be.

No temptation. No temptation is more powerful than what He has given and He has always provided a way of escape so that you may walk in it. Jesus knows what it's like to be you. He knows every concern you have. He knows them specifically and He is praying for you now.

He is the one with immeasurable great power given to Him by His Father. No sin, my friends, is stronger than the grace of God towards you. And so some of you who feel like I am unworthy, Lower your pride and see that the gospel is immeasurably great to cover all your sin. No suffering is deeper than the love that Christ has for you.

He is with you in the midst of that suffering.

And why he has provided it in this phase of your life, we may never be able to answer that. But he promises that he's with you. And that if we knew everything that he knows, we would understand why we have it. No force in heaven or on earth can separate you from his reign. And so friends, don't live like victims because you're not powerless.

You have the power of the Spirit who indwells you, to strengthen you, to look to the risen Christ, to go before the Father in heaven, where Jesus is sitting at His right hand, interceding for you. And you have now the ability by His Spirit to have your eyes opened as Paul prays, that you may see the hope, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and you may know His immeasurably great power.

Do you live like it? And you can't live like it. Unless you continue to come to repentance and faith. And as you come to this table in a minute, you come repentant and with faith. Joyful that He has provided everything that you need to be most secure, more secure than you could ever dream. Hallelujah. The immeasurable greatness of the Father's power is fully displayed in the resurrection and the reign of Jesus.

And that same power is at work in His church, in you, by His Holy Spirit. Mystery of mysteries, oh, Apostle Paul shares with us. Let's believe them. Let's walk in them. No longer in fear, but walk by grace. Don't manipulate your emotions. Don't try to put on a pasty white smile and pretend everything is okay.

Come with your tears and your anger because He can handle every single one of them. And when you come to the table in just a moment, you come as one who longs for the day. When in the new heavens and new earth with your resurrected body, you will be able to say, Oh, how he has become more powerful than everything else to me.

Run to him by faith and come to this table. Let's pray together. Father, would you help us to live in the power of the risen and reigning Christ? Oh, Lord Jesus, would you strengthen us by your spirit to resist the temptations that plague us? That seem to overwhelm us. And would you remind us that you are able to do far more abundantly than all we can ask or think according to the power that is at work within us by your spirit.

Until you be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. And would you bless these tithes and offerings for your glory's sake. That we may live lives marked by grace and generosity because of what you've done in and through us. And thank you, Father, that you are in control, and you've called us to steward the whole of our lives, even our resources.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Sermon transcript is computer generated.