Hyper-Mega Power

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 my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a 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. ~Ephesians 1:15-21

The text for our sermon yesterday morning was from this passage in Ephesians as well as Canons of Dort, Head 4, Articles 11 and 12, which have to do with God's irresistible power, the very power that Paul is referring to in the bolded part of the verses above. This power from God is like no power on the face of the earth, and Paul uses an interesting style in the Greek here to try to convey to us something of the sense of God's power.

Being a language lover, I always enjoy it when Pastor Freswick explains these unique language uses to let us know just what the original hearers of this letter would have understood. The language here describes a power that goes beyond what is expected--interestingly, the language of throwing, like a shot putter. The power is a "throw beyond," or a "hyper throw." Apparently Paul piles on Greek superlative after superlative, trying to give us a sense of God's power. The best he can do is to tell us that this is a hyper-mega power, and there really is no way we can conceive of the superlative power at work in us. In fact, we are the objects of this power, we who were dead, children of wrath, far from God.

Once this power is at work in us, we cannot resist it, and its result is that we believe. We are made alive to become children of God. How amazing to think that this much power was required to bring us to God--that we were that far from Him! How amazing to think that God was willing to spend this power to make us his children! As Paul concludes, we were without hope, and yet in Christ Jesus we have been brought near--and all of this by God's irresistible power.