We are exploring our new life in Christ. When we first believed and came to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we were not familiar with all that was given to us in Christ. As we grow and mature in our relationship and faith in Christ, we begin to understand the vast depth of the riches, power, and glory that God has made available for us in Him.
Take a quick survey of the power of the Spirit that rested upon Christ.
- After being baptized by John in the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus without measure, (Luke 3:21-22, Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; John 1:32-34).
- Being led by the Spirit, Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil for forty days, (Luke 4, Matthew 4, Mark 1).
Luke 4:14 NKJV Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.
It was during those early days that Jesus found Peter, Andrew, James and John on the Sea of Galilee doing their work as fishermen.
Matthew 4:19 NIV84 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
Immediately they embarked on an adventure that brought them into the fellowship and power of Jesus Christ the Son of God. Ultimately, what they observe in Christ would be evidenced in their lives.
Their first encounters with Christ’s power were amazing and quite overwhelming. Shortly after Jesus called them to follow Him, they were all invited to a wedding in Cana of Galilee. When the wedding feast ran out of wine, Jesus’ mother came to Him and said, “They have no wine.” This is the beginning of signs of Jesus’ power and glory that Jesus did in Cana of Galilee.
John 2:6-10 NIV84 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
From that moment, the disciples believed because they saw evidences of Christ’s power.
John described what they saw.
John 1:14 NKJV And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:16 NKJV And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.
They were seeing evidences of Christ’s power and were changed by what they witnessed.
Everyone that saw Jesus’ signs and acts of power wanted to know if He was the Christ. Although John the Baptist introduced Jesus when He was baptized in the Jordan River, John needed to know if Jesus was truly the Christ.
Matthew 11:4-5 NKJV Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.”
Evidences of Christ’s power were the normal events of His ministry.
As Jesus was ministering throughout Galilee everyone saw these evidences of power.
Luke 4:40 NKJV When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.
Look closely and you will see Jesus’ power to heal the sick, but that is not all.
Luke 4:41 NKJV And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.
At the conclusion of the meeting Jesus went down to the Sea of Galilee and saw two boats standing by the lake. Jesus got into Simon’s boat and asked him to pull out a little from the land, and Jesus taught the multitudes. After the lesson, Jesus told Simon to “launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
Luke 5:5-6 NKJV But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.
If you want to see evidences of Christ’s power, you must be willing to do what He says, even if you have toiled all night and have caught nothing. During the three years of Christ’s public ministry, believers witnessed great evidence of His power.
John 21:25 NKJV And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.
Everywhere He went, people were healed, delivered, and received great miracles. Many people who were oppressed with demons were released and healed. No number of demons were able to resist the power of His word. Jesus’ power was demonstrated when He told the lame to walk, the blind to see, the withered hand to be outstretched and healed.
Even death could not resist the evidence of His power. In the city of Nain, the widow’s son was raised. Jarius’ daughter was laying dead until Jesus said, “Little girl, arise.” Lazarus had been dead four days when Jesus told them to take away the stone and He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”
Two times Jesus multiplied loaves and fishes and fed the multitudes. In great evidence of His power, Jesus walked on the water and at another time He spoke to the wind and waves and they obeyed His voice.
He cursed a barren fig tree and it immediately withered away and died.
In the ultimate demonstration of His power and glory, three days after Jesus had been crucified and buried, Christ arose in victory over death and the grave. After His resurrection from the dead Jesus presented Himself alive by many infallible proofs, being seen by many during forty days, (Acts 1:3).
Jesus is laying the ground work and precedent for what He is going to do in the lives of believers.
Can you receive this?
John 14:12-14 NKJV Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
This was not the only time that Jesus spoke to believers and told them to expect evidence of His power in their lives. He appointed the twelve and later seventy to go out and heal the sick, proclaim the kingdom of God, and cast out demons, ( Mark 3:14-15l Luke 10:9). When they returned to Jesus they were amazed at the evidence of His power and that even demons were subject to them in His name, (Luke 10:17).
Jesus kept building upon that theme.
He wanted all believers to know that the same Spirit and power that rested in Him was available for them. After His resurrection, Jesus met with believers and gave a message and promise of power.
Luke 24:49 NLT “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”
Jesus was telling believers that the Father promised to send them what was necessary to equip them with power from on high.
Acts 1:8 NLT But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be My witnesses, telling people about Me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
This equipping with Holy Spirit power enables believers to give evidence of Jesus Christ in every place in the world. When the Holy Spirit lives and dwells in you, evidence of Christ’s mind, life and power will be seen.
Romans 8:11 NKJV But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Romans 8:11 The Message It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, He’ll do the same thing in you that He did in Jesus, bringing you alive to Himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and He does, as surely as He did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With His Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!
Think about what God has done in you.
God is going to produce evidences of Christ’s life and power in you. This marvelous work of God’s Spirit within you will produce in you evidence of Christ’s life, mind, and power. You can see this happening in the early church. By the power of the Holy Spirit, they turned their world upside down. Everywhere they went, the good news was proclaimed and the power of the resurrected Christ was demonstrated. Evidences of Christ’s power was seen and people everywhere were saved, healed, and delivered.
Acts 5:12 NKJV Through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people.
The same things that Jesus did was being done in them. Believers were being established in the power of Christ.
In 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 Paul said his message and preaching relied on the power of the Spirit so that believers would rely of the power of God.
Throughout Christ’s ministry, that was the way it was done. Jesus came to reveal the Lord God Almighty. He did this in the power of the Spirit. Now the early church was being brought into new life in Christ by the evidence of Christ’s power.
Hebrews 2:4 God gave evidence both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will.
God is still doing this today. He is the God of miracles and might. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is alive and powerful in the Church today. We are witnesses to the fact that the power of Christ is evidenced in our lives.
- Have you been saved and changed?
- Have your sins been removed and you feel clean?
- Have you been healed by His power?
- Have chains of bondage and defeat been broken off your life?
- Are you living in victory, joy and peace?
This is the power of Christ being evidenced in your life.
There is one more thing that God has planned for you.
God wants to use you to be a living testimony to those around you of Christ’s power.
Will you invite the Spirit of Christ into your life to use you to demonstrate evidences of Christ’s power?
