[English Sermon 영어 설교]
Sunday, May 4, 2025 - Sermon by Rev. Jinkook (Danny) Sohn
God's Power Revealed in Christ (Ephesians 1:20-23)
2025. 5. 4. 주일예배 설교- 에베소서 강해 7
본문: 에베소서 1:20-23
제목: 그리스도 안에서 나타난 하나님의 능력
설교자: 손진국 목사
When I was a child, I once asked my father, "Can’t we open a barbecue restaurant?" just because I really wanted to eat meat. If your father were the owner of a meat restaurant, would it be hard for the child to eat meat? If your father were the chairman of a major company, would his children be worried about getting a job? If the Creator of the entire universe is our Father, would any problem we face be truly insurmountable?
If Jesus, who overcame the world, is the Lord of our lives, is there any challenge in the world that we cannot overcome?
Today's passage is a prayer by the Apostle Paul for the church. He prays that we may know God and His power, and then he specifically tells us how God's power is revealed in Christ and how that power relates to the church.
Let us look at how God's power is revealed in Jesus Christ.
1. Revealed through His Death on the Cross and His Resurrection
[Ephesians 1:20] He exerted this power in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavens.
The power of death is the strongest force known to man. No one has ever overcome it. Even dictators like Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, who ruled like gods, eventually lost to death. So did cult leaders like Sun Myung Moon who claimed to be divine. There is no one who does not die, and no one has the power to conquer death.
Why? Because of sin. All humans are sinners and must face the consequence of sin, which is death. Jesus also died because of sin. But His death was different.
The Bible calls Him the second Adam—not merely the second, but the last Adam, the second man. Why is He the second man? Because among all who have ever lived, only Adam and Jesus were born without sin. But unlike Adam, who sinned and led all mankind into death, Jesus, the second man, did not die for His own sins. He died for the sins of all humanity, and by His resurrection, He became the Savior who gives life to those who were dead in sin.
[1 Corinthians 15:22] For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
[1 Corinthians 15:45] So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.
God is the One who holds the power to overcome death. He has the power to raise the dead.
By that power, He raised Jesus from the grave. Jesus is risen!
What does the power of God that overcame death in Christ have to do with us?
[Romans 6:5] For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we will certainly also be united with Him in a resurrection like His.
The power that raised Jesus from the dead will also be at work in those who believe in Him.
The same resurrection life of Jesus will be revealed in believers—when? At His return.
What is the most necessary power for humanity?What is the most important power? It is the power to overcome death.
Who can have that power? The rich? The powerful? The young? No. God gives the power to overcome death only to those who are in Christ.
[Application] Do you believe that the same power of God that raised Jesus from the dead is also at work in you, as a believer? In what specific areas of your life is that power influencing you?
2. Revealed in Being Seated at the Right Hand of God
[Ephesians 1:20] He exerted this power in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavens.
The “right hand” refers to the seat beside someone. The opposite of “right” here isn’t “left”—it’s “below.” Who gets to sit at the right hand of a king? Only a prince, the one who will inherit the throne. A servant doesn’t sit beside the king. Who sits beside the president? Not the chief of staff or the prime minister—but a leader of equal status like another president.
Jesus humbled Himself for us. He came down from the highest place—God came to live as a man. He came down to the place of sinners. He descended even to death. Because Jesus humbled Himself, God exalted Him to the highest place—equal with God Himself.
[Hebrews 10:12–13] But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time He waits for His enemies to be made His footstool.
God exalted Jesus to the highest position and gave Him all authority. Does God literally have a “right” side? No. He is infinite, filling both heaven and earth. He is spirit, not flesh. So “right hand” is symbolic. It means God's rule and authority. It means God gave Christ the authority to rule over all things.
[Ephesians 1:21] Far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
This includes authority over all angels in heaven.
[1 Peter 3:22] He has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to Him.
It also includes authority to destroy Satan’s power.
[1 Corinthians 15:24–26] Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Jesus Himself said: [Matthew 28:18] Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.”
Therefore, Jesus is the Most High. His name is the name above all names. What is Jesus doing now, having all authority in heaven and on earth?
[Romans 8:34] Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
If Jesus Christ, who has all authority in heaven and on earth, is interceding for us, what could we possibly fear? What problem in this life could dare to overwhelm us?
This is the confession of a person of faith: [Psalm 118:6] The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? [Romans 8:31] What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
May we all be such disciples who make this confession and live boldly for Christ on this earth.
[Application] Do you believe that Jesus, seated at the right hand of God, is your Lord? What truth must you declare today? Write your declaration of faith.
3. Revealed in Making Christ the Head of the Church
[Ephesians 1:22] And God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church.
God made Jesus the Head—what does this mean? It means He made Him the Ruler, the Sovereign.
How great is the power of a president? This past January, a new U.S. president was inaugurated. Donald Trump was re-elected as the 47th president of the United States after four years. And in just a few months, he is already shaking the world. This shows how great the authority and influence of the leader of the world's most powerful nation can be.
Yet even the authority of the U.S. president cannot push the sun back an hour. Even if all world leaders joined forces, they could not make early or late rain fall, nor could they prevent earthquakes.
God is the Sovereign over all things. He created all and rules all.
David confessed: [1 Chronicles 29:11] Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is Yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; You are exalted as head over all.
God gave that sovereignty to Jesus. He made Jesus the Head over all things.
[Ephesians 1:22] And God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church.
What does “all things” include? The entire universe, all creation, all angels in heaven, all people on earth, and even the forces of Satan.
And what does verse 22 say? “Appointed Him to be head over everything for the church.” He is the Head over all things, and He is also the Head of the church.
What is the relationship between the church and Jesus? [Ephesians 1:23] The church is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.
“The church is His body.” The church is the body of Jesus Christ, who is the Head over all.
Then what is my relationship to Him? As one who believes in Jesus, I am a member of His body.
The more we think about this, the more amazing it is. Jesus rules over all things in heaven and on earth—how does He do that? Through His body, the church.
The church is above all things, and the Head of the church is Jesus, who has all authority in heaven and on earth.
You and I are members of that church. We are being used by the vision and will of Jesus, the Head, working together with Him.
[Ephesians 1:23] The church is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.
Jesus is the One who fills all things. He fills heaven and earth and brings abundance to all within it. In other words, He is the Creator God.
But where is that fullness revealed? In the church, which is the body of Christ within all creation.
In other words, Christ fills the church, His body, with His fullness, and with that fullness, He fills the world. It’s like when God called Abraham and said that through him, all nations on earth would be blessed.
But what’s the problem? The members of the church don’t realize that fullness. Instead of fullness, we often feel lacking.
But if you remove all the modifiers in verse 23 and just look at the core statement, what do you get? “The church is fullness.” Scripture declares that the church is already the fullness of Christ.
We don’t see that fullness because we lack the eyes of faith. What needs to be restored in us is not our lack being filled, but our faith—faith that can see the fullness of Christ and carry out the mission of filling the world.
What needs to be restored is our faith: Faith to see the church as the true body of Christ. Faith to see His fullness. Eyes of faith to see the power of the Lord, who holds all authority in heaven and on earth, at work in the church.
May you and I, and all the believers in every church established on this earth, fix our eyes on Christ the Head, and through His fullness, faithfully carry out the precious ministry of filling the world.
[Application] Do you believe that Christ is the Head of the church? As a member of the body, what part of the world entrusted to you must you now fill with Christ’s fullness?
하늘소망교회(담임 손진국 목사)는 뉴질랜드 오클랜드 북부 실버데일에 세워진 한인교회로 '하나님의 마음으로 사람을 살리는 교회'입니다.
Hope of Heaven Baptist Church (Senior Pastor: Rev. Jinkook Sohn) is a Korean church established in Silverdale, Auckland, New Zealand. It is a church that saves people with the heart of God.