1. He Raised Jesus Up (Ephesians 1:20).
2. He Raised Us Up (Ephesians 2:6).

He is risen! <He is risen indeed>

This morning, of all mornings, we celebrate Jesus risen from the dead. We celebrate a man (the God-man, to be technical). But a man, of flesh and blood, who was alive more than any of us ever have been. He walked among us. He talked to us. He breathed our air. This man died. He really died. No heartbeat. No blood flowing. No reflex response. Cold and stiff.

This morning, we celebrate that this Jesus rose from the dead. Somehow, his chest begins to rise up and down, filling his lungs with air. Somehow, those organs that had shut down were restarted. Somehow, his heart began beating, and the blood that was sitting in his veins and arteries began flowing once again. Somehow, his brain, which was deprived of oxygen for days, began firing its neurons. The rigor mortis that had set in began to loosen its grip, and his muscles began to twitch. Eventually, Jesus sat up, folded his grave clothes, and walked out of the tomb.

Over the next few weeks, Jesus appeared alive and well to his disciples, beginning with the women who came to the tomb, followed by his close disciples, then to as many as 500 people at one time (1 Corinthians 15:6).

His resurrection was real. In other words, he didn't raise up with some sort of non-material body. When Jesus raised from the dead, it was his body that was raised. He had flesh we could touch. He still had the wounds from his crucifixion, holes in his hands and feet and side. In fact, Jesus invited Thomas to see his wounds and touch his hands and touch his side (John 20:27). Jesus ate and drank with his disciples. His stomach worked. Jesus spoke with his disciples. His mouth and tongue and diaphragm worked. The resurrection was real.

This fact sets Christianity apart from all other religions. All of the religions of the world begin with principles, with thoughts, with ideas. Then, it proceeds to reality and how we should live. But Christianity is different. It begins with historical, space-time reality. It begins with a man, risen from the dead. Only then does it proceed with thoughts and ideas about how it is that we ought to live.

Now, if the raising of someone from the dead sounds incredibly difficult, it is. As a human race, we have done some great things. We have built some large buildings. We have built some large cities and developed the infrastructure to sustain those cities. We have built rockets to take us off the planet. We have sent rovers to Mars. We have put telescopes into space and seen other galaxies, billions of light-years away from the earth. We have built particle colliders that have detected sub-atomic particles. We have been able to place billions of transistors onto a computer chip the size of a fingernail and put a super-computer in our pockets. We have developed a communications infrastructure that allows anyone on the planet to go anywhere and broadcast their image and voice to anyone (and everyone) in the world.

Those are all difficult things to do. But we have done them. But one thing that we have not done is to create life. We know much about biology and DNA. We have all of the carbon and hydrogen and nitrogen and oxygen that we need to make up life. But we have never been able to create it in the laboratory from scratch. That's something that only God can do. In doing so, he shows his power. We see that in the beginning of the Bible, when God speaks, and the plants come to life, and the fish and birds and beasts of the earth begin to move about, and Adam and Eve are created to take dominion over the earth. This creation continues until this day.

But there is one way in giving life that God especially shows his power: in the resurrection of Jesus. This morning, as we open our Bibles to hear from the Lord, I want for us to hear what God says about the resurrection from the first two chapters of Ephesians. So, if you haven't done so already, I invite you to open in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians. This morning, we are going to be looking at the first two chapters of this book. Now, we aren't going to be looking at everything in these chapters. We will focus our attention upon the resurrection in these chapters.

The book of Ephesians was written by Paul to the faithful saints in Ephesus. He begins with a paragraph of praise. He says,

Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

Christ Jesus has given immeasurable blessings to those who have trusted in him. In fact, in Christ Jesus, we have "every spiritual blessing." Throughout the next paragraph (verses 4-14), Paul lists the blessings. They come as waves of the ocean that break upon the beach, in succession, overlapping, overflowing to us.

Ephesians 1:4
He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him."

The blessing of security, that our salvation has been in God's hands from before time began.

Ephesians 1:5
In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will."

We have been adopted into God's family, the greatest blessing of the gospel, to be brought into the household of God. This all leads us to praise.

Ephesians 1:6
To the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Indeed, this is a paragraph of praise. The blessings continue in verse 7:

Ephesians 1:7
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.

What a blessing it is to have your sins forgiven! Wiped away through the blood of Christ! This cleansing of our sins is complete.

Ephesians 1:8
Which he lavished upon us.

That is, we didn't just dip into the blessings of forgiveness. No, we were covered and smothered in forgiveness. We were "lavished! "The blessings continue on in the second half of verse 8. It's the blessing of knowing God's plan for us.

Ephesians 1:8-10
In all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

That is, Jesus came as the fulfillment of all promises, to bring all things together in him.The blessings continue.

Ephesians 1:11a
In him we have obtained an inheritance.

That is, the incredible blessings of all that God will give to those who believe in Jesus. He describes it as an inheritance, something that is given to us because we are children of God. This also is secure, as secure can be.

Ephesians 1:11b
Having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will."

It's God's plan and God's purpose for us who believe. This again leads to praise.

Ephesians 1:12
So that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

 Indeed, this is a paragraph of praise!

Ephesians 1:13
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit."

When we believe in Jesus, God seals us in the Holy Spirit. He sort of wraps us and protects us, so as to keep us until we obtain our full inheritance. That's what verse 14 speaks about:

Ephesians 1:14a
Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.

Then, Paul again finishes with praise:

Ephesians 1:14b
To the praise of his glory.

These blessings in verses 4-14 are only some of the blessings of God. He has given to us "every spiritual blessing." There is no way, really, of going through them quickly as I did in a few minutes to fully grasp the blessings of God in the life of a believer, for memory and meditation and reflection. All of these blessings are important for you to know and to grasp and internalize and understand. That's where Paul heads next in chapter 1. Having laid out all of these blessings, he then prays that God will help those in Ephesus to understand them all.

Ephesians 1:15-19
For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe.

"For this reason," that is, in light of the abundance of all the spiritual blessings that we have in Jesus Christ. Paul's unceasing prayer for those in Ephesus is that they would understand and embrace the blessings of God that come to those who believe.

Paul identifies three things for which he is praying. First of all, that those in Ephesus would know the hope we have in Jesus, the incredible blessings that we have in the heavenly places: adoption, redemption, forgiveness, security in God's plan and in the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, the hope of all that we will have in Jesus.

Second, Paul prays that those in Ephesus would know the riches of our inheritance. It's one thing to inherit the estate of a rich father. It's an entirely different thing to inherit the estate of God. The riches of God are beyond compare!

Finally, Paul prays that those in Ephesus would know "the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe" (verse 19). It is from this verse that I get the title of my message this morning: "Do You Know the Immeasurable Power of God?" Paul says this: It is shown in Jesus, risen from the dead! In the next few verses, Paul goes on to use the resurrection of Jesus to describe this power. Again, verse 19:

Ephesians 1:19-23
What is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

This is my first point this morning:

1. He Raised Jesus Up (Ephesians 1:20).

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is a demonstration of the power of God, that he can take a dead corpse and bring it to life. This is what we celebrate this Resurrection Sunday morning: that though Jesus was nailed to a cross and experienced life-ending injuries and was laid in the tomb, God was able to raise him from the dead as a demonstration of his power.

"Do You Know the Immeasurable Power of God?" This is why many people don't believe in Jesus. They don't believe in the power of God. They don't believe that God is able to raise a corpse from the dead. It's understandable. People don't just raise from the dead every day. We haven't ever experienced anyone being raised from the dead. "Is it even possible?" we all ask. With God, nothing is impossible.

There was a day when some Sadducees came to Jesus. They didn't believe in the resurrection. They tried to trap Jesus with this convoluted story of a woman who had a husband who died. She married his brother, but he died. She married another brother, but he died. Seven times this happened. Then they asked Jesus, "In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her" (Matthew 22:28). Before Jesus answered the question (explaining that there is no marriage in heaven), he went to the core of the issue. He said, "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God" (Matthew 22:29).

The resurrection is a demonstration of the power of God! The Sadducees didn't believe it. They didn't believe in the power of God. Do you? "Do You Know the Immeasurable Power of God?" There are many who don't. In the book of Acts, we read about Paul standing trial before Agrippa. One of the things that he said was a question: "Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?" (Acts 26:8). Think about it. If God can create the world by speaking it into existence, is it too difficult for him to raise a dead body from the tomb?

But not only did God raise Jesus from the dead, he brought him up to heaven. He seated him at his right hand. Look again at Ephesians 1:20: "That he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places." When Jesus was risen from the dead, he didn't just limp along in a lame body that was functional but not really good. No, Jesus was raised from the dead and seated in the most prominent place in the universe, at the right hand of God!

This really is the completion of the resurrection account. Jesus rose from the dead. Over a period of 40 days, he appeared to his disciples, teaching them about the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). Then, Jesus ascended into heaven, lifted up from the earth in the presence of his disciples and taken into glory. Then, God "highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:9-11).

This is what we say in the Apostles' Creed: "The third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead." This was all prophesied: "The LORD says to my Lord: 'Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool'" (Psalm 110:1).

This is where Jesus sits right now, ruling over his church, someday to exert his rule over the world! He is seated (as Ephesians 1:21 says) "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come." "Do You Know the Immeasurable Power of God?" that has done this with Jesus?

Let me stretch you a bit now. Not only has God raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at the right hand of God, he has done the same for us. My first point this morning is that he raised Jesus up (Ephesians 1:20). My second point is this:

2. He Raised Us Up (Ephesians 2:6).

This is shown in chapter 2 and verse 6. Let's work our way through chapter 2 to get there. Ephesians 2 is a familiar passage to many of us. It clearly speaks of the gospel, how we were dead in our sins, but God, by his grace, made us alive, that we might follow after him in the good works that God has prepared for us to do.

But we often miss the very first word of chapter 2: "And." That is, chapter 2 is a continuation of chapter 1. That is, it is a part of the prayer of Paul for those in Ephesus to understand the immeasurable greatness of his power, not only in Jesus, but also in us. God showed his power in Jesus by raising his dead body from the tomb and giving it life. With us, God shows his power as well, by raising us who were dead in our sins and giving us life in Jesus.

Ephesians 2:1-3
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Paul paints a dark picture of all of us. Before Jesus came into our lives, we were dead in our sins, we were blinded by our sins, we were deaf to the calling of God in our lives, we were unresponsive to the things of God. But then, God broke through.

Ephesians 2:4-6
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

We who are familiar with this passage of Scripture often focus our attention upon verses 4 and 5, which talk about the way in which God has transformed us by his grace. He came into our lives, not when we were seeking him, but when we were dead. He broke in and woke us up to the spiritual realities of the universe: that God exists! That he created the world! That we have sinned and fallen short of his glory! We need a savior! We need to trust that Jesus accomplished all of our redemption for us! God, by his grace, saved us from our sins.

This is all great and wonderful! But we often bypass verse 6, that God "raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Notice the tenses of the verbs. It's not future: "[God] will raise us up with him and will seat us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." No, it's past tense: "[God] raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

I know that this is strange. But right now, everyone who believes in Jesus has been raised up from the dead and is seated (right now) with Jesus in the heavenly places. Now, obviously, this doesn't mean that our bodies are there with the resurrected body of Jesus, because our bodies are here upon the earth. If you need any proof of that, just try pinching yourself. You will feel the pain of your earthly body.

But don't fall into the trap of saying that we are living only here and now, because verse 6 tells us that we have joined in the resurrection with Jesus, and we are seated with him in the heavenly places. So, what does this mean? It describes the mystic spiritual union that we have with Jesus.

I'm not sure that you noticed the number of times in Ephesians, chapter 1 that Paul wrote that we were "in Christ" (or, "in him). Five times in those verses it speaks of us as being "in Christ."

Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 1:4
Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

Ephesians 1:7
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.

Ephesians 1:11
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.

Ephesians 1:13
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.

In other words, as believers, our lives are intertwined with Jesus. It is "in him" that all of the spiritual blessings come to us. It is through our union with Jesus that we experience all of these spiritual blessings. In a similar way, here in Ephesians 2:6, Paul is talking about our reality, that we are so united with Jesus that when he died, we died; when he was raised, we were raised; where he is seated in the heavenly places, we are seated.

Paul says something similar in Colossians: "And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross" (Colossians 2:13-14). That our sins were nailed to the cross when Jesus died (Colossians 2:14). Because we were with Jesus in his death, our sins were nailed to the cross when he was nailed to the cross.

I don't profess to understand this. I just know that the Bible speaks of this union with us and Jesus, a close connection between us. It's almost as if we experience the same things that Jesus does. Listen to how Paul describes this in Romans 6.

Romans 6:1-11
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Here's where it gets practical. Since we have died, we should consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God.

Colossians 3:1-4
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Do You Know the Immeasurable Power of God? He raised Jesus up (Ephesians 1:20). He raised us up (Ephesians 2:6). The same power that works in Jesus also works in us who believe.

So, this resurrection morning, realize that you, as a believer in Jesus, are connected with Jesus. As Jesus was raised from the dead, so too have we been raised, all by the power of God. Pray, "That I may know him and the power of his resurrection" (Philippians 3:10).

This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on April 17, 2022 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rockvalleybiblechurch.org.