Diving Deepr

Ephesians 3:16-19 ESV

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.

As I thought about the upcoming year for Grace Students at Independence, the one thing that kept coming to mind is the concept of being rooted in Christ. I have two goals for any and every student that walks through these youth building doors…

1.) To Know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord

2.) To be Rooted in Christ Jesus

My hope and prayer is that students who enter this building would know and experience for themselves the love of God that was made to the world through the sacrifice of Jesus cross on the cross.

I want God to use this place to save lost and broken sinners like you and me. I want God to be glorified and honored and praised and the main focus of what we do hear aft Grace Students.

And I want you to be rooted in Christ Jesus so that when you leave this place and you begin to experience the pain, hardships, and brutality of life… that you would be ready and equipped because your hope, your life, your gaze is fixed on Christ… And if your gaze is fixed on Christ then you will not only be able to withstand the difficulties of life, the hardships of life, the pain of life, you will actually grow and experience peace in the midst of those trials because you are rooted in Christ…

God provides us the Book of Ephesians through the hand of the apostle Paul… Paul formerly known as Saul - a persecutor of the church had a life changing encounter with Christ and was saved by the Grace of God… The Book of Ephesians was written to the Church in Ephesus…

Paul wrote this letter while in Prison in Rome around about A.D. 60… And he was writing to the church in Ephesus to display the scope of God’s eternal plan for all humanity - for both Jews and Greeks alike.

The passage we will be focusing on in Ephesians is Chapter 3:16-19… I will read it again it says,

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.

A couple of verses prior to verse 16, we see that Paul is praying for Spiritual strength for the church in Ephesus… vs 14) says, “for this reason I bow my knees before the Father,”

In other words Paul is saying, I pray to God the Father our Lord that the church in Ephesus would be strengthened spiritually in their inner being and that they would be rooted and grounded in love…

I love how Paul does not stop at just being saved… There is so much more to the christian walk salvation alone… Salvation is beautiful essential… and a glorious gift from God through faith in Jesus… but it is not the end of the Christian walk… it is simply the beginning…

What I mean is that I have known people who were saved when they were young or in high school, but they can not seem to grow in their faith from that point on… Years later when I speak to them, they show no signs of a greater depth in their faith… in fact, sometimes they struggle with if they are saved or not because they have not seen evidence of their faith since the time they have been saved…

And when difficult times come and life begins to get hard, they simply think that God is not their for them, non-existant, or does not really have the ability to change the outcome of their situation… when in reality they have never developed a strengthening of the inner being and they are not rooted and grounded in the love of Christ and they not have experienced or been able to comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth of christ… and they are left lacking… never experiencing the fullness of God...

POINT #1) If you want to last you must be ROOTED in CHRIST

The Greek Word Rooted here in Ephesians Chapter 3 means = “to be established, conceived of as if a plant being or becoming fixed in the ground”

I love how we are given this word rooted and this picture of a plant thats roots go deep in the soil… And those roots over time begin to branch off of one another, reaching further and into the soil itself… as the plant receives water and sunlight… the roots begin to grow first… then the plant…

In other words, as I spent time with Christ, as I rest in his love, as I think about the sacrifice he made on the cross, as I read his word, as I pray to the Father, as the Holy Spirit fills me, God begins to establish my roots… God begins to allow my roots to grow deep in the soil of Gods Grace, Mercy, and Love… And notice how this is unseen by the outside world… time with Christ, prayer with Christ, fellowship with Christ behind closed doors… is an example of roots being established and growing…

And once those roots are established and in the rich soil of Jesus Christ, then the stem of the plant begins to grow…

In other words, a new life in Jesus Christ becomes evident when strong roots are established in the love of Christ.

I want you to know that the roots of a plant provide:

Stability

Strength

Assurance

Trust

Structure

Hope

Life

Endurance

Imagine a plant without strong roots… or not roots at all… it would be tossed in the wind, carried away by the elements, and without a foundation…

My question for you today is… have you established roots in the love of Jesus Christ? Have you spent time with the Lord? Have you prayed to him behind closed doors when no one else is looking or around? Do you rest in the love of Christ? Do you have a peace in Jesus that surpasses all understanding when life is hard? Is your only confidence and hope in Jesus? Do you run to him? Do you seek him out? Do you have a relationship with him?

Here is a good way to answer those questions… Whens the last time you have seen God move in your life? When is the last time you have recognized and noticed the goodness of God in your life? Or are you someone who does not have any experiences with God? No moments in your life where you have seen God move? No moments that you can point to and say, God showed up here and he is good!

If you do not have those moments with God… then you are more than likely not rooted in Jesus…

Because, evidence of a relationship with Jesus begins with the roots… Evidence of your life being completely transformed begins with the roots…

Point #2: Your FOCUS should set on your LOVE for CHRSIT

notice how Paul does not say in verse 17, that you must be rooted and grounded in theology, in understanding, in all wisdom, in all knowledge… no… not at all…

Paul says you must be rooted and grounded and established in LOVE

This word love in the Greek is referring to = a strong positive emotion of regard and affection

We see this same word LOVE used in Lamentations 3:22, “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end”

In other words the Word of the Living God says be established in a strong positive emotion of regard and affection towards God and the Son - Jesus Christ… begin there.. be established there… be grounded in affection towards God the Father and Christ then Son… then and only then will you begin to understand who God truly is and be filled with all the fulness of God!

It begins with love… it stars with an strong positive emotion of regard and affection for God the Father and Jesus the Son… Love is the fuel for your faith in Christ… not theology, not good works, not bible knowledge… rather it is LOVE…

Begin with Loving God with a strong positive emotion of regard and affection… and allow theology, good works, & Bible knowledge to continue strengthen your love for God…

For if you truly do not love God then your theology, good works, and bible knowledge is of no use… void… and worthless…

Do you LOVE God? Do you have a strong positive emotion of regard and affection for God? Is your relationship rooted in the soil of Gods LOVE? If you don’t, what is capturing your love? Your affection? and your regard?

POINT #3: Live a life that GLORIFIES GOD

VS 20) says, Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that wee ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen”.

The Word Glory means = a state of high honor

So live your life in a way that brings God the highest honor… Walk in such a way that would bring glory and honor to the name of God…

My father was very strict and required that I speak respectfully to others… that I be mindful and have manners…

I have told you guys before, but my Dad required that I say yes sir, no sir, yes ma’am and no ma’am to anyone that I came into contact with… And for the longest time I was not sure why my Father required that I live and speak in a way that was always respectful… it seemed like a lot, it seemed a bit much…

But I will never forget the day when my Dad looked at me and said, “I need you to know something… your last name means something…” My dad said, “You carry my last name and the name of my Father before me”… so when you act, speak, and live your life… remember… you represent me and your family”...

In other words, my Dad was teaching me that my name means and represents something far greater and bigger than just me… it represents my family, who raised me, where I came from, and I am to be proud of it and wear it well… So whether I speak, act, or behave… I better do it in a manner that is honorable to my father and our last name…

Friends, if you have received Christ Jesus as your savior… you are a Child of God… and that name “Child of God” means something… this name was given to you at the highest cost - Gods Son Jesus… so you ought to live your life… carry that name in a way that brings honor and glory to the one that gave you it God!

As this year comes to a close… and the next year approaches… my prayer for you all is that you would be rooted in the love of Jesus Christ and focused on bringing glory and honor to God for he has given you the name “Children of God”…

John 1:12-13 says,

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.