Unbounded Love

Intro.

When I lived in Alaska, God taught me many things and grew me up in Christ. One such thing that our God taught me while I lived there in Alaska was what real love looked like among Christians.

I had been there no more than a few weeks when my body began to give out, and I was placed in the ICU in a condition called Diabetic Ketoacidosis — a life threatening situation. Where the Church comes in through all of that, was their presence in my hospital room all day, almost every day. I’d wake up, and there would be someone new at my bedside — people, mind you, whom I had known for only a few weeks. These people, nearly strangers, cared for me in a way that I hadn’t understood until that time when I experienced it. Personally, I’m convinced that this was part of the reason all of that happened! I needed to experience the kind of Christian love that I logically knew I needed to exhibit, yet didn’t know how to at that time.

This morning, we will be talking about something similar to this out of Eph. 3:14-21

Ephesians 3:14–21 LSB

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 He would give you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being firmly rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or understand, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

Christ’s Surpassing Love

We find here still another prayer of the Apostle Paul on behalf of the Christians at Ephesus.

Strengthened in the inner man

“Power” here is not the same word as “might” although they are related. Here, the word means “a person’s ability to perform an action.” So Paul is praying that through the ability of God, not of themselves, they would be strengthened from the inside. Keep in mind that this is something which God does in them by the Spirit.

The Spirit gives them strength in the inner man; not the outward person but to build them up from the inside where virtue and character come from.

To what end? That Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith.

It has been noted that their are different words translated “dwell” with nuanced meanings.

Hear, “dwell” does not mean simply to stay somewhere. Rather, more deeply, it means to take up full residence and, in the sense of divinity, to rule.

It was presented like a couple buying a house that is a real “fixer-upper,” and they work on it and fix it up to their standard so it really is their place. And their living their becomes characteristic of that house. Likewise, it seems Paul is saying that this strengthening in the inner man, and all it produces, is useful to us growing up into what Christ wants us to be from the inside out, making us a dwelling place truly fitting and worthy of Him!

What else does this strengthening produce? LOVE!!! Paul wants them to know the love of Christ, and to themselves be “firmly rooted and grounded in love.”

Rooted — Weeds in the earth can be hard to pull out from the ground, why? Because their root systems are deep and strong.

Grounded — in a tornado, which house is most likely to be in trouble: A double wide trailer or a well founded, bolted structure? Why? Because that foundation gives it the ability to hold firm where the double wide has nothing keeping it steady.

Similarly to these two analogies, Paul is praying for the Christians that they would have their root and their foundation in love! Love for one another, yes! But specifically, that we as the children of God be that rooted in the love of Christ our Lord. Our root and foundation in Christ’s love keeps us from being blown around during every storm; we are made sturdy when we truly understand, and thereby also value, the wonderful love of Jesus!

Know the full scope of Christ’s love

Ephesians 3:18–19 “18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.”

Alongside Christ dwelling, ruling, in our hearts by the Spirit strengthening our inner man, the other outcome is that we understand how grand the love of Christ truly is.

The mind of the flesh cannot wrap around how extensive the love of God is! People ask me all the time if this or that sinful person can or cannot be forgiven, and sometimes they become appalled that God would love even this type of evil person they hate.

The Spirit of God within us strengthens us that we be able to grasp the great dimensions of Christ’s love for us, and for all mankind!

Be filled to the fullness of God

This is a phrase that was complicated for me to understand at first. Filled to the fullness of God? That sounds, to me, as if it is something which is impossible for mortal men — and it is, apart from the power of the Spirit of God at work!

This being in the same context, even the same sentence, as verse 16, it makes sense that being “filled to the fullness of God” is to be grown up and filled with all the things which God desires of us. To be full in our inner man with all the virtue and character that God expects and calls us to have.

Eph. 4.13 describes being unified in faith and knowledge of Christ as attaining “to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” Some translation will say something like “the stature measured by Christ.” The message is the same: We are meant to grow up and strive to attain to the standards set by Christ Jesus. Here at the end of Chapter 3, I believe this is what Paul means by the “fullness of God” — attaining that to which He has called us.

Above and Beyond

We’ve all heard the phrase, someone going “above and beyond.” Often times, parents even will teach their children to strive for this level of dedication to something.

Well, at the end of our passage, Paul reminds us that God is able to go “above and beyond” any and everything which we could ask, or even think of asking!

It is a very high thing to ask to understand all the fullness of the love of Christ! It is a very high thing that we strive for in desiring to meet Christ’s expectations. Thankfully, it is not by our power alone that we do this! It is “through the power at work within us,” the Spirit of God as mentioned in verse 16. Through Him, and through His power and ability, we are able heighten/deepen/broaden our understanding of Christ’s love. And in so doing we also will become more firmly grounded and rooted!

Conclusion

This is another prayer from Paul which we would do well to imitate! We should pray as well that God would strengthen us in such a way, bolstering us to Christ in truly understanding His great love for us.

This love should effect the way that we live our lives, and the way we approach every situation.

So this week, let’s ask ourselves how deeply do we really get it? How firmly rooted are we really? What sort of things might be able to uproot us?

And let us pray that God would grant us this strength in our inner man, to know Christ’s love and rooted and grounded in it that we may be filled with the fullness of God!