When our children were smaller we were given lots of childrens books. One of them was called, Guess how much I love you. The book is about 2 hares. One is big and he is called Big Nutbrown Hare. The other is small and is called Little Nutbrown Hare. They are probably a daddy and his son. Little Nutbrown Hare wants to tell Big Nutbrown Hare how much he loves him. He asks him, Guess how much I love you? Then he opens up his arms and says, this much. Big Nutbrown Hare responds in kind but his arms are bigger. So Little Nutbrown Hare has to beat it. He keeps going on and on with bigger distances, for example, down the road and back etc. And Big Nutbrown Hare responds with bigger expressions of love. Finally it is getting late and dark and the moon rises in the sky. Little Nutbrown Hare says, I love you right up to the moon. With that, Little Nutbrown Hare falls asleep and Big Nutbrown Hare replies, I love you right up to the moon - and back.
There are limits to how we can express things in human language. In this cute little kids story the author tries to express the inexpressible. Of course we cant measure love in distance, but distance is something we can relate to, so we try and express it in something that seems so big, that we realise how big this love is.
And today we look at a passage about love. Not the love of hares in a childrens book. Not even the love between parents and children. Not the love between the closest of friends. Not even the love of husband and wife, but about the love of God for us. And in this passage Paul uses language in such a way that goes beyond what language can express, to try and convey what that love is. How amazing is the love of God.
And in fact Paul knows that this love of God is so amazing that it is impossible to describe it with words. So he doesnt tell us directly, but he tells us that he is praying for us. He is praying that we can understand this un-understandable love. For that is the only way we can comprehend it. Through prayer. Through God giving us the power to understand this love. Lets have a look at this prayer.
EPH 3:14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family 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, 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 saints, 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.
EPH 3:20 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.
Now this is the second prayer in Ephesians. Remember the first one? It was in Ephesians 1:15-23. Verse 17 says, I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. Paul prays that God would give us wisdom and revelation so that we would know God better. And he continues: 18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
Paul prays that God would enlighten us so that we can know the hope to which He has called us, the riches of His glorious inheritance and His incomparably great power. Remember in first part of chapter one it talks about our spiritual blessings. Do you remember them?
1. vs 4 Chosen to be blameless in His sight.
2. vs 5Adopted as His children.
3. vs 7 Redeemed, forgiven our sins.
4. vs 9-10 The mystery of Gods will revealed to us that all things on heaven and earth will be under Christ - and we will share in that eternally!
But remember back then, we talked about how hard it is to appreciate the spiritual blessings in the rough and tumble of life. In the midst of paying the bills, the mortgage. In the midst of work problems, relationship problems. These seem to overwhelm us. And it is also hard to appreciate spiritual blessings in terms of what we want - a bigger house now, a better car, a more luxurious holiday. They all seem more real that pie in the sky.
But in the big picture, the whole universe, in light of eternity, the pie in the sky is going to last forever, whereas the steak on the plate is only temporary. Even though it doesnt always seem that way. Remember the illustration of climbing Mt Beerwah at night. We can only see the path in front at night. The bills, the problems and joys and aspirations of this life is what we see. But what is hidden, because it is night, is actually the big picture. The wonderful view of the entire area around the Glasshouse Mountains. And life is like that. Hence Paul prays for enlightenment so we can see the big picture.
And here in chapter 3, Paul prays again. This prayer closes off a section. First 3 chapters of Ephesians talks about the incredible things God has done for us in Christ. Chapter 1 talks about our spiritual blessings and the prayer for illuminitation of them.
Chapter 2:1-10 talks about how we have gone from death to life. Chapter 2:11-18 talks about the barrier between us and God and between ourselves has been broken in Christ. Chapter 2:19-22 talks about how God is building us a church, together, into His temple, where He lives. Chapter 3:1-6 talks about the mystery of Christ. That we as Gentiles are together with believing Jews. That we are united together in one body the church. Chapter 3:7-13 talks about the the wonderful privilege of serving God, and that we the church it is through us, that Gods plan is to make His wisdom known. This is big stuff
The rest of the letter from chapters 4-6 talks about the more day to day living stuff. About how to live as Christians every day.
And well start that next week.
So these verses here, chapter 3, verses 14-21 conclude the first half of Ephesians. They conclude the section concentrating on what God has done for us, before going on to the section on practical living starting in chapter 4. And Paul concludes this section with a prayer, similar to the prayer at end of ch 1. That prayer was for illumination to know the hope to which He has called us. This prayer is that we can understand His love for us and be filled with Christ.
Lets look at this prayer. First is verse 14, which is the introduction to the prayer. Paul lets us know he is praying by saying, vs 14 For this reason I kneel before the Father. Kneeling was not the usual attitude for prayer in Pauls time. Kneeling indicated this was a really serious prayer. Paul was praying for them fervently. Seriously.
Lets know look at what he prayed for:
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
Firstly, Paul prays that we are strengthened in our inner being. Where does this strengthening come from? It comes from Gods glorious riches. Gods riches. weve been talking about this. Remember when we talked about inheritances a little while ago? We mentioned hotel empires, media empires. They dont rate compared to the riches of Christ. A fortnight ago in Ephesians 3:8 it mentions the unsearchable riches of Christ.
The riches of the Sultan of Brunei, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet dont rate to the One who made the world. The One who cast the stars into space. The One who is Lord over all. Immeasurable riches. And from those riches, Paul, the author of Ephesians, asks that we are strengthened. Through Gods Spirit,
and from Gods riches, for us to be strengthened.
Strengthened where? In our appearance? In our physical strength? In our intelligence? In our wealth?
No. In our inner being. Literally it means: in the person within. Our inner being, the person within. Inside. It seems to the most insignificant part of us. The unseen part of us. Why does Paul pray for that part to be strengthened?
There have been many changes in our society over the last few generations. Many of which as Christians we are wary of, and often quite rightfully. But one thing modern man is realising more and more, is how important is the person within. The inner being. Now when troops come back from wars, we dont just look after then physically, but we also check them over for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. When people are abused, we dont just attend to the physical side, we look at the way it has affected their inner self. Look at the rise of interest in psychology, as people recognise that what goes on inside, the inner being, the within part of ourselves, is central to the way we live. People may not always address the needs of their inner selves correctly but at least they are recognising this need.
So Paul asks God to strengthen our inner being. Are you praying that God would strengthen your inner being? The inner beings of others in the church? But for what is this strengthening?
317 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
So that Christ may dwell in our hearts. How to explain that? Jesus Christ is the second person of the Trinity. He is Christ who is God. As Christians we believe there is one God. But God has three persons. The Father. The Son who is Jesus Christ. And the Holy Spirit. Who are in some ways distinct, but also One in a way that is hard for as humans to understand. And here we have all three members of the Trinity, the Godhead - working together. In vs 14 Paul directs His prayer to the Father. God the Father. In vs 17 He asks for Christ to dwell in our hearts God the Son. In vs 16 He asks for this to happen through Gods Spirit.
And what it says in vs 16 that this happens is through Gods Spirit, is important. Of course, Jesus doesnt physically dwell in our heart. I remember once Marcela took our son Krystof to the doctor. The doctor put his stethoscope on Krystofs heart and listened. Krystof said to the doctor, Are you listening to see if Jesus is in my heart? But Christ dwells in in our heart through the Holy Spirit.
Now this word dwell in most English Bibles, means to live in. That is, as you live in your house. And through His Spirit, Christ dwells in us, or should dwell in us. It is interesting because Paul is writing to believers, who we would think already have Christ living in them, and yet he prays that Christ would dwell in them. We know that when someone becomes a Christian they receive the Holy Spirit. Christ comes to them. But Paul also recognises that that dwelling of Christ in a believers heart can be in a matter of degrees. In the same way as all Christians are filled with the Holy Spirit, we should seek to be continually filled more and more with the Spirit. So we pray that we are more and more filled with Christ, until the occupant of our hearts is Christ alone.
Many things in this world cry for our attention. Riches, fame, pleasure. Even good things like our family, friends. But who has the major place in your heart? Who is the principal occupant of your heart? Is it Christ? Does he live in your heart? If not, pray this prayer with Paul. Each day, ask God to strengthen you in your inner being. From His glorious riches. So that Christ lives in you through faith.
And the more Christ lives in you, the more you will change. It is impossible to have Christ living in you, and to live the same as before. The more Christ lives in your heart, the more you will be like Him. Living a holy life. Dedicated to Him. Using your time, energies and talents, for Him. His purposes will become your purposes. His desires will be your desires. And in this life, we are on a journey to be fully yielded to Christ. Think for a moment, how yielded am I to Christ? To what extent does He truly live in my heart? If not very much, then join in this prayer for yourself, and ask others to join with you. It is an amazing thing to think of Christ living in our hearts!
But Paul has more to say.
16b And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.
This reminds me of that childrens book at beginning of the sermon. That little hare telling the Big hare he loves him right up to the moon. And big hare responding that he loves him right up to the moon and back. Yet this love of Christ is so much bigger than even love up to the moon and back!
Paul prays that we can grasp how wide, long, high, deep is the love of Christ. He uses four words to describe the three dimensions! He wants us to try and understand how deep the love of Christ is. The love of Christ is so amazing that in vs 19 he calls it This love that surpasses knowledge. A love that is so great, it surpasses knowledge. It goes beyond knowledge.
That is, it is impossible to understand. Yet Paul prays that we can understand it. How to understand the impossible? Only by being strengthened in our inner beings, from the glorious riches of Christ. Only through a revelation from God, can we truly start to understand the incredible love of God. To understand the love that is beyond understanding! The love of God, that sent Jesus Christ, the Son of God God the Son, to live as a man and then to die on the cross.
Why did Jesus die? Because He had a penalty to pay. Because we are sinners. We are disobedient towards God. When we dont give God first place in our lives. When we dont obey His laws. We do wrong and we deserve punishment for that. And when we add up all our sins, both what we actually do, and the evil desires of our heart, then we deserve punishment. Eternal punishment. But Jesus Christ died to take our punishment on Him. He paid our price for sin. But because He was perfect holy, God Himself, death could not hold Him down, and He rose from the dead. And will too, if we believe in Him. We will also rise from the dead, if we die before Christ comes again.
That is if we believe in Him. Do you believe in Him? Do you live for Him? Does Christ live in your heart through faith? Have you been born again? If not, please come, talk to me afterwards.
The love of God is incredible. And the only way we can understand it is through God showing us. And as we come to understand it, something incredible happens.
Eph 3:19b - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now thats incredible. Earlier in verse 17 it says that Paul prays for Christ to live in our hearts. Now the prayer is to be filled with Gods fullness. And indeed, Christ is the fullness of God and as He lives in our hearts, we are therefore filled with the fullness of God. Becoming more like Him. More Christlike.
What was Pauls response to the love of Christ? To being filled with all the fullness of God? Christ living in our hearts?
EPH 3:20 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.
To give God the glory! In verse 20 Paul calls God the one who is able to do more than anything we can ask for or imagine immeasurably more. So to God we must give glory, in our church, in Christ, for all generations. For all time.
So what have we talked about today? This section - Eph 3.14-21, is the of a section that talks about all that God has done for us in Christ. And next week, we wil start chapter 4 which has practical implications of all these things Christ has done for us and how it effect our day to day living.
So he finishes this first section with a prayer. An amazing prayer. A prayer for strengthening in our inner being. So that Christ would dwell in our hearts through faith. So that we are filled with all the fullness of God. So that we can comprehend the uncomprehendable love of God. A love so vast, so amazing
Paul couldnt just describe it. He had to pray that God would help us understand it. And this results in us glorifying God - not just in our words but in the way we live, which we will see in the coming weeks as we go through the rest of Ephesians.
But also note that this is Pauls second prayer in Ephesians. What does Paul pray for? We often just pray for physical things. Health, finances. But most of the time Paul prays, it is for spiritual things. These two prayers in Ephesians - chapter 1: for illumination that we would understand what God has done for us. Chapter 2: His love for us. That we would be filled with Christ. Filled with all the fullness of God.
What do we pray for? What do you pray for? We are going to introduce more prayer meetings at this church. We need to be praying more as a church. They will be on the last Sunday of every month beginning June. We will pray for many things. But one thing is that we are strengthened from His glorious riches
in our inner beings. That Christ would live more and more in us through the Spirit. That we become more Christlike, filled with all the fullness of God. That we become holier, more obedient to Him. Better witnesses of Him, as we comprehend more and more His love for us. So we are filled with Christ, and thus giving Him glory.
Let us pray:
Closing prayer:
For this reason I kneel before You Father, from whom Your whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of Your glorious riches You may strengthen us with power through Your Spirit in our inner beings, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. And I pray that we, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is Your love, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that we may be filled to the measure of all Your fullness. Now to You who are able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to Your power that is at work within us, 21 to You be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
