Strengthened with ALL Might
Once Jesus Christ finished His work on the cross, arose from the grave, and ascended back to the Father in heaven, He made it possible for believers to be strengthened with all might through His Spirit in the inner man. God’s intent in sending His Son was to bring you into the new life that is in Christ. Christ’s victory becomes our victory. His resurrection has made it possible for us to enjoy new life in Christ. When we start living in Christ’s victory that overcomes the world, amazing changes begin happening in us as we are transformed into new creations in Christ.
God accomplishes this by strengthening us with all might through His Spirit in our inner man.
Ephesians 3:14-15 NKJV For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
Ephesians 3:16 NKJV that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
Ephesians 3:17-18 NKJV that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—
Ephesians 3:19 NKJV to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Look closely at this.
God wants to change your nature, strength, and character and fill you with all of His fullness by His Spirit in your inner being. He wants to present and disclose the unlimited riches of His glory and favor until His supernatural strength floods your innermost being with His might and explosive power.
The Apostle Paul was considering the work of God that was happening in believers’ lives.
Testimonies of victories and every kind of spiritual growth was occurring in the early church. He began praying that the church would be energized with all of the explosive power of the Spirit.
Colossians 1:11-12 NKJV Being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power…
Rather than being overwhelmed by the cares of life and being weakened by the tests of life, believers should be strengthened with might through God’s Spirit in the inner man. This addresses the greatest dimension of our new life in Christ. This inner strength refers to what the Holy Spirit is doing within the soul, heart, and spirit. In the very core of your being, you can be strengthened with the might of the Spirit of God. We know that every believer does not possess equal strength in their inner being. This strength with all might is a direct result of the Holy Spirit energizing the inner man and forming Christ in you. In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul considered all of the things he was experiencing. He spoke about his afflictions, trials and difficulties.
2 Corinthians 4:16 NIV84 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
Someone said, “You cannot judge a book by its cover.” On the outside, the Apostle Paul said he was wasting away. On the outside you may look weak. Trials, tests, and afflictions may have taken a toll on you, but something powerful is working in your spirit. God is renewing and strengthening you with all of the might of the Holy Spirit day by day. Paul said that on the outside he was wasting away, but on the inside he was mighty through God to the pulling down of the strongholds of the enemy. Back in the Old Testament, the psalmist had a testimony about this.
Psalm 18:32 NKJV It is God who arms me with strength, And makes my way perfect.
God is equipping you for spiritual warfare. This requires the strength of the Lord and the power of His might. You can be armed with the LORD’s strength.
Isaiah 40:29 AMP He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound].
Isaiah 40:30 AMP Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted;
Isaiah 40:31 NKJV But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
Through Christ, God has provided a method to renew your strength. By the power of the Holy Spirit, He will strengthen you with all might, according to His glorious power. Do you notice that this strength and might relies on the work of the Spirit of God within you? I find it amazing that God has made a full deposit of Himself available to you.
Ephesians 3:19 NKJV …that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Why would God make this kind of deposit available to us? Doesn’t God know how we are made? The Apostle Paul recognized his own weaknesses. From the abundance of his weakness, he recognized the glory and power of God that was working in him. In 2 Corinthians 4, he said he was hard-pressed on every side… he was perplexed… he was persecuted… and struck down. In many ways, he felt that he was always delivered up to death. Listen to what he said about what God was doing on the inside while facing all of that.
2 Corinthians 4:6 NKJV For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:7 NKJV But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
We are like common jars of clay that carry this glorious treasure within. On the inside, we are strengthened with all of the excellence of the power of God’s might.
God is working on the inside of you to strengthen you will all might by the Holy Spirit.
By the riches of God’s glory and the power of the Holy Spirit, you are being invigorated to grasp, take hold of and be strengthened in Christ. The word “grasp” means to take hold of and seize. It is a term that describes a fight against a strong opponent. For you to fully comprehend what God is doing, you need strength that only God can give. God’s goal is that you would fully take hold of Christ and that He would be fully formed within you. The Holy Spirit is working to this end that you become strong in the LORD and in the power of His might. “Christ in you” is the aim, focus, and source of the strength that the Spirit is fortifying you with. When Christ is fully formed in you, He becomes the dominating factor in your behavior, thoughts, desires, emotions, and choices. As a result, you begin walking in the victory that overcomes the world. Rather than being a pawn in the hand of the adversary, you become mighty through God. You become the holy temple of the Holy Spirit. You become strengthened with all might by the Spirit.
