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If Warren Buffet walked through a crowd throwing one hundred dollar bills into the air, and I was there, I would grab as many as I could. Would you?
Paul prays for us…
I pray that the eyes of your heart will be enlightened, so that you will know … what is the surpassing greatness of His power … which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead (Ephesians 1:18-20, NASB1995).
The Greek word “surpassing” has marvelous roots in incredible unexpected gifts.
Consider Bill Gates walking through a crowd and stopping to write everyone a check for ten thousand dollars. I’d take one, thank you!
While the New American Standard Bible translates the word as “surpassing,” other versions use words like “immeasurable,” “incredible,” “exceeding greatness,” and “magnificence.”
When it comes to this word, translators hurl superlatives in their versions, attempting accuracy. But I believe they fail as the word contains a depth of the goodness of God that can’t be easily interpreted.
The Apostle Paul uses the Greek word “surpassing” five times in the New Testament. Let’s consider its length, breadth, height, and width.
2 Corinthians 3:10—surpassing glory for us.
2 Corinthians 9:14—surpassing grace for us.
Ephesians 2:7—surpassing riches for us.
Ephesians 3:19—surpassing human knowledge for us.
All this immeasurable, incredible, exceeding greatness and magnificence made possible by…
…the surpassing power of the resurrection! (Ephesians 3:20)
Jeff Bezos just launched a 500 million dollar new yacht. I doubt he could walk through a room giving everyone a new yacht, as even billionaires have their limits. But Scripture teaches that the surpassing power, glory, grace, riches, and knowledge have no end.
There’s a big difference between the world and eternity.
One type of wealth is eternal and often realized after passing into eternity, while the riches of earth rust, decay, and get left behind. We must make a choice, as Jesus asks…
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? (Mark 8:36, NASB1995).
Jesus did pass through a crowd to give wealth.
He was bruised, bent, bloody, and stumbling along the Via Dolorosa, having to be helped by Simon from Cyrene, ultimately resulting in the surpassing power of the resurrection for us, along with His glory, grace, riches, and knowledge.
I’m grabbing as many of these gifts as I can. I hope this Easter that we all do!