Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
The Apostle Paul uses many great expressions to describe our life with Christ, but one he repeats often is translated, “Much more!” It occurs five times in Romans chapter 5 alone! (Vs. 9, 10, 15, 17 & 20) What is he talking about? In Ephesians 3:20 he describes a God who can do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine!” In Romans 5:10 he writes, “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
He is telling us about the fullness of our salvation in Christ! Jesus gave His life for us that He may offer His life to us! He gave His life to us that He may live His life through us!
1 John 5:11-12 “He has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.”
Salvation is so much more than having one’s sins forgiven and having a place to call home in paradise at some point in the future. The life that we are living with Jesus right now is the life that we will one day live with Him completely and forever in eternity. As one preacher put it many years ago,
“The Christian life is not just pie in the sky when you die by and by, but steak on your plate while you wait!”
There is a great deal more to our faith than simply anticipating the reward that can be found in paradise. The abundant life that Jesus came to offer to anyone who would follow Him in this day and age is what it means to live. It is living the life that Christ lived at that time, in the present moment, by Him living in you! “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly,”
John 10:10 “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
Through Jesus’ death, we can be reconciled to God. That means we are no longer estranged from God because of our sins. He nailed them to the cross and forgave us of all of them, past, present, and future! As if that were not enough, there is a “much more” added, immeasurably more! “… Having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” The Amplified Bible gives us better insight into the significance of this: “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more [certain], now that we are reconciled, that we shall be saved (daily delivered from sin’s dominion) through His [resurrection] life.”
When we say that we are reconciled by His death, we are using the past tense. No longer am I a doomed person! I have been judged to be right with God! Completely forgiven and pardoned! Wow! After that, what happens? More is coming, and it’s a lot more! Because I have been reconciled, I am saved and delivered from the tyranny of sin on a daily basis by His resurrected life! I am now able to live each day in the victory that Christ has freely bestowed upon me.
Jesus didn’t come to earth to die for my sins and just leave me in this cosmic spit to sweat it out until He returns one day to see how well I did. He rose from the dead to indwell me by His Spirit in order that I may share His life, His victory over sin, His strength, His provision, His power, His peace, His purpose. If your Christian experience can be described by anything other than Christ in you, it is not biblical Christianity. Paul said, “For me to live is Christ …” (Philippians 1:21)
Celebrate the “much more” of your faith each day in the presence of the one who died and rose again to save you from sin’s dominion and deliver you from the hurts, habits, and hang-ups that once controlled your life. Read it again:
Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”