I am Empowered

Introduction:

This morning we continue our series through Ephesians and so let’s meet together in . This passage is very unique as it serves as both a prayer and transition between the first half of the letter which deals with theology and the second half which deals with doxology. This prayer of Paul is a prayer of empowerment for believers and so this leads us to understand we as a believer in Christ we can say “I am Empowered”.

Ephesians 3:14–21 CSB

For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

When Anne Graham Lotz and her husband, Denny, attend football games at his alma mater, the University of North Carolina, thousands of people cram in the parking lots, and she can’t see where she’s going. However, her husband, a head taller at 6′7″, can look over the crowd, so he takes her hand and leads them to their seats.

“The way I get from the car to my seat is just by holding his hand and following him closely through the crowd,” Lotz says.

She follows the same procedure with the Lord. “I just try to faithfully follow the Lord step by step and day by day,” she says. “Ten years from now, I just want to look back and know that to the best of my ability I have been obedient to God’s call on my life.”

PreachingToday.com, Perfect Illustrations: For Every Topic and Occasion (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2002), 62.

Many of us can sympathize with her statement, but many of us try to be obedient to God by our own power. This is an issue because if we try to live this Christian life on our own power, we will fail miserably every minute of every day. Why is this? Because we weren’t meant to live out our salvation without the power God alone gives. However, when we neglect the power of God and focus on our own power we will not live a life of joy as Jesus tells us we will from , but will live in constant despair.

Believers are not meant to live in despair but are to live by the empowerment of God. So this morning I want us to look at this passage to clearly see what it means to be empowered so we can truly live as God desires his people to live.

The first truth from this passage shows us…

The Basis of Empowerment. (v.14-15)

Verse 14

Paul saying “For this reason...” continues his thought from verse 1 when he seemingly got side tracked, but now he is back on target. Paul begins his second intercessory prayer which is made richer by his explanation of the Gentiles inclusion into the people of God.

Paul states that “I kneel before the Father” and this may seem like no big deal to us, but this phrase is actually very abnormal. Why? Because typically Jews wouldn’t kneel when they pray. If we look to the wailing wall they are praying standing up as they would in ancient culture as well. For Paul to kneel in prayer signifies great reverence and submission, especially marking the humble approach of the worshipper who felt his need so keenly that he could not stand upright before God.

The latter signified great reverence and submission, especially marking the humble approach of the worshipper who felt his need so keenly that he could not stand upright before God

Who did Paul kneel before? The Father. The Holy God of scripture who is not only holy, but intimate with his people as he calls them his children and we call him Father. This is also seen in the next verse...

Peter Thomas O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1999), 255.

Verse 15

God is so intimate with his people that he has named them! He is our creator, but he is also our Father. We do not serve a distant deity but a loving and holy Father. The Lord himself tells us this in :

Exodus 34:6–7 CSB

The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed: The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.

Charles Simeon said, “With this sweet hope of ultimate acceptance with God, I have always enjoyed much cheerfulness before men; but I have at the same time laboured incessantly to cultivate the deepest humiliation before God.” On the basis of God’s intimacy with his people and his acceptance of them as verses 1-13 show, Paul confidently prays for the church at Ephesus.

What it means to be Empowered. (v.16-19)

This is the basis for empowerment, that we have confidence in our relationship with God. How can we possibly hope to be empowered by God if we do not either have a relationship with God or are not confident in our relationship with him? We should have confidence in our walk with the Lord because as states:

Hebrews 4:16 CSB

Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.

We are able to approach the throne of grace with boldness because the blood of Christ saves us from our sin and makes us righteous before him. So, let us draw near to God in confidence and be empowered by him alone. Now that we understand the basis of our empowerment we can see…

What it means to be Empowered. (v.16-19)

Now the Paul has established the basis for his prayer he can get into the meat of his prayer which is that the people of God would be empowered by him. There are three aspects to this empowerment and they are being strengthened, rooted, and filled.

Strengthened (v.16)

Unlike the prayer in 1:15-23 where Paul prayed that the church would be made aware of God’s strength, He actually prays that they would be strengthened by him. He prays that they are strengthened according to the riches of his glory. Why is this important to understand? Because the glory of God is a manifestation of who he is in his brilliance, majesty, holiness, and power. The idea here is that God in his glory is all powerful and he is willing and able to impart on his people.

The glory of God is a manifestation of who he is in his brilliance, majesty, holiness, and power

God is the source of the believer’s strength which is seen in :

Clinton E. Arnold, Ephesians, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 209.

Philippians 4:13 CSB

I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.

This is the work of the Spirit in the lives of believers and we see this where Paul says, “in your inner being through his Spirit.” This is the work of the Spirit in our lives because he alone is the one who works in us and through us which means he strengthens us. However, we are not only strengthened by the Spirit, but also we are…

Rooted (v.17-18)

While we saw that us being empowered with strength is a work of the Spirit, us being rooted in love is the work of the Son. Every believer at the moment of salvation is indwelt by Christ. Because of this, Paul prays that his readers would be firmly rooted and firmly established in love. Paul has explained that there are no longer two groups of people in Christ, but one called the church. We are one family and as a family we love our Father and we love each other. This leads to a fulfillment of :

Mark 12:30–31 CSB

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.”

To be rooted in this love means we understand the four dimensions of it, its length, width, height, and depth. The Love of God is everlasting and we know this because his love was put on full display on the cross of Christ! Where the son of God bore our sin, became our sin, and paid for our sin perfectly! He rose again three days later to bring those who are forgiven to life in Christ. This is seen in :

Romans 8:37–39 CSB

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is the love we are rooted in and we can never be separated from this love because it is everlasting!

A.W. Tozer said, “…because God is self-existent, His love had no beginning, because he is eternal, his love can have no end, because he is infinite it has no limit, because he is holy it is the quintessence of all spotless purity, because he is immense, his love is an incomprehensibly vast, bottomless, shoreless sea...”

We are to be rooted in this love because we are rooted in Christ. To be empowered by God means that we are rooted in Love. So, we are strengthened by the Spirit, rooted in the Son, and also we are...

Filled (v.19)

This last aspect of empowerment comes from the Father. How do we know this? Because we are filled with his fullness. This means that we are so strong spiritually, so compelled by divine love, that one is totally dominated by the Lord with nothing left of self. This means that we are conformed more into the image of Christ and follow the command of :

1 Peter 1:16 CSB

for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.

As Christians we are not to find our strength from ourselves or the world, we are not to be rooted in the ways of the world, nor are we to be filled with the ideas of the wicked but are to be filled with the presence of God and molded more into his image! The Triune God of scripture empowers us to live out our salvation and we are to yield to him while seeking him! Why does God empower us though? We see next in this passage…

The Purpose of Empowerment. (v.20-21)

Verse 20

Paul begins to wrap up not only this section, but also the whole first half of Ephesians which focuses more on theology. After this the letter transitions into almost pure doxology or how to live the Christian life. Verse 20 begins with “Now to him who is able...” which leads to an understanding that when we are empowered as verses 16-19 detail, God’s power working in and through believers is unlimited and far beyond any comprehension.

The purpose of all of this is seen in verse 21, we are empowered for the purpose of glorifying God. Everything we do as Believers is to bring glory to God. This is the reason we were created! This is the purpose we have in life and every spiritual gift God has given us (1:3) is for the purpose of bringing glory to his name.

What we must also understand is that the Church, his bride, is to be the people who bring him glory. This isn’t a far concept because the lost don’t glorify God, but his people do and so the church is known for how they glorify God. We are to be a living sacrifice to God as tells us:

Romans 12:1–2 CSB

Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

This is our worship to God that brings him glory! In fact this is the reason we are to be on mission. John Piper states, “Missions exist because worship doesn’t!” We are to be on mission so that those created in God’s image will be saved and worship him as they were created and empowered to do.

Conclusion:

Dear Believer, this is why you were given every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (1:3-15), this is why you were enlightened to the truths of the gospel (1:16-23), this is why you were saved by the grace of God (2:1-10), and this is why we are reconciled with our brothers and sister (2:11-22). The end result of this is not so we can boast in ourselves, but so we will glorify God who is able to do greater than anything we can ask or think.

If you are not focused on glorifying God in your lives nor are you seeking to be empowered by God to glorify him then that means you have sin in your life that you are not repenting of. I would beg you to evaluate your heart and life and let the Spirit lead you to repentance.

If you are not a believer and you feel the Spirit leading you, then you can come repent of your sin and believe in the finished work of Christ which will save you. Do not neglect the drawing of the Spirit and be transformed so that you will bring glory to the one who is worthy.

Let’s Pray.