To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
Summary: Translating ancient languages to modern ones is a tricky business. Taking time to ponder the meanings of the original text opens up new vistas of meaning that bring light to our world.
Suppose all of us reading this passage were to gather in a large room and play a game of charades. It is your turn, and you have to act out the word “energy” as it appears in this sentence. What do you do?
Perhaps you would act out the healing of a lame man as described in Acts 13:8-10. Another example of the “energy” Paul is referring to would be the time Eutychus fell from a third-story window and was found dead on the ground. Paul ran down to him, threw himself on the body, and felt the life come back into the young boy.
Another example of this energy is found in the story of Paul’s shipwreck on Malta. After escaping a ship that had run aground and was breaking apart, Paul and all the other passengers swam through cold and stormy waters to crawl up on the shore of an island. It didn’t matter that they were all wet and cold because it was raining that day and cold, too. When they gathered wood for a fire, a poisonous snake bit Paul in the hand. Instead of dying, he shook the snake off as if it were nothing (Acts 28:1-6).
Whether your translation uses the word energy, power, or strength, the problem remains the same. We don’t have a word to describe the kind of power-energy-strength that Paul is trying to describe.
Paul is describing more than the buzz from a strong cup of coffee. He is describing a supernatural power that stayed with him from the time he met Jesus (Acts 9) for the rest of his life.
Every day for Paul was a testimony to the power of Christ in him. Whether he was arguing with the Jews or explaining Christ to the Gentiles, he lived Christ with a passion. People could argue with him, but they couldn’t keep him down. (Once, they even stoned Paul to death, but he got back up and kept on going! — Acts 14:19-20)
The supernatural power of Christ is a real thing. Paul acted out this power every day, both in his letters and in his life. We can, too!
Application: Unleash the power of Jesus in your life!
Food for Thought: How does the energy-power-strength of Christ work in our lives today?
One way we see this power at work is through our weaknesses. Christ works His power through our weaknesses to glorify Himself.
2 Corinthians 12: 7b – 10: Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Thanks, Rich!
That is true. In one sense we are all trapped in our weakness. God’s glory shines when we see his strength in each other.
Right Rich!
How does the energy-power-strength of Christ work in our lives today?
Paul states he will “contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.”
By the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ
2 Corinthians 12:9, But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
Ezekiel 36:27, 1 Timothy 1:12, Philippians 4:13
A believers strength comes from God. As we make ourselves small, weak, Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit will become the strength of God working working through us.
Thank you, Ron!
I think Rich really gave a good answer.
How does the energy-power-strength of Christ work in our lives today?
The energy-power-strength of Christ gives us the ability to overcome temptation and resist sin. That too is Christ overcoming weakness in us. In studying the Word, through prayer, in seeking and listening to the Holy Spirit, and acting in faith, temptation and sin lose their power as the power of Christ within us dispels them. When we stray from the Word, prayer, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and acting in faith, temptation and sin seem powerful.
Psalm 119:11
I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 1:13-14 When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
Chris,
You make me think about the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Like pouring clear, pure water into a glass filled with oil, the oil of our sin is displaced by God’s holy will.