You may be feeling anything but powerful as you begin to read this book. Well, that is an excellent place to start. 

“Feelings” of power have very little to do with bearing fruit in the Christian life. In fact, they can be a definite hindrance. Real power, the power that heals and transforms lives and communities, streams forth from God. In order to release that kind of power and to see it work, we have only one responsibility—and that is to get out of the way!

But before we dive in and see exactly how we can “get out of the way” and release the power of God into our own lives and into the lives of others, let us look more closely at the meaning of the word “power.” 

In order to banish all trace of separation, and to restore full relationship with human beings, God entered into a seemingly impossible contradiction, or paradox: He came to earth as both man and as God. What is more, He arrived on earth embodying two equally balanced opposites. He was not just partially man and mostly God. No, He was fully man and fully God.  It is to this astounding paradox that we turn in this chapter. 

In order to live in the freedom that Christ purchased for us, and to experience His power, there is one key truth that we need to grasp: The greatest power emerges from absolute weakness.

In chapter 2 we saw this truth applied supremely in the life of Jesus. It is awe-inspiring to reflect on how utterly astonishing it is that the omnipotent God embraced the characteristic of weakness. Weakness is not, and has never been, an inherent part of the Godhead. It was for our sakes—for God’s love of humanity—that He took upon Himself a quality of being which is totally contrary to His holy nature. 

Our union, or oneness, with Almighty God is way beyond the grasp of our natural minds, but it is absolutely vital so let us press into it—and to not give up.

Our minds and bodies may scream: “No! How can I possibly be one with God if I am ill, feel depressed, keep failing, struggle so much with life?” May I urge you to continue doing whatever is needed or helpful at the physical level, and then make a decision to look into the truth of God’s Word—to find out what it says about you.

Yes, God’s Word speaks volumes about you. If you look into it, you will find that it is an accurate, never-changing mirror, reflecting back to you exactly who you are and to whom you belong: “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself” (1 Cor. 6:19, NLT).

“Releasing” is the key word of this chapter’s title. The power of God is always flowing through Christ: “Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24). Christ does not only have power, but He is the power of God—and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

However, Christ does not force Himself upon us. He waits for us to respond in relationship and in faith, and then He is free to flow through us. It is striking that the declaration that God “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” is immediately qualified by these words: “according to [in proportion to] the power that works in us” (Eph. 3:20). In other words, it is not a “given”: There are degrees of power that we can experience—or not—depending upon our responses and our choices.

“. . . and this is my prayer. That God . . . will give you spiritual wisdom and the insight to know more of him: that you may receive that inner illumination of the spirit which will make you realise . . . how tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God” (Eph. 1:18–19, PHILLIPS, emphasis added).

Our verse above is saying that God’s power is there, but that it is not available in a general way. It is available to those who have faith.

Faith is like a bridge into God’s world. It enables us to turn our backs on pain, distress, sickness, broken relationships, confusion, and grief, and open our hearts to receive the healing, transforming grace of God. We do not deny that the pains and griefs are terribly real—for they are indeed real; but faith knows that there is an infinitely more powerful reality waiting to be acknowledged and appropriated.

“. . . and this is my prayer. That God . . . will give you spiritual wisdom and the insight to know more of him: that you may receive that inner illumination of the spirit which will make you realise . . . how tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God” (Eph. 1:18–19, PHILLIPS, emphasis added).

Our verse above is saying that God’s power is there, but that it is not available in a general way. It is available to those who have faith.

Faith is like a bridge into God’s world. It enables us to turn our backs on pain, distress, sickness, broken relationships, confusion, and grief, and open our hearts to receive the healing, transforming grace of God. We do not deny that the pains and griefs are terribly real—for they are indeed real; but faith knows that there is an infinitely more powerful reality waiting to be acknowledged and appropriated.

A drop of water that merges with the Atlantic Ocean acquires the power of all seven oceans.

This saying is a profound metaphor for what Jesus Christ has accomplished through His death and resurrection. By dissolving separateness, He drew each little droplet of the human race into Himself, granting each droplet the supreme gift of omnipresence. 

Up until now, Christian theologians have tended to resist this process of merging with the Infinite. Some have dismissed it as “oriental religion” or “New Age philosophy.” This is a gross misinterpretation, and it dismisses the discoveries of modern physics that point towards an infinite universe. Above all, it ignores verses in the New Testament which explicitly state that God is omnipresent: “There is one body and one Spirit . . . one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all” (Eph. 4:4, 6). Earlier in the book of Ephesians, Christ is described as “the one who fills the whole wide universe” (Eph. 1:23, PHILLIPS). To the Colossian church Paul writes: “Christ is all and in all” (Col. 3:11).