I believe in God, the Father Almighty…

Posted by Chuck Dunlop on Dec 15, 2010 in Daily Bread | 5 comments

Dynamite has had tremendous beneficial use throughout modern history. 61 million pounds of dynamite were used to build the Panama Canal, which is a visible landmark easily seen from outer space. Enough rock was blasted by dynamite to completely fill the Georgia Dome almost 70 times with a total of 50 million dump truck loads!

Dynamite explodes in 1/10,000 of a second and forms expanding gases between 3,000 and 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit traveling at 9,000 feet per second or the equivalent of thirty football fields a second. Very powerful stuff!

Alfred Nobel invented dynamite naming it from the Greek “dynamis” meaning “power”.

Paul uses the same Greek “dynamis” in this passage from Ephesians. He describes God’s power for believers as an “incomparably great power”. God is superior to all other powers. He is Lord of all lords, King of all kings. He has no limit. His power “exerted in Christ” is of an infinitely greater magnitude than man-made dynamite.

Here’s what’s so amazing. We can have as much of God’s power through Christ in our life as we want and so therefore we do. So therefore we do. It’s our choice. We can choose to ignore this divine power and weakly tap into its availability occasionally and our lives will mostly be unchanged. However, we can alternately choose the exact opposite and fully open our floodgates to let God’s awesome power pour into us and the change in our lives and God’s impact through us on the world around us is immeasurable. Christ’s authority and power bring change to every aspect of our lives and society.

“The gospel is the power (dynamis) of God for salvation” (Romans 1:16) and Christ is at the heart of it all.

This inconceivable power that created everything we see around us and above us in the heavens is available to us. The same power that “raised Christ from the dead” can also raise us from the dead, bring us from darkness into light, and give us hope. To take account of this power is to take account of our belief and desire.

Paul prays that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened. Our eyes can see or in the case of blindness, not see. One of Jesus’ miracles was the healing of two blind men of their blindness. “Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you” (Matthew 9:29). Their faith was strong, dynamis!
The Nobel Prize is awarded annually “to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.” The invention of dynamite by Alfred Nobel led to this prize, but it is the Greek word dynamis used by Paul that describes God’s magnificent “greatest gift to mankind”.

If we pursue God and pray for strength according to “the riches of his glorious inheritance” in Christ we are assured his response will be, “According to your faith let it be done to you.”

“I believe in God, the Father Almighty…”