God\u2019s power shows its\u00adelf in mira\u00adcles that we can per\u00adcei\u00adve with our natu\u00adral eyes. But mira\u00adcles are not the dai\u00adly por\u00adti\u00adon of God\u2019s power that we need most. If we want to expe\u00adri\u00adence God\u2019s power per\u00adma\u00adnent\u00adly, deep\u00adly and exis\u00adten\u00adti\u00adal\u00adly, so that our fee\u00adlings, thoughts and actions are grip\u00adped by it, then we must learn to see with the inner eyes, with the eyes of the heart.<\/p>\n
Power means free\u00addom of action. The\u00adre are tho\u00adse who wield power, tho\u00adse who exer\u00adcise power, tho\u00adse who play power games and tho\u00adse who wield power. Power does not have a good repu\u00adta\u00adti\u00adon. That\u2019s why there\u2019s the say\u00ading: power for no one. We like to say, \u00abPower cor\u00adrupts cha\u00adrac\u00adter.\u00bb Abra\u00adham Lin\u00adcoln was con\u00advin\u00adced of the oppo\u00adsi\u00adte: \u00abIf you want to know a man\u2019s cha\u00adrac\u00adter, give him power.\u00bb Accor\u00adding to Lin\u00adcoln, human cha\u00adrac\u00adter cor\u00adrupts power. Power mere\u00adly reve\u00adals cha\u00adrac\u00adter. That is why human power is such a pro\u00adble\u00adma\u00adtic thing. It is our gre\u00adat good for\u00adtu\u00adne that God, in the best sen\u00adse of the word, is inhu\u00adman with power. Paul had a lon\u00adging desi\u00adre for the Chris\u00adti\u00adans in Ephe\u00adsus to know God and his power. That is why he utters the pas\u00adsio\u00adna\u00adte pray\u00ader recor\u00added in Ephe\u00adsi\u00adans 1:17\u201323. \tDeath: Whe\u00adther human or sequoia; ever\u00ady\u00adthing that lives dies once. Death has enorm\u00adous power. It is so powerful that the Mexi\u00adcans orga\u00adni\u00adse a fes\u00adti\u00adval las\u00adting seve\u00adral days for the san\u00adta muer\u00adta (holy death). A ske\u00adle\u00adton lies in a coff\u00adin and peo\u00adp\u00adle wor\u00adship it. They expect hope and sal\u00adva\u00adti\u00adon from death. For the\u00adse peo\u00adp\u00adle, death is the most powerful thing. We in the West tend to igno\u00adre death. Alt\u00adhough it hap\u00adpens to ever\u00adyo\u00adne, it is con\u00adside\u00adred an acci\u00addent that can per\u00adhaps be avo\u00adided one day. \u00abI pray that you may rea\u00adli\u00adse how over\u00adwhel\u00admingly gre\u00adat is his power with which he works in us who belie\u00adve in him. It is the same migh\u00adty power that rai\u00adsed Christ from the dead and gave him the place of honour at God\u2019s right hand in hea\u00adven\u00bb (Ephe\u00adsi\u00adans 1:19f NLB<\/span>). Paul says, \u00abThe same power that defea\u00adted migh\u00adty death is at work in you. Befo\u00adre you were living dead, sepa\u00adra\u00adted from God. Now you are spi\u00adri\u00adtual\u00adly ali\u00adve, united with God. When your body decays in the coff\u00adin, you are more ali\u00adve than ever. You are con\u00adnec\u00adted to Him for all eter\u00adni\u00adty and you will reign with Him! We only know this truth with the eyes of the heart! How can we expe\u00adri\u00adence the power of God? \tJesus says that all power in hea\u00adven and on earth has been given to Him. How can this power be recognised? God\u2019s power shows its\u00adelf in mira\u00adcles that we can per\u00adcei\u00adve with our natu\u00adral eyes. But mira\u00adcles are not the dai\u00adly por\u00adti\u00adon of God\u2019s power that we need most. If we want to expe\u00adri\u00adence God\u2019s power per\u00adma\u00adnent\u00adly, deep\u00adly and exis\u00adten\u00adti\u00adal\u00adly, so that our fee\u00adlings, thoughts and actions are grip\u00adped by it, then we must learn to work with the inner\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","wpfc_preacher":[23],"wpfc_sermon_series":[72],"wpfc_sermon_topics":[],"wpfc_bible_book":[],"wpfc_service_type":[12],"class_list":{"0":"wpfc_preacher-matthias-altwegg","1":"wpfc_sermon_series-metamorphose","2":"wpfc-sermon-single","3":"post-3583","4":"wpfc_sermon","5":"type-wpfc_sermon","6":"status-publish","7":"hentry","10":"wpfc_service_type-gottesdienst"},"acf":[],"sermons_blog_filters_topics":"\t\t\t\t
\nWhy do we so easi\u00adly mis\u00adjudge the power of God?
\n\u00abMay his eyes be ope\u00adned to your hearts, so that you may know what hope God gave you when he cal\u00adled you, what a rich and won\u00adderful inhe\u00adri\u00adtance he has in store for tho\u00adse who belong to his holy peo\u00adp\u00adle, and what an over\u00adwhel\u00admingly gre\u00adat power he is at work among us who belie\u00adve\u00bb (Ephe\u00adsi\u00adans 1:18f NCC<\/span>). Paul prays for ope\u00adned eyes of the heart for the hope God has given them. With this he looks into the past, to the begin\u00adning of their faith. Like\u00adwi\u00adse, he looks to the future, to the inhe\u00adri\u00adtance that is rea\u00addy for them. And then to the over\u00adwhel\u00admingly gre\u00adat power and strength that is now at work in the pre\u00adsent in the church of Ephesus.
\nIf a tank were to dri\u00adve by on the See\u00adtal\u00adstras\u00adse right now, we would noti\u00adce it imme\u00addia\u00adte\u00adly. A tank is not\u00adhing com\u00adpared to God\u2019s power. Why does Paul have to pray for peo\u00adp\u00adle to reco\u00adg\u00adni\u00adse such an incon\u00adceiv\u00ada\u00adb\u00adly gre\u00adat power? Why is it so easy to misjudge?
\nWe encoun\u00adter the same pro\u00adblem at the very begin\u00adning of God\u2019s gre\u00adat sto\u00adry with huma\u00adni\u00adty, name\u00adly with Abra\u00adham and Sarah, the pro\u00adge\u00adni\u00adtors of faith. The lives of both of them are mark\u00aded by a ten\u00adsi\u00adon: on the one hand, God\u2019s pro\u00admi\u00adse and, on the other, natu\u00adral cir\u00adcum\u00ads\u00adtances. God pro\u00admi\u00adsed Abra\u00adham in a gre\u00adat moment to make him a gre\u00adat nati\u00adon and Sarah the mother of many nati\u00adons. The exter\u00adnal cir\u00adcum\u00ads\u00adtances point in a com\u00adple\u00adte\u00adly dif\u00adfe\u00adrent direc\u00adtion. In addi\u00adti\u00adon to her infer\u00adti\u00adli\u00adty, Sara\u2019s bio\u00adlo\u00adgi\u00adcal clock has long sin\u00adce run out. Abraham\u2019s situa\u00adti\u00adon is not much bet\u00adter. Nevert\u00adhel\u00adess, God pro\u00admi\u00adses Abra\u00adham, now 99 years old, the same thing again. Short\u00adly after\u00adwards, God visits Abra\u00adham in the form of three men. They say: \u00abIn one year we will come again and then Sarah will have a son.\u00bb Sarah, who was bak\u00ading cakes in the kit\u00adchen tent, heard this sen\u00adtence through the tent wall. She can\u2019t help hers\u00adelf and starts laug\u00adhing. She knew what was going on: her amend\u00adment was years ago. And any\u00adway, not\u00adhing was going on bet\u00adween them any\u00admo\u00adre. \u00abThen said the LORD<\/span> unto Abra\u00adham, Why laug\u00adhed Sarah, say\u00ading, Should I inde\u00aded yet bear, now that I am old? Should any\u00adthing be impos\u00adsi\u00adble to the LORD<\/span>? At this time I will come again to thee for the year: and Sarah shall have a son. And Sarah denied it, say\u00ading: I laug\u00adhed not: for she was afraid. But he said, It is not so, thou hast laug\u00adhed\u00bb (Gene\u00adsis 18:13\u201315 LUT<\/span>). Sarah, a god\u00adly woman, would have con\u00adfes\u00adsed in every ser\u00advice: God is all-powerful. But deep in her heart, God was small. As she laughs, intui\u00adtively what is deep insi\u00adde comes out of her. She attri\u00adbu\u00adtes more power to natu\u00adral cir\u00adcum\u00ads\u00adtances than to God. Her com\u00admon sen\u00adse has the upper hand in her heart. I can under\u00adstand Sara so well. We too are con\u00adfron\u00adted with natu\u00adral cir\u00adcum\u00ads\u00adtances from mor\u00adning till night. The\u00adse have for\u00admed in us a com\u00admon sen\u00adse that we rely on. But is that all?
\nThe cru\u00adcial ques\u00adti\u00adon in the lives of Sarah and Abra\u00adham, and in ours as well, is: Can God do what he pro\u00admi\u00adses? Can he make the impos\u00adsi\u00adble pos\u00adsi\u00adble? Is he abo\u00adve natu\u00adral cir\u00adcum\u00ads\u00adtances? Is he all-powerful? The sto\u00adry of Sarah tea\u00adches us that natu\u00adral cir\u00adcum\u00ads\u00adtances are only half the truth. We need an inner eye to see the who\u00adle rea\u00adli\u00adty. This is exact\u00adly what Paul prays pas\u00adsio\u00adna\u00adte\u00adly for. The inner eye is so easi\u00adly over\u00adridden by the outer eyes and the mind. Only the inner eye sees God in His power and in His limit\u00adless possibilities.
\nDo you also long for revi\u00adval? Revi\u00adval is when we no lon\u00adger mis\u00adjudge God\u2019s power but reco\u00adg\u00adni\u00adse it and when this reco\u00adgni\u00adti\u00adon of God\u2019s power deter\u00admi\u00adnes our actions, thoughts and feelings.
\nHow does God\u2019s power work in us?
\nIn the con\u00adtext of ski racing the\u00adre is the say\u00ading: The wea\u00adther is the boss. We know that God is the boss and has power over natu\u00adral cir\u00adcum\u00ads\u00adtances. The\u00adre is a lot of evi\u00addence for that. But even more important for us is to know that God is also boss over super\u00adna\u00adtu\u00adral things. Three of the\u00adse occur in the text:<\/p>\n
\n\tThe super\u00adna\u00adtu\u00adral powers: \u00abNow he has been set up as ruler over every world\u00adly govern\u00adment, aut\u00adho\u00adri\u00adty, power and domi\u00adni\u00adon, and over ever\u00ady\u00adthing else, both in this world and in the world to come. God has put ever\u00ady\u00adthing under the rule of Christ and has appoin\u00adted Christ as Lord over the church\u00bb (Ephe\u00adsi\u00adans 1:21f NLB<\/span>). For the vast majo\u00adri\u00adty of the earth\u2019s popu\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon it is per\u00adfect\u00adly clear that super\u00adna\u00adtu\u00adral powers such as angels and demons exist. The\u00adse peo\u00adp\u00adle are afraid of the demons and try to appease them. It was also clear to Jesus that the\u00adse sphe\u00adres exist. It is not a good power. They want to des\u00adtroy peo\u00adp\u00adle. They hate Jesus and his church, they hate our mar\u00adria\u00adges and fami\u00adlies and ever\u00ady\u00adthing that is sacred to us. The ground\u00adbrea\u00adking news is, all the\u00adse powers are sub\u00addued. Satan has lost his power. This is some\u00adthing we do not feel and do not see with our eyes. But it has hap\u00adpen\u00aded and we are protected!
\n\tInner emp\u00adtin\u00adess: Her\u00adbert Gr\u00f6\u00adne\u00admey\u00ader wro\u00adte the fol\u00adlo\u00adwing lyrics in his song unbe\u00adwohnt: I get up, roam the house | Go to the fri\u00addge, open it | It\u2019s cold, it\u2019s emp\u00adty | Move in the hope\u00adl\u00adess room | Talk to mys\u00adelf, hard\u00adly hear mys\u00adelf | Am my radio, turn me off. [\u2026] The not\u00adhing\u00adness is in every detail | In me all rooms are free | And me too. [\u2026] It drips into the heart | The head unfur\u00adnis\u00adhed and hol\u00adlow | Ooh, no flowers in the win\u00addow, | The TV<\/span> wit\u00adhout pic\u00adtu\u00adre and sound. | Wit\u00adhout pic\u00adtu\u00adre and sound. | Fee\u00adling unin\u00adha\u00adbi\u00adted. Fee\u00adling unin\u00adha\u00adbi\u00adted and emp\u00adty insi\u00adde is a basic human expe\u00adri\u00adence. When it gets quiet and we arri\u00adve at our\u00adsel\u00adves, after the acti\u00advi\u00adty is over and the fri\u00adends have left, we feel that we are miss\u00ading some\u00adthing. I am unin\u00adha\u00adbi\u00adted, I am emp\u00adty. With his bound\u00adless power he over\u00adco\u00admes our emp\u00adtin\u00adess: \u00abBut the church is his body, and it is fil\u00adled with Christ, who fills ever\u00ady\u00adthing com\u00adple\u00adte\u00adly with his pre\u00adsence\u00bb (Ephe\u00adsi\u00adans 1:23 NLB<\/span>). This is how God acts on peo\u00adp\u00adle who feel emp\u00adty. He makes a church out of indi\u00advi\u00addu\u00adals who are on the road some\u00adwhe\u00adre. He calls it his body. He gives hims\u00adelf as head to this body and dwells in it.<\/p>\n
\nGod could have put a baby in Sara\u2019s bel\u00adly in a split second. No pro\u00adblem! That\u2019s what we call a mira\u00adcle. But mira\u00adcles are not the dai\u00adly por\u00adti\u00adon of God\u2019s power that we need most. Mira\u00adcles are for our natu\u00adral eye and God does a mira\u00adcle every now and then. We are over\u00adwhel\u00admed by this and con\u00advin\u00adced: this is God\u2019s power. Unfort\u00adu\u00adna\u00adte\u00adly, this con\u00advic\u00adtion often does not last long. When Jesus was on this earth, He per\u00adfor\u00admed mira\u00adcle after mira\u00adcle, but in the end no one had been with Him.
\nGod has cho\u00adsen not to per\u00adform mira\u00adcles con\u00adstant\u00adly becau\u00adse He knows that we need to expe\u00adri\u00adence His power at a much deeper level than our eyes allow. If we want to expe\u00adri\u00adence God\u2019s power per\u00adma\u00adnent\u00adly, deep\u00adly and exis\u00adten\u00adti\u00adal\u00adly, so that our fee\u00adlings, thoughts and actions are grip\u00adped by it, then we must learn to see with the inner eyes, with the eyes of the heart.
\nWhen child\u00adren need to train one eye, the other is taped shut. Our inner eye is also trai\u00adned when the natu\u00adral eyes see not\u00adhing. The Bible calls this faith. See\u00ading not\u00adhing and yet belie\u00adving. Trust in invi\u00adsi\u00adble facts. The sen\u00adso\u00adry organ for faith is the heart.
\nAt the end of his life, Jesus says: \u00abDo not let your heart be trou\u00adbled. Belie\u00adve in God and belie\u00adve in me!\u00bb (John 14:1 LUT<\/span>). The mes\u00adsa\u00adge to his fri\u00adends was: What your eyes see in the days to come does not cor\u00adre\u00adspond to the facts. Do not be frigh\u00adten\u00aded, look with your heart. Belie\u00adve in God and in me. Com\u00admon sen\u00adse will whisper to Jesus\u00bb fri\u00adends: \u00abThis is defeat! Jesus hangs naked on the cross. He will brea\u00adthe his last. It is the end!\u00bb The eyes of the heart see this and, in addi\u00adti\u00adon, the hid\u00adden rea\u00adli\u00adty. Name\u00adly, that on the cross Jesus will over\u00adco\u00adme death, the devil and sin once and for all. Jesus rises from the dead and car\u00adri\u00ades off the vic\u00adto\u00adry. This tri\u00adumph can only be seen with the inner eyes.
\nHow can we expe\u00adri\u00adence God\u2019s power in tho\u00adse situa\u00adtions whe\u00adre we do not expe\u00adri\u00adence mira\u00adcles? By tur\u00adning our inner eye again and again to this truth: Christ died for us and He won for us. In doing so, He has com\u00adple\u00adte\u00adly over\u00adco\u00adme our natu\u00adral and super\u00adna\u00adtu\u00adral cir\u00adcum\u00ads\u00adtances: Death, guilt, addic\u00adtion, loneli\u00adne\u00adss, God\u2019s remo\u00adten\u00adess and every remai\u00adning ble\u00admish on our character.
\n
\nLet not your heart be trou\u00adbled! Belie\u00adve in God and belie\u00adve in me! This call is also for you! Jump over the shadow of your limi\u00adt\u00aded com\u00admon sen\u00adse to expe\u00adri\u00adence the Almigh\u00adty God.
\n
\n
\nPos\u00adsi\u00adble ques\u00adti\u00adons for the small groups
\nRead the Bible text: Ephe\u00adsi\u00adans 1:17\u201323<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat was the ten\u00adsi\u00adon that Sarah and Abra\u00adham had to deal with? Whe\u00adre do you see a simi\u00adlar ten\u00adsi\u00adon in your life?
\n\tWhy does\u00adn\u2019t God do more mira\u00adcles in the natu\u00adral realm?
\n\tHow can we train the eyes of the heart to see God\u2019s power better?
\n\t <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"