“…Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.” Colossians 1:11
When the Spirit of God was poured out upon all flesh, specifically manifesting His presence upon, and in, the group of disciples who were praying and waiting for the “promise of the Father,” there was a specific characteristic of the Spirit’s presence. It was Christ’s power. Jesus had told the disciples that this would be so: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) Why is the matter of power so very important at this juncture of history, when the church, or the body of Christ, is born by the Spirit? The evangelization of the world through the church, and every believer, or member of it, is made possible by this power. This power is a strengthened ability and capacity to believe God, to appropriate Christ, to BE what the believer has become as a new creation in Christ. This new life not only speaks of the eternal truth where every believer has been placed into Christ by the Father, having been made one with Him, but also of the very presence of Christ’s life by the Spirit now indwelling the believer. The more Christ is appropriated, the believer abiding in Him, and Christ in him, the more he is conformed into His image…and image to be taken to the ends of the earth.
When Christ came to live and dwell among us, He accepted, and abided by, certain limitations. He had laid aside HIs glory, that which He had with the Father from before the foundation of the world. This was necessary in order for Him to take upon Himself the sins of the world, as the spotless Lamb of God, whose sacrifice alone could atone for those sins. God gave us an example, not only of a holy Life lived with great limitations of time and sense, but also unveiled what was possible to the individual believer who would live by the same power and strength. Christ overcame every obstacle, and every foe, in accomplishing salvation for us BY the Eternal Spirit. He came as, and was, the Light of the World. Now, by the power of His indwelling life by the Spirit, the church and every member of it, is called to carry forth this light of life.
Essential to one’s understanding of this matter of the power of Pentecost is the need to realize something of its application and purpose in another way. In Paul’s writings concerning the church, as he wrote several letters specifically to different churches in different localities, he would speak very much of the power of Christ, of God, by the Spirit. To the Ephesian church, and to every believer, he would write of the necessity to pray for a “vision,” or understanding of the truth and application of the Spirit’s power provided in Christ. His prayer was that, “… the Father of glory” would give to them “…the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. (Christ)” (1:17) He then specifically prays that they would understand, “…what is the exceeding greatness of His (God’s) power to us-ward who believe according to the working of His mighty power…” (v.19) Later on in this letter, he would speak of “…being strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man.” (3:16) To the believers at Colosse, in the context of being filled with the knowledge of the will of God, Paul would then add in another prayer the phrase: “…strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience, and longsuffering with joyfulness.”(1:11)
The purpose of the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost was for the believer to know the power of Christ, and to appropriate it for every need, living for the glory of Christ, taking the testimony of His Life and the gospel’s saving truths to the ends of the earth.
Dear Father, Strengthen us mightily today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.