Rooted in God’s Love
Ephesians 3:14-21
February 24, 2019
Has your mind ever wandered? I would assume for most of you at some point, maybe it’s already started - - - your mind will wander during this message. I don’t want to plant any wandering seeds, but it happens, doesn’t it?
You’re in a conversation and you’re listening and have a comment, but you forget that comment, and your mind was not even wandering, you were paying attention.
What about when you pray? Maybe I’m the only one it happens to. I start out praying really good. Then without realizing it, I start to think about what I need to do that day, then I’m off thinking about what I need to buy at the grocery store, then I’m thinking about the game from last night, then sometime later, I realize I have really wandered off in the wrong direction in my prayer.
This happens to us in most Wednesday night Bible studies. We’re on task, then somehow we get off and go on some rabbit trail. It’s always good, it’s always fun, but before we know it, we’re off talking about something different.
It seems that this happened to Paul in his letter to the Ephesians. In Ephesians 3, Paul starts the chapter saying –
1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles —
And then he seems to go off on a tangent. He wanted the people to understand something about himself and his call as an apostle, then in verse 15, he got back to what he really wanted to get at. And when he does, he uses the very same beginning that he used in verse 1.
We’ve been talking about the mission of the church, but really we can’t fulfill the mission of the church without having the most important relationship, one with Christ. So, we’ve looked at Jesus’ call to make Him first in our lives, and last week we were looking again at the call to love Jesus, and today, we’re going to read an amazing passage from Paul about his prayer for the church. So, if we keep reading in Ephesians 3, Paul continues in verses 15-21 –
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
16 that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you
to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being,
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith — that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
21 to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. – Ephesians 3:14-21
Friends, there is so much power in Paul’s words in this passage. What he’s asking for, what he’s praying for is so foundational to our lives in Christ. So, let’s look at what this prayer and what it means in our lives.
Paul wants something to happen in our lives. I feel like I’m about to give away the end of the story, but it’s really where we want to end up. This passage builds up in what Paul wants. In the end, he wants so much for us, that to say he wants one thing is almost like doing a disservice to Paul.
Paul’s telling us - - He wants us to be strengthened with power through God’s Holy Spirit. Why?
So Christ may dwell in our hearts because of our faith in Him. What for?
So that we would be rooted and grounded in His love. So what?
So we would somehow be able to comprehend the incomprehensible - - the magnitude of God’s love. Then what?
THEN we would be filled with the fullness of God!!! WOW!! That’s what Paul is getting at! Really, I should be done preaching! If we could really take that in, I should really be done, because I can’t add to what Paul has said. But, nah . . . I want to unpack this message.
I think one of our main problems is the fact that we don’t really comprehend how much God loves us and how good God really is. Even in the midst of so much evil and so much tragedy. God is good . . . and God is good all of the time.
We kind of get it, and so we kind of follow Him. But if we fully understood God’s goodness, it would change us. I mean . . . if we really grasped it in our heart, soul, mind and body, we would get what Paul is talking about.
The real miracle Paul’s talking about is that we fully experience the power of God’s love. Not because we’re healed from something or we win the lottery or whatever it is, but even with our defeats, our tragedies, our losses, even with the bad stuff . . . but that we would grasp the God of all creation, the Great Creator of everything loves me and died for me. He loves even me and even died for me.
Paul prayed for this because he knew there was nothing he could physically do to bring about this depth of understanding. You know, as a pastor I can bemoan the fact that people don’t always show up to worship. There are lots of distractions. Lots of things we allow to get in the way. I can jump up and down and have lots of promotional stuff to get people in the doors, but if those who are already in Christ really grasped His love, they would be here . . . or they would be somewhere every Sunday they possibly could.
So, Paul says, he bowed his knees to pray. While we don't have to bow to pray, there's something about getting on our knees. It’s a sign of humility, it’s a sign to the Lord saying, “YOU ARE KING! YOU ARE LORD! YOU ARE GOD ALMIGHTY!” So Paul bows before God, before the One who saved us and adopted us as His kids.
So, Paul prays –
16 that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being,
Paul is praying for God to grant to us, through His Holy Spirit that we would be strengthened by Him. He’s praying that God would grant this to us.
You see, I can preach the most amazing sermon ever, George could select the perfect songs, the air temperature could be exactly what you want. The sound, the fellowship, everything could be perfect . . . but it still doesn’t mean you’ll accept Jesus. That’s a God thing. There’s nothing I can humanly do to make you accept Jesus. There’s nothing I can make you do to serve or give or whatever it is I want from you.
It’s all a God thing. That’s what Paul is getting at. This means that if you’re here and you don't love Jesus Christ, if you don’t believe in Him, and you don’t understand or believe that Jesus Christ really loves you, I can’t talk you into that. That’s something God has to do. Paul understood that, so he got on his knees.
I can't make you fall in love with Jesus. I can make the introduction; you can walk in this room, and I can tell you about who God is — He's the Creator of the world, He loves you more than your spouse or your kids or your parents or your friends.
He's crazy about you. He so loved the world that He gave His Son. And while He was doing that we were sinning against Him. And in spite of that, He still loved you and sent His Son for you. Can you believe that?
Then He watched his Son die on the cross for you. What kind of love is that? And then His Son rises from the grave after being buried for three days. He gets up by the power of the Spirit, and eventually ascends back to heaven. And that same power is also by the way, available to you and I, if we would accept it.
And now God can put His Spirit inside you; He can change everything.
Some of you will respond by saying, “That’s cool, nice. So, what’s for lunch.” I can make the introduction to God and nothing will happen inside of you until, as Paul says, the Holy Spirit gives you a strength to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.
He lets you know something that you otherwise can’t know. Then you can proclaim, “God really, really loves me!! I get it!” And so I pray each of us would understand God’s love for us, and we would open our heart, soul, mind and body to take in God’s love and to love Him back.
Let’s add to this what Jesus said in John 15:9 –
9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
Do hear what Jesus is saying? Jesus is telling us that just as the Father has loved me, I love you the same way. Do you get that? That’s an amazing powerful love. We think, well, Jesus maybe loves me about half as much, as the Father loved Him, because that’s all I deserve. Actually, you don’t deserve any of it, but instead of that . . . He gives us 100% of the Father’s love. He gives us the same love the Father gave him. And that was perfect love. That’s how much we are loved.
And if we recognize this . . . if we really believe it, if we comprehend it, then it has to change our lives. It has to change who we are and how we are. Honestly, if it doesn’t change us, then maybe we haven’t accepted the full amount of God’s love. This is why Paul told the church in 2 Corinthians 5:14 –
14 For the love of Christ controls us – 2 Corinthians 5:14
Do you hear those words? The love of Christ controls them. Literally, the Greek means to “hold or to press together.” It’s the image of being in a crowd and you’re covering your ears tightly. The love of Christ was like the glue that holds everything together. It’s the glue that holds your life in place. Even in the midst of the bad, He holds you together.
The love of Christ is what leads you to do what’s right and good, and leads you not to do what’s wrong and sinful. Most of the time we know right from wrong. And it should be our awareness of Christ’s love that leads us to do what’s right.
In many respects, the law should have no bearing on our lives. Yes, we must follow civil law. We must not do what is wrong according to the court system.
But really when it comes to right and wrong, when it comes to doing what is morally wrong, but legally acceptable, it’s the love of Christ that should lead us in the right direction.
Does that make sense? His love should control us. It should be our guiding force. Because as the Father is pouring His love into the Son, the Son is pouring that same love into us.
Let me give you a couple of really funky words. It’s Greek and it’s a really powerful word.
The word is perichoresis. Another word to add to this is Circumincession
It’s used to describe the relationship of the Trinity. It’s how the Father, Son and Holy Spirit relate to one another. It’s defined as a “co-dwelling or mutual inter- penetration. So what does that mean?
It’s how the Father relates and penetrates the Son and Holy Spirit without losing His distinct personality.
Then at the same time, it’s how the Son, penetrates the Father and Holy Spirit, yet keeps His distinct personality.
At the same time, you guessed it, the Holy Spirit penetrates the Father and Son, yet keeps His distinctive personality.
So, what does that all mean for us?
While the love the Son gives to us is not identical to the love of the Father and Spirit, because they are perfect and we are not - - - still the love of the Son is supposed to dwell within us through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is Christ’s love that penetrates us.
Once we accept His love, we are called to now share that love with the world. It’s an imperfect love, because of our sinfulness, but if we fully embrace Christ’s love, then our love will be more pure than it would if we didn’t grasp and allow His love to flow within us.
Now, I’ve got so much more to share with you about this passage and about God’s love for us and what it means for us. So, we’re going to finish looking at Ephesians 3 next week.
For now, for this week, I want you to simply do this - - -
Take time to experience Christ. Open your heart to Him. Not that you have not. But seek to draw closer to Him as you experience His power and majesty. Bathe in His love and grace. Seek His power and strength. Celebrate Him! Be passionate about Him! Come next week - - - excited about worshiping the King of kinds and Lord of lords!!
