In Ephesians 1 Paul prayed that the Father would give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation (v. 17). If we are fresh and strong in our spirit, we will be enlightened and receive revelation. With revelation we will be able to understand. This understanding, this wisdom, however, is not related to comprehending mere human knowledge but to knowing the church. The center of Paul’s prayer is the church. He prayed that the Father would give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we would know the church. When we have a spirit of wisdom and revelation, we will also know the great power that can operate in us, which is the same power that God caused to operate in Christ.
This great power raised Christ from the dead (v. 20). Christ was crucified, buried, and even entombed behind a large stone. In death Christ was completely enclosed. However, the power of God operated in Him to raise Him from the dead, resurrecting and delivering Him out of the condition and realm of death. This great power also caused Christ to be seated in ascension at the right hand of God, 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 to come (vv. 20-21). This great power also subjected all things under Christ’s feet (v. 22). Lastly, this great power operated in Christ to make Him Head over all things to the church (v. 22). This fourfold power which operated in Christ is available to us today as resurrecting, transcending, subduing, and ruling power. When we experience this power operating in us, we are delivered from death, oppression, and difficulty, we transcend every negative element, and we experience the subduing and ruling authority of Christ. The church is produced by the operation of this great power, and the church is manifested by this power.
If we are deadened and subdued by our environment, by people, by things, or by events, the church cannot be manifested. It is easy to be buried in the tomb of business deals or in the tomb of family relationships. Some wives are tombs for their husbands, and some husbands are tombs for their wives. Some parents are tombs for their children, and some children are tombs for their parents. If we are in a tomb of any kind, the church will not be produced and manifested.
The church is produced through the saints’ experience of this great power. If a sister has a problem in her home, the resurrection power of Christ can overcome the problem. If a brother is excessively burdened beyond his power, the transcendent power of Christ can lift him up. Today people are trying to go to the moon, but we are going to the third heaven. Those who go to the moon must depend upon rockets, but we can reach the third heaven with the resurrection power of Christ. With this power every difficulty is under our feet, and we are seated as kings above every stormy wave.
The church is produced by Christ. If we touch Christ in the morning, we will be in the meetings in the evening. Touching and enjoying Christ in the morning removes any lack of desire to attend the meetings. However, if we do not experience the Lord throughout the day, we will be deflated and have no desire to do anything in the evening other than to watch television. In this condition television becomes a “tomb” for us. However, if we touch and enjoy the Lord in the morning and throughout the day, even ten thousand televisions could not keep us from the meeting. When we experience Christ, we transcend television, and television becomes our footstool. When we transcend television and reign over it, we long to be in the meetings and to enjoy the church life. This shows that the church is produced out of the power of Christ.
However, if Christ’s power is merely a doctrine, it will be useless; it must be experiential in order to be useful. We must experience the resurrecting, transcending, subduing, and ruling power of Christ. As soon as we experience the power of Christ, we become transcendent, and the church is brought forth.
If we do not experience the resurrection power of Christ, the church will not be expressed through us, even if we come to the meetings. If we are not transcendent, subduing, and reigning, the church cannot be expressed through us. On the one hand, we may say Amen in the meeting, but on the other hand, we may be thinking about a television program. In the end, our Amen is a subdued Amen, not a subduing Amen. A sister may come to the meeting but still be thinking about a fashionable dress that she saw in a department store. If we are occupied with thoughts of such things, it is not possible for the church to be expressed through us. If we have been subdued by a television program or a fashionable dress, these things are “tombs” to us. Even if we say Amen in the meeting, our Amen will have the flavor of death. However, if we are in resurrection, if we are transcendent, if we are subduing, and if we are reigning, our Amen will have a fresh taste, and it will transport others into heaven. The church is produced through the experience of the power of Christ. This is the reason that Paul’s first prayer ends with the church as the Body of Christ, the fullness of the One who fills all in all (vv. 22-23).