The Power of Christ

President Nelson encouraged us to seek the power of Jesus Christ in our lives in a recent general conference address.  He taught, “Covenant-keeping men and women seek for ways to keep themselves unspotted from the world so there will be nothing blocking their access to the Savior’s power….  When you reach up for the Lord’s power in your life with the same intensity that a drowning person has when grasping and gasping for air, power from Jesus Christ will be yours.”  We all need his power to overcome the many challenges we face in mortality, especially that of surmounting our own sins and weaknesses.  Without Him, as He taught His apostles the final night of His life, we “can do nothing” (John 15:5).  To access that power we must first believe that He has it, and this is one of the messages that the scriptures repeatedly attest: Christ was given divine power from His Father.

               The gospel writers were clear in their attestation of the great power that Jesus held.  John testified that Christ had the power of creation: “All things were made by him” (John 1:2).  We see that power in the way that He miraculously controlled the elements; after witnessing this the apostles exclaimed: “What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:41)  He had power to change water to wine, multiply bread and fishes, and perform countless other miracles that were inexplicable by human understanding.  We see that one of the purposes of these miracles was to show us the even greater spiritual power He had.  When some doubted His ability to forgive sins of a seeking physical healing, He responded, “But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house” (Matt. 9:6).  All of His countless miracles of healing the sick, causing the blind to see, casting out devils, and raising the dead all testified that He has power to spiritually lift us.  His very words were fraught with power: “And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power” (Luke 4:32).  The gospels also bore witness of the spiritual power of judgment given Him by the Father: “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son” (John 5:22).  Christ also bore witness that He had power over His own life: “No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” (John 10:18).  His resurrection was a clear witness of that power.  The gospels affirm His matchless power: He had the power of creation, the power to forgive sins, the power to control the elements, the power to heal the sick, the power to judge, and even the power to raise the dead into the resurrection.   

Other scriptural statements attest to the universality of the power given to Him.  We read, “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand” (John 3:35).  Christ Himself affirmed in a prayer to His Father, “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him” (John 17:2).  He declared universally to His apostles before His ascension, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matt. 28:18).  In our dispensation the prophet Joseph gave us these words about His complete power: “And he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him” (D&C 93:17).  Another revelation similarly testifies: “Wherefore, he is possessor of all things; for all things are subject unto him, both in heaven and on the earth, the life and the light, the Spirit and the power, sent forth by the will of the Father through Jesus Christ, his Son” (D&C 50:27).  The scriptures assure us that we can have faith in the power of Christ to help us individually.  There is no end to His power to be able to succor and support us if we will seek Him as President Nelson encouraged.  Perhaps Isaiah said it best when he wrote, “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength” (Isaiah 40:28-29).