THE POWER OF GOD

DEFINITION OF POWER

According to Merriam-Webster, power is the ability or capacity to do something or act in a particular way. It is also the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behaviour of others or the course of events.

A geek will define it as mass times the square of the speed of light! As in Albert Einstein's equation of energy!

But in the Greek, although many words are translated as 'power', two words stand out

1. Dunamis (might, great force) as used in Acts 4:33.
2. Exousia (authority, right to act) as used in Mark 3:15.

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DUNAMIS

Acts 4:33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.

The Spirit-filled Life Bible (TNSFLB) defines dunamis as: "energy, power, might, great force, great ability, strength. It is sometimes used to describe the powers of the world to come at work upon the Earth and divine power overcoming all resistance. The dunamis in Jesus resulted in dramatic transformations. This is the norm for the Spirit-filled and Spirit-led church."

It is estimated that the sun gives the earth around 23,000 Terawatts of energy every year, as opposed to the global consumption of 16 TW (1 Terrawatt is a million million watts, or 1,000,000,000,000 watts). It has so much power!
But then, the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California has been experimenting on nuclear fusion using 192 lasers. The premise of their research is to replicate the power source of the sun and stars. The fusion pellet they use (around 1mm in diameter and causing $1 Million per pellet) is capable of powering a house for a day without waste aside from helium!

EXOUSIA

Mark 3:15 "And to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons"

The other word is exousia. It is defined in TNSFLB as "the authority or right to act, ability, privilege, capacity, delegated authority. Jesus had the exousia to forgive sin, heal sicknesses, and cast out devils. Exousia is the right to use dunamis, “might.” Jesus gave His followers exousia to preach, teach, heal, and deliver (v. 15), and that authority has never been rescinded (John 14:12). Powerless ministries become powerful upon discovering the exousia power resident in the name of Jesus and the blood of Jesus."

Neil Anderson in his book, the Bondage breaker, describes it like the truck running on full horsepower (dunamis), only to be stopped in traffic by a policeman (exousia applied).

THE POWER OF GOD

God displays His power so we could know Him.

Jeremiah 16:21

"Therefore behold, I will this once cause them to know,
I will cause them to know
My hand and My might;
And they shall know that My name is the Lord."

1. One of the descriptions of our Heavenly Father is "God Almighty", and He is!

Psalm 62:11-12

God has spoken once,
Twice I have heard this:
That power belongs to God.
Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy;
For You render to each one according to his work.

Exodus 15:6

Your right hand, O LORD, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces.

1 Chronicles 29:11-12 

Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, The power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, And You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, And You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; In Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.

2 Chronicles 25:8

But if you go, be gone! Be strong in battle! Even so, God shall make you fall before the enemy; for God has power to help and to overthrow.

2. Jesus Christ, as the Creator of the world (Colossians 1:16-17), displayed His power and authority as well.

Jeremiah 10:12-13
He has made the earth by His power,
He has established the world by His wisdom,
And has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.
When He utters His voice,
There is a multitude of waters in the heavens:
“And He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
He brings the wind out of His treasuries.”

Jeremiah 32:17 “Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.

Matthew 9:6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power (exousia) on earth to forgive sins"—then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."

Luke 4:6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority (exousia) I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

Matthew 24:30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power (dunamis) and great glory.

3. The Holy Spirit is full of power!

Luke 1:35 “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power (dunamis) of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” Dr. Brian Bailey said, "The Holy Spirit is called “the power of the Highest,” for He possesses all power."

Luke 4:14 Then Jesus returned in the power (dunamis) of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.

Romans 15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power (dunamis) of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:19 In mighty signs and wonders, by the power of (dunamis) the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

4. Our enemy (Satan and his cohorts) has been given power as well.
Acts 26:18 tells us that those who are not Christians are under the power (exousia) of Satan: "to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power (exousia) of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me."

Ephesians 2:2 In which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.

We are told in 2 Thessalonians 2:9 about the coming anti-Christ: "The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power (dunamis), signs, and lying wonders."

5. WE ARE GIVEN POWER TOO!

Matthew 10:1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power (exousia) over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.

Mark 6:7 And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power (exousia) over unclean spirits.

** SO WE EXERT AUTHORITY OVER EVIL SPIRITS, NOT POWER/MIGHT/STRENGTH! Remember, we are made a little lower than the angels.

Luke 10:19 Behold, I give you the authority (exousia) to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power (dunamis) of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power (dunamis) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Ephesians 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of His power (dunamis) toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power (kratos).

Ephesians 1:21 Far above all principality and power (exousia) and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

2 Peter 1:3 As His divine power (dunamis) has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,

We must always remember that OUR POWER IS NOT OUR OWN.

1 John 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world

John 14:12 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

WHERE IS THE POWER NOW? WHY DOES IT SEEM TO BE MISSING?

One of the reasons is unbelief. Even Jesus Christ was not able to do "mighty works (dunamis)" in a city because of their unbelief!

Mark 6:1-6
Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him.
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.

Further, we are told by Jesus Christ that great signs and wonders will come with those who believe!

Mark 16:15-18 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

Disciples can't cast out because of unbelief.

Matthew 17:20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

We should always remember that BELIEF AND UNBELIEF ARE HEART ATTITUDES!

Mark 9:23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

HAVING RIGHT ATTITUDES WITH THE POWER OF GOD
1. We should never forget that only God is our source of power.

2 Samuel 22:33 "God is my strength and power, And He makes my way perfect." 

Which other source are we drawing from if it is not from God? Be careful to attribute the power and glory to God alone! HE IS THE SOURCE OF POWER.

Psalms 62:11 God has spoken once, Twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God.

Deuteronomy 8:17-18 Then you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.' "And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Psalms 68:35 O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places. The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people. Blessed be God!

2. The need for a PURE HEART/INTENTIONS: In Acts 8:19, Simon the sorcerer said, "Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit."

3. Carefulness in speech:

Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. 

We can potentially declare something prophetic especially if we are baptized in the Spirit.

4. We need to be FULL OF FAITH like Stephen. Acts 6:8 says "And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people."

5. Do not withhold doing good if you are empowered by God! Proverbs 3:27 says "Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in the power of your hand to do so."

6. We should always be dependent on the Holy Spirit.

Zechariah 4:6 So he answered and said to me: "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' Says the LORD of hosts. 

Isaiah 40:29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.

2 Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 

This is the KEY FOR THE POWER OF CHRIST TO REST UPON US.

7. Be sensitive to the power at work. Luke 5:17 says:  "Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them."