The Love of Christ
Ephesians: Rooted and Grounded • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 3 viewsFocus on the aspects of God's love. This is different from A Prayer for the Cause
Notes
Transcript
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Introduction
Introduction
Chapter 3 ends with a prayer for the reader of this letter. Paul is a man of prayer. His prayers are seen throughout his letters and they were answered by God throughout the book of Acts. Prayer is the most important action that we can do in any situation. This morning, we will see the content of the prayer with a special emphasis on the love of Christ.
Remember, the letter of Paul to the Ephesians, an important epistle in the Bible, has much to say on the subject of what our church should be. Paul will show us the importance of unity, faithful leadership and biblical order in the church. We will see the vital part that their family plays in the life of every Christian. We have seen the blessings of God through His salvation. We will also see the reality of the spiritual warfare around us.
Written by Paul the Apostle, Ephesians is a letter that begins high on a mountain top in chapter one. We see the amazing blessings of the Trinity toward saved man. In chapter two, we see two paragraphs that give us the truth of grace for mankind. We are saved by grace. We are united by our sin and His salvation. Salvation a focus of these doctrinal chapters in Ephesians.
Remember, the central theme of Ephesians is the unity of believers, in Christ, as part of the local church.
Paul is a man who is determined to pray in any situation. When he is in prison in Philippi, he prays and sings. When he is threatened with shipwreck on the way to Rome, he prays and believes God. When he is in Damascus after his blinding conversion, he is praying and fasting.
Paul prays specifically and earnestly. Paul prays for the readers of his letter in First Century Ephesus. Paul prays for you as you read it today. The request of his prayer is that the love of Christ would affect our lives. Have you experienced the love of Christ personally in your life?
When I was four years old, I remember the effect that the love of Christ had on my life…Give testimony of salvation
Christ will do the same for you. All that is needed is a choice to accept the free gift of His love for you.
The love of Christ is seen here as the culmination of the doctrinal portion of Ephesians. Paul began with blessing. (1:3-14) He moved on to hope. (1:15-24) He focuses on grace. (2:1-10) We see the value of peace. (2:11-22) Paul also tells us of God's power. (3:1-13) As he ends this doctrinal section, love is the focus. (3:14-21) At the base of the Christian's inner man, the Holy Spirit is building on love from Christ.
Declaration
Declaration
Paul prays for strength in the inner man, the result of the work of Christ and His Spirit. Allow Christ to dwell in your heart and understand the love of Christ in its infinity and superiority to all else that we encounter. Today, understand the picture of love illustrated by the sacrifice of His cross and make that love your own!
1. Let Love Affect Your Heart
1. Let Love Affect Your Heart
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Paul begins this prayer without using a Greek word for prayer but instead giving us a posture that shows us prayer. Paul is bowing on his knees for the people of Ephesus. When a spiritual man prays, God works!
A. Picture of the Father v. 14-15
A. Picture of the Father v. 14-15
The prayer of Paul is a prayer from his heart for the love of Christ. The original picture of this kind of love is the picture of a Father and His children. We saw in the garden that marriage was introduced by God. The family becomes an earthly reality in the chapter 4 as the first children are born. However, the address here by Paul is to God as the Father of Christ as well as the head of the human and spiritual families. How can this be true? The Father is the originator, provider and protector of his family. God is the one who offers this Fatherhood to all who will come to Him.
Like as a father pitieth his children,
So the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
The word “family” gives us the idea of multiple descendants. God is the Father of generations of His saved people. The entire sweep of history give us people that God worked with, through, and in. God is the rightful Father of the human family. However, not everyone can claim Him as Father. Before salvation, we have a different father.
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
B. Presence of the Spirit v. 16
B. Presence of the Spirit v. 16
We see here the interacting Person of the Trinity in the prayer is the Spirit. Again the word “riches” is used. We see here the abundance of the glory of God that He would send out of His abundance to our neediness. We cannot manufacture strength. In ourselves, there is only weakness. The Spirit is the source of the strength that we find within. The idea here is a passive one by the act of the Spirit freely upon our open hearts before Him.
The phrase “with might” gives us the idea of the Spirit being the one that gets us ready and gives us the tools needed in the times of strengthening. The Holy Spirit is working constantly to change us into the image that Christ has saved us to show.
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
There is a phrase here that carries deep meaning for us. The word “inner” gives us limits to the word to follow it. These limits are inside of each person. The Spirit of God works at the intersection of our thoughts, desires, feelings, emotions, and plans. God is working on the inside. For some, this will be a feeling of peace. For some, this will be a feeling of assurance. For the unbeliever, this will be a feeling of conviction. Conviction is the Diving pricking of the conscience as He is looking for personal acceptance of the free gift of His Son. Paul tells us the conflict of this “inner” self,
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
The second part of the phrase is “man”. This word gives us the idea of a true person or how we know ourselves. Everyone likes to put on a mask or hide behind a picture of how we want to be seen. The Holy Spirit works in the realm of the person that we truly are. Who are we? We are sinful people seeking to serve a righteous God. Paul says in Corinthians about this man,
For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
C. Priority of faith v. 17
C. Priority of faith v. 17
Realize the amazing request of Paul for the people in Ephesus!
A Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians Ephesians 3:17
When Paul prayed that his readers might be strengthened in the inner man, he prayed that Christ might dwell in them. The omnipresent and infinite God is said to dwell wherever he specially and permanently manifests his presence.
Christ is willing to dwell in the hearts of those who have believed in Him for salvation. Is that you? Have you ever put your faith in Him alone to take away your sins? Dwelling is the life of a person who is not moving elsewhere. Comfort and security are the realities of someone who is dwelling in a place. They are present in the saved person who has faith in his heart.
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
What is your faith in today? Is it in the good that you do each day? Is it in your comparison with someone else? Is it in something that you did many years ago, perhaps church attendance or baptism? Is your faith in your heart toward the finished work of Christ on the cross? One writer said this,
A Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians Ephesians 3:17
The most beautiful object might be in the apartment of a blind man, and he not be sensible of its presence; or if by any means made aware of its nearness, he could have no delight in its beauty. Christ dwells in us by faith, because it is by faith we perceive his presence, his excellence, and his glory, and because it is by faith we appropriate and reciprocate the manifestations of his love. Faith is to this spiritual communion, what esteem and affection are to the fellowships of domestic life.
Faith is the invitation for Christ to come inside and dwell!
Let Love Affect Your Heart
2. Let Love Occupy Your Mind
2. Let Love Occupy Your Mind
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
A. Love is a sure foundation v. 17
A. Love is a sure foundation v. 17
What is love? What is this love? Love is an expression of the heart toward someone for good. God’s heart is defined by His love. God’s actions are expressed as love. God’s interaction with creation from the beginning has been perpetually seen as His love. We see this in the most famous verse of the Bible,
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Love is the foundation for our relationship with God. Paul is praying here that the reader would be rooted and grounded in love. We studied this in a previous sermon and it is the theme for our series in Ephesians. Rooted is a tree that will not be moved in the wind or flood. Grounded is a building that is not shaken or supplanted by the earthquakes of life. God wants us to have the Love of Christ as our sure foundation.
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
B. Love is a surpassing subject v. 18
B. Love is a surpassing subject v. 18
The purpose of the foundation is that we would experience understanding of the love of Christ along with other saints. The word “comprehend” gives us the idea of understanding. God is not willfully choosing to blind, deceive, or trick us into believing in Him. Instead, He has given us His Word and His Son to reveal Himself to us. All of us are learning and understanding together as a unified church.
The object of the understanding, as seen in the next verse, is given four dimensions by Paul’s prayer. The Love of Christ has
Breadth - The love of Christ stretches to the horizon in any direction. No one can find a border to the love of Christ. There are no places that it does not cover, nor are there sins that it does not atone for. Atonement in the Old Testament was a word for covering sin until the final removal by Christ.
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no guile.
Length - The love of Christ is not able to measured in its reach to each and every lost sinner. Everyone is touched by the sacrifice of Christ and everyone can reach out to the gift of salvation. The Love of Christ is long enough for you!
I am sought of them that asked not for me;
I am found of them that sought me not:
I said, Behold me, behold me,
Unto a nation that was not called by my name.
I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people,
Which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;
Depth - The love of Christ goes down farther than we can ever explore. There is a depth to the love of Christ that pulls us ever farther into its welcoming arms.
I waited patiently for the Lord;
And he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God:
Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.
Height - The love of Christ stretches higher and higher into the vastness of the sky. Height gives us a picture of the love of Christ reaching up to, into, and above the heavens. Christ sits at the right hand of God the Father because of His sacrifice and the blood that He shed for us.
For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
What is the love of Christ to you? It is a reality in all places, times, circumstances and lives. Jesus offers His love to you today!
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Works of the Rev. Isaac Watts, Vol. 9 Psalm 18 Ver. 30, 31, 34, 35, 46, &c. Part III. [L. M.]
Thy love to saints in Christ their head,
Knows not a limit, nor an end.
C. Love is a supreme thought v. 19
C. Love is a supreme thought v. 19
The love of Christ beyond our understanding, especially without Christ. Paul prays that the reader will know the love of Christ and grow in the knowledge of how God deals with His Creation. Peter knew the love of Christ as he preached to Cornelius,
Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
Paul wants us to know it and grow in it. Are you growing in the love of Christ? How is your daily walk with Him?
The highest perfection of the godly in this life is an earnest desire to make progress.
Let Love Affect Your Heart
Let Love Occupy Your Mind
3. Let Love Fill Your Life
3. Let Love Fill Your Life
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
The purpose of this knowledge of the love of Christ is the complete fullness only available by God. God is going to give abundance to those who are living in this love of Christ. The totality of God is working inside of us because of the power of the cross.
People are searching for fullness and meaning in their lives. There must be a hole in their hearts that they are trying to fill. There is something missing that aches in the heart that is without Christ. No matter what might be used to fill this hole, there is never satisfaction or filling. The hole in the heart of man continues to consume all that is placed within it as a black hole does in space. How does this aching end? In the case of black holes, one article says it this way,
“So how do they die? They simply evaporate away. Black holes, when they are not actively feeding, lose mass and energy as radiation…The amount taken away is small, truly minuscule, but it is there. And it is happening constantly. Black holes will continue to form and grow for a long time (the universe likely has not seen its biggest black hole yet) but at some point, there won’t be anything left for them to eat and they will diminish, fading into nothing in a slow release of Hawking radiation.”
from https://www.iflscience.com/how-do-black-holes-die-71386
The ache in the human heart ends when there is no longer anything else that it can use to try to fill the hole inside. One day, the person without Christ will spend eternity in hell as a result of this hole in their heart.
There is fulness in the love of Christ.
Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
Beyond the filling is the running over. God does above and beyond what we can think. The “power” is the continued influence of the Spirit that is present in our hearts. We see a change daily toward the person that God is making us to be.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
The glory of God is the praise of Paul his servant here. He gives a doxology through the church to Christ forever. The glory of Christ is set upon the platform of all of time into the future. The love of Christ will stand as a testament to the eternality of the grace of God to a lost and sinful people as it is preached and lived in the church that He has created.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Ephesians Ephesians 3:17–18
We are never nearer Christ than when we find ourselves lost in a holy amazement at his unspeakable love.
John Owen
Strength in the inner man is the result of the work of Christ and His Spirit. We need to allow Christ to dwell in our hearts and understand the love of Christ in its infinity and superiority today! Understand the picture of love illustrated by the sacrifice of His cross!
The love of Christ is broader than the oceans of sin from mankind. The love of Christ is longer than the rebellion of man before a holy God can reach. The love of Christ is deeper than the corruption of sin that afflicts our human race. The love of Christ is higher than our depraved minds can ever fathom or understand.
We cannot know the love of Christ fully, but we can allow this love to anchor us in this sinful world. Each of us must choose to anchor ourselves in Him. The love of Christ on the cross is this anchor for us. It has done what we could not do. It has accomplished salvation for all for all time.
What is your heart standing on today? Is it the love of Christ? If you have never accepted Christ as Saviour, it is not standing on Christ. But today, you can change this once forever.
Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 1936 The Fifth Sparrow
A little Spanish boy in Vigo who became a devout Christian was asked by an Englishman what had been the influence under which he acted. “It was all because of the odd sparrow,” the boy replied. “I do not understand,” said the Englishman in surprise. “What odd sparrow?”
“Well, Senor, it is this way,” the boy said, “A gentleman gave me a Testament, and I read in one Gospel that two sparrows were sold for a farthing. And again in Luke, I saw, “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings …?” And I said to myself that Nuestro Senor (“our Lord”) Jesus Christ knew well our custom of selling birds. As you know, Sir, we trap birds, and get one chico for two but for two chicos we throw in an extra sparrow. That extra sparrow is only a make-weight, and of no account at all.
“Now, I think to myself that I am so insignificant, so poor and so small that no one would think of counting me. I’m like the fifth sparrow. And yet, oh marvelous, Nuestro Senor says, “Not one of them is forgotten before God.” I have never heard anything like it, Sir. No one but He could ever have thought of not forgetting me.”
God wants you to understand the love of Christ for you today!