The power is not a thing but a person. The apostles and the early church disciples did not believe that the risen, glorified Jesus was passive or inactive; on the contrary, they knew that he was at work in his body, the church. In their experience he was powerfully changing lives. Signs and wonders were following the preaching of the good news that the kingdom is near.
Jesus continued to fill his disciples’ minds with the expectation of this gift and, some ten days after Jesus disappeared from their sight going up to heaven, that Spirit had come in power upon them. This same Holy Spirit was the Spirit of God, and also, and therefore, the Spirit of Jesus. Jesus could not be thought of merely as a perfect past example, or a remote Lord, but an inward presence and power.
World history shows us that the impact of mere examples, whether they be people or an experience of some massive event, becomes more and more feeble as time progresses. The example of Jesus, however, has become something much more than a memory. He who had, in the past, taught them how to live in the kingdom, was alive in the heavenly places and was working within them by his Spirit, to extend that very same kingdom.
The result? There is now great power for those of us who believe.
So how should we think of this Jesus within? He is the Son of God, the Creator of the universe who makes all things new; the one who helped and healed everyone who asked him because he knew that it is the will of the Father that all who respond to this Jesus should have salvation. And this salvation includes an abundant physical and emotional life for all of us who respond like little children to the Good News.
The power of the kingdom is not an earthly force but the strongest outworking of God’s will — it is the risen Lord Jesus Christ himself.
