“That Christ may dwell in your
hearts through faith that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be
able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and
depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge;
that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is
able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church
by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen”
(Ephesians 3:17-21)
We’ve seen in the past few
sermons that God is holy, good, pure, innocent, and He
utterly loves you and me.We had a glimpse into His omniscience - He
knows – everything!Last week we observed that He is
omnipresent, able to be everywhere in the universe and beyond, all at
the same time.He is here right this minute.But we have to wonder about another
characteristic. In the light of the recent earthquakes in Haiti that
killed so many people and other disasters that have plagued the world
from the beginning; we conclude, yes He may be good, omniscient and
omnipresent, but is He powerful?If He CARES for the people in Haiti and
other places who have unspeakable problems, if He knows ABOUT this
suffering, and is everywhere, why did destruction come upon them?
At a number of sites on the web, you can find “the
story of Dr. Herbert Jackson, who, as a new missionary, was assigned a
car that would not start without a push. He came up with a plan. He went
to the school near his home, got permission to take some children out of
class, and had them push his car. As he made his rounds, he would either
park on a hill or leave the engine running. He used this ingenious
procedure for two years. When ill health forced the Jackson family to
leave, a new missionary came to the station. When Jackson proudly began
to explain his arrangement for getting the car started, the new man
began looking under the hood. Before the explanation was complete, the
new missionary interrupted, ‘Why, Dr. Jackson, I believe the only
trouble is this loose cable.’ He gave the cable a twist, stepped into
the car, pushed the switch, and to Jackson's astonishment, the engine
roared to life. For two years needless trouble had become routine. The
power was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from
putting that power to work.”
You and I tend to be that “loose
connection” and we too often attempt to understand God’s work
through our own limitations.Televangelist Pat Robertson was wrong to
blame the Haitians by saying the earthquakes were because of a “pact”
the people “made with the devil” in past centuries.The sins we commit certainly do generate
problems that infect us, and certainly can be passed on to our children
and grandchildren as well.But ALL of us are sinners (Romans 3:23), all
of the leaders of our nations make sinful decisions; and all of us have
offended God.The people of Haiti are experiencing
terrible grief at this time, and we should all be praying for them, not
saying unkind things about them.My 90-year old mother died in 2005.How would it have felt if someone came up to
me at her funeral service and said she is gone because she was a sinner?Pray that God will protect Haiti, not only
from further earthquakes, but also from the unkind words of those who
should know better.
“Omnipotent” means that God
can do anything.He is All-Powerful and there is no limit to
His strength or abilities.He is the One who merely SPOKE and the
interstellar vastness of this universe came into being (Genesis 1).The earth suddenly existed, microscopic life
and plants sprang from it; animals walked upon it and swam in its seas.All of this and more came because of a few
words uttered by God.He is infinitely stronger than we are, He's
all-powerful, and note that suffering and death did not always exist.It came into being (Genesis 3) because we
need something greater, something deeper than mere physical well-being.We need the Lord, we need faith in Him.We may think, “I have faith, so why am I
suffering?”But to compare ourselves to the limitless,
infinite faithful purposes of God is to wonder less and trust Him more.
In the “Faith”
section of last Saturday’s “Long Beach Press
Telegram” newspaper, the headline read, “Quake
Shakes but Can’t Topple Haitians’ Faith,” which has been my
observation over several decades.There are those who seem to lose faith for
awhile when suffering comes, but others are drawn closer to God.When we are shaken our true nature will be
revealed and the honest faith in us will grow, even if we are upset with
God for a time.If we drift away, He will bring us back.We come to Him out of need, which is why I
believe in “battlefield conversions.”The more desperate our situation, the more
we need help, and that is why God permitted death and suffering to exist
in the first place.Real faith is from Him – and
like fruit trees require fertilizer, faith grows in the midst of
suffering.
The article continued that “outside
a church with a shattered ceiling open to the morning sky, what was left
of the congregation of Haiti’s Second Baptist Church stood in a
courtyard and waved their hands in the air and shouted, ‘Victoire!
Victoire!’ Victory… The pastor estimated that as many as half of his
3,000-member flock may have been killed in the earthquake ...”
The pastor said “he lost his home and his best
friend, but his family was saved…” He “has
opened the church school as a shelter and invites both members and
strangers in.”We may not understand the Lord’s “Victory,”
but He is infinitely strong in ways we don’t expect and “Victory”
is His.
Our understanding, our
insufficient definitions of strength and weakness, render us incapable
of truly comprehending the omnipotence, the utter strength and power of
God.Our values, our minds fall short.Isaiah the prophet came to know God, and he quoted the Lord this way: “’My
thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the
Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways
higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts’”
(Isaiah 55:8-9).
Our Scripture for today is
from Ephesians 3:17-21, which includes: “Now
to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or
think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the
church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”God can do anything and everything.There is no thought we have that even
approaches the awesome, limitless power of God.We can’t imagine or come up with a request
in prayer that will exceed His abilities.And yet, what happens when He does not seem
to answer?
Notice that Ephesians 3:20-21
connects raw “power” to “glory
in the church by Christ Jesus.”What is our “glory?”It is Christ. Christ in us.How does a holy God deal with sinful people?Does He utterly destroy us and start again?Here’s how He handles those who look to Him
for HIS solution to our need – “that Christ may
dwell in your hearts through faith that you, being rooted and grounded
in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width
and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which
passes knowledge; that you may be filled with the fullness of God”
(Ephesians 3:17-19).The raw power, the glory of God is seen in
taking a corrupt people and turning us into “saints”
of God through Christ.
He who created all things in
an instant by a word; can and someday will, destroy everything in the
same way.His power is absolute.But He only destroys in order to build
something better. He does that in you and me, through our trust in
Christ and the work He has done.God’s raw power is expressed instead in Christ. He
will “dwell in your hearts through faith that you, being rooted and grounded
in love…” will “know the love of Christ
which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with the fullness of God.”
(Ephesians 3:17-21).His omnipotence is seen in His love.Will you stop being a "loose
connection" and start to trust in Him?
Dear Lord, I give my heart
and my life to You.Please forgive my sins and let me “know
the love of Christ which passes knowledge.”In Jesus Name.Amen.
