The Resurrection of Jesus is the greatest miracle in the Book of John. Jesus told of the resurrection beforehand. “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live” (John 11:23, 25). We never see the resurrection of Jesus. But we see the effects of the Resurrection. Jesus died and now He is alive. And as He triumphed over death, we receive the power to live our lives victoriously, to be witnesses, and to perform supernatural signs and wonders. We are only able to attain this power through the resurrection of Jesus.
“The Wind Blows Where It Wishes, John 3:8” Oil by Susan Klinge
The apostle Paul prayed for the saints to know:
what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come (Ephesians 1:19-21).
And if we are in the Spirit, we can operate in the power of the Resurrection. Because of the power of the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus, we see that the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit all give us gifts, (Romans 12, Ephesians 4, and I Corinthians 12 and 14) to help us to serve and edify the Body of Christ and to perform signs and wonders that will draw unbelievers to the Lord. And if we abide in Jesus, His life and power flow through us, and we bear fruit that remains. (See John 15:1-8.)
Paul wrote his desire and goal:
that I may gain Christand be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:9-11).
I don’t understand the power of the Resurrection. But I have seen the effects of the power of the Resurrection just as Jesus said you don’t see the wind (Spirit) but you see the effects of the wind (Spirit). I have seen that. I also have seen the Scriptures that talk about how now we live by the power of the Resurrection. Because the Scripture says it I believe it, but I still don’t understand this. It is to me one of the mysteries of God.
I have seen demonstrations of power. And sometimes have felt them. And sometimes I have seen the results without feeling anything at all. I’m reminded of a time a long time ago when an itinerant preacher prayed for me. He was a quirky man. He used to come to my church about once a year. He was a Seventh-Day Pentecostal, a rare thing. His manner was odd, but on this particular Sunday, I felt led to have him pray for me. I went forward, and he stretched his hand towards me. He never actually touched me, but I flew back by the power of God—possibly the power of the Resurrection. And I spent quite a long time on the floor with the Lord, just having an intimate time with Him. Later, people asked me if he had pushed me. That’s something that I can’t explain, but I did see a demonstration of the power of God.
This last week I attended a conference, Kingdom Foundations with Randy Clark. The main thrust of the conference was to impart Healing Ministry to others so that they might go and pray for people who need healing. They taught biblical concepts. And then there were times when people could experience God’s healing power–the power of the Resurrection.
The first night Randy Clark asked for people to come forward if they’d had a word of knowledge about a particular physical affliction. He had those people line up in the front of the church and share what condition they had seen in the Spirit. Then he invited people who had that particular ailment to come up to the person who had a word about it.
I went to a line, and there were a couple of ladies—one lady was in line and one who kind of crowded in front of me. When the second lady got up to the man who had given the word, he turned to me and said, “You pray for people don’t you?” and he said “I think we should tag team this lady.” I got the impression that he didn’t feel comfortable touching her, so I was going to be the person who was laying hands on her. I was behind her. Her problem was a sharp pain in her shoulder blade. I felt led by the Lord to roll my hands around her back and then down her arms and then on her back again, going first in one direction and then the other. I didn’t feel anything particular. But I felt as though something was happening. Later that night she told me that when I prayed for her, she felt electricity all over her back. Now I had felt nothing like this. This again is another mystery—the way the Lord does something. Perhaps she needed to feel something concrete. She said as I prayed for her it was like I was rubbing the pain away. So, she saw or felt more of a demonstration of the power than I did.
Later in the week, Randy Clark prayed for my arthritic shoulders and this time I did feel something. I got very, very hot, which is not my normal state. And after he prayed for me, he asked me how I was feeling. I told him that about 80% of the pain was gone and that I was getting very, very warm—very hot. And he said, “That’s good.” Then he said, “Just stay right here with me,” and he went on to pray for the next person. (This is such a good example of teaching and training.) And then for the third person, he said to me, “Now I want you to pray for her”. So, I prayed for her and we kind of went along like that for a while praying for different people. But that night I had felt this great deal of warmth when I was prayed for, and I’ve never felt that before.
Then two nights after that, I prayed for a friend of mine who was having horrible neck pain. He had a need, and I felt led to go and pray for him. That night I felt a great deal of heat when I prayed. When I talked to him later, I asked him if he had felt anything during the prayer. He said that he felt the virtue flow into his body, but he didn’t feel heat. So, all of this is just to say that the life and the power of Jesus flow through us when we minister to other people, and we may feel it or we may not. Maybe the Lord’s communicating with us in some way so we know something is happening, but sometimes we just go by faith to believe that He is at work. God is at work through His Resurrection power, and we are privileged to work with Him. Though I don’t understand all about how God works through the power of His Resurrection, I desire to be His partner in this and to be used by Him.
Works Cited
Clark, Randy. The Baptised in the Holy Spirit. Narrated by William Crockett, AudioBook, Audible, 2017. Bible, New King James Version. Biblegateway. Thomas Nelson 1982
Susan grew up in the Pacific Northwest. She has been a pastor’s wife, interior designer, bible teacher and intercessor. She has ministered in Washington, Missouri, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. She has two sons and two grandchildren. She is currently working on her Masters in Servant Leadership at the Seattle Bible College.
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