While God the Father imparts Himself to us, He imparts to us His great power which He wrought in Christ. This is “the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the operation of the might of His strength, which He wrought in Christ in raising Him from among the dead, and seating Him at His right hand in the heavenlies” (Eph. 1:19-20). The surpassing great power of God toward us is according to the operation of the might of His strength which He wrought in Christ. God’s power toward us is the same power that operated in Christ. This means that as the Body we participate in the power that operates in the Head.
The great power that operated in Christ first raised Him from among the dead. This power has overcome death, the grave, and Hades. Because of God’s resurrection power, death and Hades could not hold Christ (Acts 2:24).
The surpassing greatness of God’s power has also seated Christ at God’s right hand in the heavenlies, “far above all rule and authority and power and lordship, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is coming” (Eph. 1:21). God’s right hand, where Christ has been seated by the surpassing great power of God, is the most honorable place, the place with supreme authority. The ascended Christ has been seated far above all rule, authority, power, and lordship in the entire universe. Christ has been seated far above everything, both in this age and in the coming age.
Ephesians 1:22 tells us that God “subjected all things under His feet.” This indicates that the great power that operated in Christ has subjected all things under His feet. For Christ to be far above all is one thing, and for all things to be subjected under His feet is another. The former is Christ’s transcendency, whereas the latter is the subjection of all things to Him. Here we see the subduing power, the power to subdue all things.
Ephesians 1:22 also tells us that God gave Christ “to be Head over all things to the church.” This means that God’s great power that operated in Christ gave Him to be the Head over all things to the church. It was through God’s surpassing great power that Christ received the headship in the universe. As a man, in His humanity with His divinity, Christ was raised up from the dead, was seated in the heavenlies, had all things subjected to Him, and was given to be the Head over all things. All this took place through God’s great power which He wrought in Christ. This power is fourfold: resurrection power, transcending power, subjecting power, and heading-up power.
Now God as the Father in His love is imparting this fourfold power to the believers. The more we fellowship with Him and allow Him to abide in us, the more this power is infused and transfused into our being. At certain times we may be troubled, burdened, depressed, and oppressed. Nevertheless, if we spend time with our loving Father, we shall be strengthened through His imparting His great power into our being. Then we shall be uplifted and raised up from depression and from the suppression of the enemy. This is our experience and enjoyment of God as the Father in the triune dispensing.
God also operates in the believers both the willing and the working for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13 says, “It is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.” The book of Philippians shows us the way to experience Christ. This verse tells us that for us to experience Christ, God operates in us both the willing inwardly and the working outwardly so that we may live Christ as our life for God’s good pleasure. The Greek word rendered “operates” here means energizes. The indwelling God energizes us from within to be the source, power, strength, and energy for us to experience Christ.
In 2:13 Paul tells us that God operates in us “both the willing and the working.” This willing must take place in our will. This indicates that God’s operation begins from our spirit and spreads into our mind, emotion, and will. God’s operating to will in us involves not only our spirit but also our will. Therefore, God’s operation must spread from our spirit into our will. As God operates the willing within us, He carries out His working. This corresponds to Romans 8, where we see that God works not only in our spirit but also in our mind and eventually in our physical body (vv. 6, 11). We will in our will, and we work in our body. God operates in us from our spirit, through our will, and then in our physical body.
God’s operating in us is for His good pleasure. His good pleasure is the heart’s desire of His will (Eph. 1:5) that we may reach the climax of His supreme salvation.
God’s operating in the believers is superabundantly above all that they ask or think. In Ephesians 3:20 Paul says, “To Him who is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power which operates in us.” Strictly speaking, “ask or think” here refers to the spiritual things related to the church, not to material things. For these spiritual things we need not only to ask but also to think. We may think more than we ask. God fulfills not only what we ask for the church but also what we think concerning the church, and God is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think for the church.
Our asking and thinking should be focused on God’s economy to dispense Himself into us to produce the church as the expression of Christ. When our asking and thinking concern the church, God will always do superabundantly above all that we ask or think. We need to ask and think concerning Christ making His home in our hearts (Eph. 3:17) and concerning the church being filled unto all the fullness of God (v. 19). If we ask and think in this way, then whatever we ask or think concerning the church will be answered, and it will be answered superabundantly.
God’s operating superabundantly above all that the believers ask or think is according to the power which operates in them. Ephesians 3:20 speaks of the power which operates in the believers. This is inward power, as mentioned in Ephesians 1:19, and it is God’s resurrection power, not His creating power. God’s creating power makes the material things in our environment (Rom. 8:28), whereas His resurrection power accomplishes the spiritual things for the church within our inward being.
God’s ability to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power which operates in us, as revealed in Ephesians 3:20, is different from His ability in creation. Paul’s concept here is related not to what God does outside of us but to what He does inside of us. For this reason, he specifically mentions “the power which operates in us.” This is the inward power, the resurrection power, according to which God operates in the believers both the willing and the working for His good pleasure. As we experience and enjoy God as our loving Father, He will operate in us superabundantly above all that we ask or think. Sometimes His operation may be limited by our little faith. However, at other times God may disregard the smallness of our faith and operate in us beyond our faith and superabundantly above all that we ask or think.
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