The Immeasurable Greatness of His Power

The Immeasurable Greatness of His Power.  Power is important, and increased power is sometimes essential to get a job done. But raw power, unless it is converted into a usable form, is unhelpful if not lethal. Hurricane Helene teaches us that lesson.

Like most people in Western NC who did not already own a generator before Helene, we bought a generator after Helene. But harnessing that generator to power the well pump and water pressure tank, the fridge and freezer, the stove and oven, the modem and router is the real trick. Having 5800 Watts, 30 Amps, and 240 Volts is completely useless until it has been converted into a useful form. Raw power is unforgiving.

Many trips to the hardware store showed me that several people were trying to do what I was attempting to do, to reverse-hook up a generator to power the house. Only a few of us could find the parts we needed as we commiserated in the electrical aisle! By the time I figure this power puzzle out, the electric company will probably have restored power to the community. Oh well, there will always be another storm to justify the purchase of a generator, though probably none in my lifetime as historically devastating as Helene.

A theological parallel to converting electrical power into a useful form was waiting for me in Ephesians 1:16-23. Like the raw power of electricity, but infinitely more so, God is inaccessible in his full strength. We who are weak cannot tie into his omnipotence without a mediator—a step-down transformer, so to speak. Jesus Christ made the raw power of God approachable. He who is great became small, so that we who are small might have a relationship with him who is great. Jesus did not become less powerful by becoming small; he became knowable, accessible. His omnipotence is now regulated through relationship.

Paul’s prayer for the church at Ephesus hints at this power conversion. “May God give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him … that you may know … what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe” (Eph. 1:17, 19). His great power “that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places” (vs. 20) is ever present, since God never ceases being God, but it is now directed (think: converted) toward us who believe in his Son! Omnipotence transformed to daily use! Paul’s prayer is that the church comes to understand that the same omnipotence that raised Christ from the dead is available to them and at work in them.