The Fulness of God in You

Ephesians 3:14–21 NKJV

14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

We are continuing in this prayer that Paul makes for the saints in Ephesus.

And remembering that it is for the saints that Paul is praying we looked last week at the first two petitions that they be strengthened with might through the Spirit in the inner man, and that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith. It may seen strange at first to find Paul praying for those who already have the Holy Spirit as Paul said in

Ephesians 1:13 NKJV

13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

And for those who has has already acknowledge their faith

Ephesians 2:8 NKJV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

And he has said that they are in Christ many times already and even began by addressing

Ephesians 1:1 NKJV

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:

So we might find Paul’s prayer that Christ dwell in their hearts through faith and that they be strengthened by the in dwelling of the Spirit an odd prayer for Christians. But I think we find a key in the word Paul uses in vs 18

Ephesians 3:18 NKJV

18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—

The word comprehend here means to apprehend, seize, possess which speaks more of the experience rather than the matter of fact.

So I don’t think Paul is praying for these saints that they would Put their faith in Christ and receive Him into their hearts as if they did not have Christ already in their hearts rather he is praying for them to fully apprehend the fact that Christ is in them and have the full power of the Holy Spirit strengthen them in their experience and a transformative way.

Which I find exciting because this means for us that we may well have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith but our experience of this may be limited. Perhaps we have not yet fully comprehended these realities in transformative experience. In fact I believe that we all only experience a fraction of the power of Christ in us and what Paul is praying here is for the fullness of God to fill us.

So let look at what else Paul has prayed that we might experience

Ephesians 3:16–17 NKJV

16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

“That you” is “hina” in the Greek and it means “in order that” which means that this is progressive prayer not just an unconnected list.

in order that you be..

Rooted and Founded in Love

So Paul is using two analogies here first is one of a plant or tree. That you be rooted. and the next is architectural, founded or grounded like the foundation of a building.

So like the roots of a tree go deep into the earth to give nourishment as well as strength and stability Paul prays for the saints in Ephesus that they would grow their roots deep into the love of God in Christ.

Or that as a buildings foundations give support to the building that the believers in Ephesus would have their foundation firm in the love of Christ

So that you may be able to comprehend or apprehend, seize, to lay hold of the.....

Comprehend The Breadth and Length and Height and Depth

First notice he says “with all the saints”.

This is so key to Paul’s message in Ephesians. This transformative and power experience of the love of Christ can only be apprehended with the body. You can never lay hold of the width and length and depth and height of the love of Christ isolated from the church.

Remember in vs 10 Eph 3:10

Ephesians 3:10 NKJV

10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,

It is the church that is the bride of Christ

In Acts 20:28 when Paul was speaking to the elders at Ephesus he said...

Acts 20:28 NKJV

28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

So Christ greatest act of love was to the church the body.

So naturally Paul says that to lay hold of the fullness of the love of Christ we must do so with all the saints, with the church.

Paul says to apprehend the with all the saints what is the width, and length and depth and height to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge.

Building on the image of the rooted tree or the foundation of the building, he is saying the we be not only rooted and founded but that the roots go deep and wide and strong so that the tree grows long and high. Or that the foundation be big and strong so the the building can be built wide and long and high.

Some have understood this description for the love of Christ in the image of the cross. The cross went deep into the earth to reach the lowest of sinners and it pointed high into the heavens reaching to the the holy presence of God and the cross beam went wide for the arms of Christ to be stretched our wide as though he invites the whole world into His embrace.

This is a power description of the love of Christ. That we may know the width of Christ’s love how wide wide enough to invite any and all who will come to Him to come and receive this love. How long? So long that the love of Christ has no end. How deep? deep enough that the love of Christ reaches us when we are at our lowest point. How high? High enough to exalt us together with Christ to sit with Him at the right hand of God the Father. But to say that is only head knowledge. Paul is not praying here that we can have head knowledge of the love of Christ but that we lay hold of it in our experience, that we intimately know the love of Christ which surpasses the mind’s ability to understand. To know the love of God which passes knowledge.

in order that you may be...

Filled with All the Fullness of God

When we come to Christ in faith the Bible says that Christ come to dwell in us. This He does via the Holy Spirit who is given to us the dwell in us. This is the reality for all God’s people. They have dwelling within them the most magnificent, most wise, most powerful almighty God. Our finite minds cannot even begin to understand that reality. But when Paul prays that you be filled with all the fulness of God he is not pray for this reality to be true - not that it is wrong to pray for this reality to be true, we should. But he is pray for the saints in Ephesus for whom this is already their state. Paul is praying for for this reality to be fully realised in their experience. That they would know in their heart, in their life, what is imposable for their minds to understand. The power of the fulness of God filling them. To comprehend or to lay hold of this reality in experience is a life long pursuit. Just as God is infinite so there is alway much more of Him to experience. This was Paul’s pursuit in

Philippians 3:12–14 NKJV

12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

What is the prize? The fulness of God in us.