Grasp the Love of God-Ephesians 3: 14-21
Key Verse 3:17-19
“So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
In verses 14-21, Paul ends the chapter with a prayer with two main prayer requests for the believers: power and love. Christians are in some ways superheroes endowed with power to share God’s love in a broken world. When my son Joshua was young, he was a big fan of the power rangers. The main premise of the show is about Zordon, who is like a god figure who wanted to select some humans to combat evil. He could give power to anyone of his choosing. He could have chosen elite soldiers or athletes. Instead, he chose ordinary, rebellious and flawed teenagers. He gave them each special power to defeat evil. In a way, Christians are like power rangers. The concept reminds us of 1 Corinthians 1:27. It says “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” We are all weak, deeply flawed, but because of Christ, we have been endowed with a special super power. May God help us harness this power through prayer. May we receive power in our inner being. Finally, may we have power to grasp the love of God.
First, Power through Prayer (14-16)
Look at verse 14-15 “14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,”
In verse 14, He kneels and prays. Through humble prayer comes ‘power through his spirit.’ Kneeling prayer acknowledges the fact we are helpless, powerless and desperate. At the same time, it also shows humble confidence that God will answer prayers according to his will. God is a good father who knows what his children need before they ask. Prayer is not just something we do before a meal or an exam, rather it’s a lifestyle. Rick Warren said, “It’s like breathing.” Daniel prayed 3 times a day while in exile. Jesus prayed early mornings while it was still dark to pray (Mark 1:35). Prayer is a sweet time to converse with God. According to verse 15, we can obtain many rich spiritual blessings from our Heavenly father. we can harness power through prayer.
I thank God for the privilege of coming to him in prayer. I can’t tell you the number of times I have experienced God’s miracle and unexpected outcomes through prayer. I’ve prayed for so many topics such as wisdom, solving home maintenance issues, finding honest repairmen, overcoming health issues, etc. Sometimes I prayed for a certain outcome, but God answered in unexpected ways. I remember Sarah’s wedding day. It was a terribly cold and blizzard conditions. I thought no one will come. After prayer, God bless the snow globe wedding. Recently, my children had a terrible plumbing issue. Money was going down the drain literally and figurative. But God helped us to find an honest plumber to fix the issue. We wondered who can take care of my mother-in-law. God bless us to find her next-door neighbor!
Second, Power in our inner being(3:16-17a)
Look at verse 16 “16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.”
Prayer is the key to unlock the heavenly treasure box. In this box are so many priceless spiritual treasures. God is gloriously rich! No one compares with our God. Currently, the richest man in the world is Elon Musk whose net worth of 246 billion. But Our God is eternally rich. God is the creator of the heavens and the earth. One day Elon will die. His money will perish one day. God’s riches are limitless and without bounds.
These glorious riches are personified in Jesus. Jesus is filled with boundless riches. In him is love, forgiveness, peace, joy, kindness, empathy, etc. I recently read a post from a friend who suffered from deep anger and hatred towards his ex-wife for two years. Through the counseling of a Christian brother, he found out the not forgiving is like “him drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” He saw Jesus on the cross who forgave us in spite of our suffering we inflicted upon him. He asked God to take away the poison of hatred and unforgiveness in his heart. Suddenly, he felt anger melt way and replaced by joy. He experienced God’s treasure of forgiveness.
Look at verse 16 again “he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being.” Another important aspect of God’s glorious riches is that it has innate power that transforms and strengthens our inner being. We are both body and spirit. We have an outer life which is dictated by the flesh and inner life dictated by the spirit. This dichotomy is clearly stated in Matthew 4:4 “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Who can redeem both body and spirit? Who can change the inner and outer? According to verse 16, only God can.
I once saw a cartoon of two cavemen exhausted from fighting each other. One caveman said to the other caveman, surely after 200,000 years, we will evolve to no longer fight. Fast forward to the present day, we still haven’t evolved. We are just as brutal and depraved. Just look at the nightly news and wars fought around the world. Evolution and enlightenment did not solve our problem. The problem is sin.
Only God can reach and cure the inner man. God solved man’s sin problem once and for all by sending his one and only son. Paul said in Ephesian 2:3-5 “3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”
God gives us the strength with power through his spirit in your inner being. This is how we fight sin, how we fight doubt and despair. We need the glorious riches of his grace and power as the fuel to help us live a life of love. Before I met my lord, my life
What is the Ultimate goal of prayer? Look at 17, “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith”. Dawson Troutman, founder of the navigator described Christ as the hub on a wheel. Every spoke is held by the center hub. It remains balanced, firm. Practically, this means, Christ becomes the center, He defines our identity, our decisions, hope and dreams.
Third, Power to grasp the love of God (3:17b-19)
Look at 17-19 “17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
Look at verse 17 “being rooted and established in love” Paul uses the word ‘rooted’ and ‘grounded’. A tree that has deep roots can withstand hurricane forces winds. If a tree doesn’t have deep roots, it can easily be uprooted and tossed by the wind.
Paul says a similar thing in Colossians 2:6-7: “rooted and built up in Him”. John Stott says, “Love is to be the soil in which their life is rooted; love is to be the foundation on which their life is built” Whatever is planted in the soil of God’s love will certainly flourish and bear fruit. We must let our roots go down into the love of Christ and draw strength from there, living moment by moment knowing we are loved by God. As Pastor Henry said God is love, full stop! I remember Tim Keller mentioned the meteoric rise of Christianity was Christians call to love. Christians expressed they love by welcoming all people from all class, race, they rescued abandoned babies, they respected women, and lived upright lives. They loved in the midst of intense persecution. Their lifestyles became very attractive to those living in the Roman society which was violent, misogynistic, racist and immoral.
Look at 18, 19 “18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
Here Paul talks about the multi-dimensional love of God. God’s Love goes in every direction and to the greatest distance. It goes wherever it is needed for as long as it is needed. The early church Father Jerome said that “The love of Christ reaches up to the holy angels and down to those in hell. Its length covers the men on the upward way and its breadth reaches those drifting away on evil paths.” In other words, God’s love can touch a self-righteous person. God’s love can touch those who are violent and depraved. He can protect those who want to live a holy life and bring those back to his fold, who have lost their way.
Our understanding of love is often shallow. Unfortunately, it is shaped by media, culture and our friends. It is based on emotions and is often conditional. We are very fickle when it comes to love. If someone doesn’t acknowledge us or makes a snide comment, we easily become upset. We love only those who love us back. It has often been trivialized and degraded. We say, I love pizza. Love is often misinterpreted as lust. It is one dimensional, in some cases it can be measured in inches and feet. We are often like children on Christmas day. If we see a Christmas present, we are happy, if not we are sad.
Sometimes God’s love is often hard to grasp. It surpasses knowledge. In other words, it defies logic. Roman 11:33 “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” We cannot get to the bottom of God’s love since it “surpasses knowledge.” Bishop Barron described God’s love like 3D chess. God is moving parts here and there to reveal his glory in our lives. We might experience all kinds of suffering, but ultimately God works for the good (Romans 8:28) We have to grasp it by faith. When we consider the life of OT Joseph, his life was one suffering after another. But in the end, God used his life to save his brothers and to forge a nation in Egypt.
Sometimes we see and experience injustice and tragedy. It can lead us to anger, doubt of God’s love. This is the reason Paul said we also need ‘power to grasp’. Our human reasoning is inadequate. I remember, when 9/11 happened. Many asked Tim Keller, “why?” He said he didn’t know. It is a mystery. “True, we don’t know the reason God allows evil and suffering to continue, but we know what the reason isn’t, what it can’t be. It can’t be that he doesn’t love us. It can’t be that he doesn’t care. God so loved us and hates suffering that he was willing to come down and get involved in it. And therefore, the cross is an incredibly empowering hint. It’s only a hint, but if you grasp it, it can transform you. It can give you strength.” All we need to do is grasp even a hint.
Finally, Paul ends with a doxology (expression of praise). 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
In this passage, we can be true superheroes in this broken world. Our super power is God’s love. We learn power comes through prayer. Through prayer we can unlock God’s glorious treasure box. We have power in our inner being. Most of all, God bless us to have power to grasp the multi-dimensional love of God. May we also grasp even a hint of God’s love displayed on the cross.
Reference
Keller, Dr. Timothy J. “Service Of Remembrance On 9/11” 16 September, 2001, https://discover.redeemer.com/docs/service_of_remembrance.pdf
Questions
Key Verse 3:17-19
“17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
1. What can we learn about Paul’s attitude in prayer (14, Ezra 9:5-6, Daniel 6:10, Matt. 26:39)? Who are those from ‘every family’ (15)?
2. What did Paul mean by God’s glorious riches (16)? How is this different from worldy wealth (1 Timothy 6:10) ? What are some of God’s glorious riches that are meaningful to you? What does it mean to receive ‘power through his spirit in your inner being? How is this different from the outer being? Who can reach the inner being and transform it (1 Pet. 1:3, Romans 7:22-23, Romans 8:5-6)?
3. What does it mean that ‘Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith’ (17a, 1 Cor. 3:16)? What does it mean to be rooted and established (ESV says ‘grounded’) in love (John 15:5, John 13:34, 1 Peter 1:22)?
4. Paul mentioned another ‘power’ in verse 18, what is the purpose of this? What does it mean to grasp the love of God (Jeremiah 15:16, Job 23:12, Psalm 1:2)? How does Paul describe the love of God? How is human love one dimensional? The early church Father Jerome said, ” The love of Christ reaches up to the holy angels and down to those in hell. Its length covers the men on the upward way and its breadth reaches those drifting away on evil paths.” What does St. Jerome’s tell us about the love of God?
5. What does it mean that this love surpasses knowledge (19)? What does it mean to be filled with the fullness of God (19)?
6. What does it mean he can ‘do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine’ through his power that is at work within us (20)? What eternal promise did Paul mention in verse 21 (John 14:12-14)?
