From weakness to glory series—Week 5: ‘Spiritual power’.

If I asked you who the most powerful person on earth is, what would you say?

We could all probably think of several heads of state, financial powerbrokers and entrepreneurs among the world’s most powerful people. Chinese President Xi Jinping, or Russian President Vladimir Putin, who both wield massive geopolitical influence and command the world’s biggest militaries and nuclear arsenals, readily spring to mind. Whether you like him or not, US President Donald Trump is positioned as the most powerful political leader in the West. With wealth comes power, so one might think of technology trillionaire Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and Space X, who has massive influence in the future of global technology, or Eric Trump, executive of the Trump Foundation which wields power in shaping world-wide financial markets with cryptocurrencies.

But the most powerful person—a person full of power—is you. You are among the most powerful people on earth. In today’s text Paul says: “I pray that our of his glorious riches, the Father may strengthen you with power through his Spirit.”

Our lives are impacted either positively or negatively by the power of others. People can either use their power for the good of others, or they can abuse their power for the good of themselves by manipulating, manoeuvring and dominating other people to achieve their own personal gain. Politicians, law enforcement agencies, economists and corporations exercise great power to influence economies, political strategies, national direction, and international alliances, impacting us all at some level. From a young age we learn to exert power and influence over others in the scramble to get what we want for ourselves. As we grow, we learn to either exert power to shape circumstances to our advantage, or be subdued by the powerful influence of others, like bullies throughout school, dominant and controlling family members, or co-workers and employers.

But the power we have is not a power to exert over others. It is a Spiritual power that the Holy Spirit exerts within us, to change our inner selves: “I pray that out of his glorious riches [the Father] may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.”

People can exert power to change social values, national policy, and world economy. But no one can change their own heart to know Jesus or come to him. So God the Father sends his Spirit to those who were dead in their trespasses and sins. He uses his power not for his own benefit, but to bring powerful change to people and alter their life direction for their benefit. He sends his Spirit so that by the Spirit’s power we are made alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11), with eyes to see Jesus and minds to know him, to share in his life and glory forever.

Paul says: “I pray that out of his glorious riches [the Father] may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” When Paul speaks about ‘the heart’ he means everything about our inner person—the control centre of the human being; our will, our instincts, our feelings, which drive and motivate us to pursue the paths we take in life, and which cause us to desire, trust and cherish the things we do and establish the values and priorities we have. If we listen carefully to this verse, we hear that this change is not one of intellect only—faith is not only about knowing Christ with our minds. Through the power of the Spirit, Christ dwells in our heart through faith—

• The same Christ who spoke all things into existence and ordered them by his powerful word, and who taught with authority in the synagogues, amazing those who heard (Luke 4:16-22),
• The same Christ who healed the man born blind, who came to see Jesus as his Saviour (John 9),
• The same Christ who forgave the sins of the paralysed man and healed him so he could praise God (Luke 5:17-23),
• The same Christ whose power went forth when a woman, suffering from bleeding for twelve years, touched his cloak and was healed (Luke 8:43-48),
• The same Christ who miraculously fed more than 5000 people with five barley loaves and two small fish, (John 6),
• The same Christ who stilled the storm on the Sea of Galilee to keep his disciples safe, (Luke 8:22-25),
• The same Christ who raised Lazarus from the dead, (John 11)
• The same Christ who showed his, and his Heavenly Father’s love for the world by stretching his arms out wide in a loving embrace on the Cross.

What does this mean? You are now under new ownership; new management. God has strengthened you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, that this Christ might dwell in your hearts through faith.

• The Christ who speaks into our heart so that the sheep hear the voice of their Good Shepherd and follow him.
• The Christ who opens the eyes of our heart so that we see more and more clearly the ways of God’s will for our life.
• The Christ who frees us from the bondage of sin to walk in the ways of God and praise him,
• The Christ who makes us whole, and purifies us as the people of God,
• The Christ who feeds our hunger to be loved, welcomed, honoured, and have worth, purpose and dignity,
• The Christ who stills the storms of life within our heart,
• The Christ who raises us to new life and seats us with him in the heavenly realms,
• The Christ who comes with love divine and joins us with his own death and resurrection.

Instead of following paths, priorities and values of our making, the Holy Spirit comes with his power to change human hearts, so that we do not seek our will to be done, but God’s. True Spiritual power does not result in self-focus and self-entitlement which only leads to controlling, dominating or selfishly harming others. “God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control” (2 Tim. 1:7).

It’s what John the Baptist meant when he said of Jesus: “He must become greater and I must become less” (John 3:30). It’s what Paul meant when he said: “You died to sin, how can you live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:2). It’s what Jesus means when he says: “Take up your Cross and follow me.” (Luke 9:23). True power—power from the Spirit—is the power to empty ourselves, to be released from the strong grip of fear, to let go of all that we tightly cling to, in the attempt to maintain control of our life. In today’s text Paul says: “I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

This love of Christ cannot be taught because it surpasses human knowledge. It cannot be measured because it is too vast. The love of Christ is something that must be experienced to be truly and fully known. God’s great power within us—the power from the Spirit—is power to grasp the length and width, and height and depth of the love of God in Christ Jesus for us.

This bestowal of Spiritual power was not just something that happened in our past, at our baptism, or moment of conversion from unbelief to faith in Christ. It is to be an ongoing reality throughout the Christian life. God continues to strengthen us with power through his Spirit to know Jesus as he dwells in us.

That’s why God’s holy word and sacraments must always be the priority of every church. It’s why they must remain foundational to the life and practice of worship, and prioritised in all the church does, for Christ continually comes to us through these means. As he does, our Father in Heaven keeps pouring out his Spirit through Christ, to strengthen his people with power, that we might continue to grow to be more like Christ, cherish his word, seek to walk in his ways, and follow him in blessing others and building one another up in love.

You might not feel like the most powerful person in the world. You might only feel weak, as you live with your own weaknesses, in frail and mortal bodies. Rather than feeling powerful, we may feel powerless, as we witness disaster, calamity, evil and suffering in the world news and in our own communities. It may seem as though we are powerless in the face of overpowering problems and dominant people. It might not seem as if the church is strong, but weak, and shrinking and dwindling and dying. In the struggle against the might of Satan we might know how we fail in the battle with our sinful nature, doing the very things we hate and failing to do the good we know we should.

Indeed, by ourselves, we are weak. That is why God himself came into the world in weakness. Jesus could have come enforcing great power, coercing people into the Kingdom, but he didn’t. He came in weakness to identify with our weakness and take it upon himself to redeem us from it. Conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, the eternal Son of God and Mary’s son was clothed with the same frail flesh we have. The beginning of his human life was at the most vulnerable stage, an embryo in the womb of his virgin mother.

Jesus’ ministry began in weakness as the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. Humanly speaking Jesus had no strength within him, weak from hunger from fasting for 40 days. But it was in the strength that the Spirit supplied that Jesus emerged victorious for we who are too weak to win the victory in our own strength, and overcame all of Satan’s temptations for us.

Throughout his visible ministry on earth Jesus showed his power and authority over all things, to share his victory with those who were too weak and helpless to help themselves—the ill, the crippled, dying, demon-possessed, those cast out, lost in sin, desperate for freedom, life and love.

And then to the eyes of the world—to the powerful and strong—Jesus looked like only a weak failure, when he surrendered to the will of his Father, humbling himself and becoming obedient to death, even death on a Cross. But by his very death, God brought life to the world. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

God says: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9). God did not send the Holy Spirit to take away our weakness, but help us in our weak bodies and weak world. As we live as God’s Spirit-powered people, may we not put our trust in princes—world leaders—or in any human being, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.” (Psalm 146:3-5). May we not trust in ourselves or our own capabilities for the future of our life, the church and the world. “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty” (Zechariah 4:6).

God has chosen you out of all the people of the earth to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, to be empowered, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. With Spirit-inspired voices, may we rejoice with Paul who said: “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Pastor Tim Ebbs

St Paul’s Lutheran Church, Glenelg

Time after Pentecost, 2026

 

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

May we not trust in ourselves or our own capabilities for the future of our life, the church and the world. “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty”

 

1. What does it mean to be “strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner being”?

 

1. Why do you think Paul focuses on inner spiritual strength rather than external circumstances?

 

1. How can this passage encourage you to trust God’s power rather than your own abilities?

 

1. Why is understanding the vastness of Christ’s love important for experiencing God’s power?

 

1. How are God’s love and God’s power connected in this passage?

 

1. What does “filled with all the fullness of God” suggest about God’s desire for His people?

 

1. In what areas of your life do you need the Holy Spirit’s strengthening power today?

 

1. What fears, weaknesses, or challenges could be transformed by relying on God’s power?

 

1. What would change in your daily life if you truly believed God’s power is at work within you?

 

1. How does knowing the depth of Christ’s love strengthen your confidence in prayer?

 

11. What is one specific area where you will ask God to strengthen you through His Spirit this week?

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