The Ability to Understand

Do you ever feel like something’s missing?

Do you feel like you have some piece that doesn’t fit in your understanding of God, or somehow you have missed some key ingredient to what it means to follow Jesus?

For some, that leads them to study hard and try to solve every difficult passage of Scripture. That can be helpful, but there are things you and I will never fully understand.

Others think they are missing some kind of experience, like a revival meeting or some extra filling they have never experienced.

What if I told you this morning that you have everything you need?

The church at Ephesus was in that same place, and as we will see this morning, Paul prayed for God to solve that issue.

My prayer for us is that we too will see God answer this prayer so we

My prayer for you is that God will answer this prayer in your heart so you can be filled up with all the fulness of God you can handle.

This study of Ephesians has been rich so far, hasn’t it?

I have heard a few stories of how God is using it different lives, and that is incredible to hear.

We have been seeing through the past several weeks that the overall theme of this book is that God is bringing everything together through Christ.

When sin entered the world and we chose to do what we wanted instead of what God told us to do, all of creation got thrown out of whack.

In Christ, God is bringing all that back together.

We have seen that he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing through Christ. As we said, these blessings are just as real as material blessings, even though we don’t see them that way at times.

In fact, as Paul prayed in chapter 1, we need God’s help to understand these blessings, which is a theme he will return to in his prayer we look at today.

We saw that in Christ, God took us from being dead in our sins to being alive in Christ, and it has nothing to do with us! Salvation was totally a gift of God’s grace that we couldn’t earn or deserve, and it is so we will bring him glory.

Last week, we saw the truth that revolutionized the church in Ephesus and all the believers in that day: that God didn’t just intend to save the Jews like that, but that the Gentiles were a full part of that salvation too!

You and I have this incredible privilege of being citizens in God’s kingdom, a part of his family, with full access to the throne room of God at any point.

Again, none of this is because of us being good or special or anything; it is simply because God is a gracious, loving, incredible God and he has drawn us to himself through Christ’s death and resurrection.

It’s that access that is the basis for the passage we look at this morning.

Go ahead and open up to this morning.

These passages are familiar to many of us, but in case this is new to you, this is the second time Paul has written out a prayer for the church in this one letter.

As we read it, I want you to take note of the size of Paul’s language here. He doesn’t pray small prayers about a stingy God. He prays big prayers for a rich, glorious, loving God.

This prayer is absolutely amazing, so let’s dive right in.

Start in verses 14-15 with me.

Look at how Paul came into God’s presence here.

I have always loved this passage, but it didn’t really hit me until after last Sunday just how amazing it is.

What was the last topic Paul covered? The fact that there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile now because Jesus has torn down that wall. Now, anyone who comes to Christ is a part of the family of God and can rightfully call God their father.

So, how does Paul begin his prayer? Bowing his knees before the one who is the Father from which every family derives its pattern.

That’s what verse 15 is all about. It isn’t referring to the universal brotherhood of mankind or anything like that.

He is reflecting back on the fact that every family structure that has a father at the top of it is patterned after the God who has revealed himself as the father of anyone who will come to him.

Every family, not just Abraham’s family, is patterned after the God who now allows us to come into his presence and ask him things.

By the way, dad, this should make you care about your job all the more! Although God does use feminine pictures like a hen gathering her chicks, he most often refers to himself as the Father.

If that’s the case, and you are a dad, then you are modeling for your kids who the Father is. Don’t check out and leave this up to Mom, the church, or anyone else.

I know there are moms out there who are having to model this for their kids because their dad isn’t doing it for whatever reason, and I am amazed by you.

However, if you are a dad and you are hearing me, you need to step up!

While we are on this topic, parents, we have a small group starting up this fall that is specifically geared to help you raise your kids in a God-honoring way. It’s called Art of Parenting, and we will have more details about it soon!

Back to the text, you see that Paul is utilizing the access he told us we have all the way back in 2:18.

God as our Father doesn’t eradicate his holiness or his majesty, though, which is why Paul let the outward posture of his body reflect the inward posture of his heart as he knelt.

Perhaps it was because he was asking a bold request, as we will see in a moment.

We can sum up that request with this statement: We need to pray for God to give us the ability to understand his love.

We are going to divide that request into three different parts this morning, and then we’ll make some comments at the end about his summary statement.

Read it with me (verses 16-19).

Let’s look at three different components of the request Paul made.

First, Paul prayed that we would...

1) Find Inner Strength.

If we are going to be filled with the fulness of God, we first need strength.

So, does that mean that everyone in here needs to go sign up for Crossfit or get a membership at Planet Fitness before it opens soon?

He isn’t asking God for physical strength that you find at the gym, although that can be a good thing.

As good as those things are to help you physically, that’s not what we are talking about:

For you and I to be filled with all the fulness of God, we need to be strengthened somewhere much more important: in the inner part of who we are.

1 Timothy 4:8 CSB

For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

For you and I to be filled with all the fulness of God, we need to be strengthened somewhere much more important: in the inner man.

At first glance, this sounds like something that is in line with what our culture is buzzing about.

There is a lot of talk these days about avoiding digital distractions and fighting anxiety through mindfulness.

Quieting your mind through guided meditation is touted as the secret to success in every area of your life.

That sounds like strengthening the inner man, doesn’t it?

Maybe that’s too “out there” for you, though. You aren’t into that mindfulness nonsense.

Nope. For you, it comes down to one word: grit.

You follow guys like Jocko Willink, a Navy SEAL famous for saying, “Discipline equals freedom.”

You are stronger than all your emotions, you are stronger than the weak people around you, you are stronger than your circumstances, so you are going to bear down and overcome.

You may have lots of really good inspirational posters and pictures on your Facebook feed, but that’s not what Paul is praying for.

Although it is good to be alone with your thoughts, and you should be resilient and disciplined, those things will never fill you to the fulness of God.

We have talked about this power before. It is the power that raised Jesus from the d

Although it is good to be alone with your thoughts, and you should be resilient and disciplined, those things will never fill you to the fulness of God.

You need strength that only comes from one place. Where is Paul praying for you to draw your strength from?

His Spirit.

Now, some of you may be coming from a different theological background that taught that the Holy Spirit is something you received in some kind of separate encounter after you were saved.

You have always wonder if you ever really “got the Spirit” because your life doesn’t always line up with what someone said it should.

Think back to - You got all of the Holy Spirit the very moment you were saved! He sealed you and he lives inside you, so he is already there, ready to give you the strength you need!

You don’t need more of him, you need to let him have more of you!

You need to stop trying to be strong on your own and let him be strong in you!

That’s the true inner strength you need today: letting go and allowing him to be strong in you!

If you have been with us in this study, this should start ringing some bells, shouldn’t it?

We have already talked about this power a few times in Ephesians, haven’t we? That’s the power that raised Jesus from the dead and made you spiritually alive!

That same power is available to you, to strengthen you to become and do all that God calls you to do, giving him glory all the way through!

What is that going to look like?

That flows into the second component of Paul’s prayer for us...

2) Live with Jesus.

Hear me out on this one, because I think we can overcomplicate this.

Look at verse 17a.

First, let’s clear this up: Paul isn’t talking about the indwelling of Jesus that is a part of salvation.

When you are saved, as we just said, God takes up residence in your heart, and that cannot change.

We know Paul isn’t praying about that because he is writing to Christians who already have that!

So, what is he asking?

He is praying for us to let Jesus live with us!

In a simple way, that’s the idea behind the words he uses here.

We could talk more theologically about this, but what would it look like if Jesus came and crashed on your couch for a while?

How would your priorities change if Jesus actually lived in your house? Would it change the way you behaved and talked and treated others?

What about your fears? You know how you are afraid that Jesus isn’t listening and doesn’t care? What if he was literally, physically sitting in your house right now? How would that change things?

Paul is praying that, through faith in him, you would order your life and live like Jesus lives with you!

You know why? Because he does!

You may not see him physically, but he is present with you all the time, so live in faith that these things are true!

Let that sink into your heart, the core of who you are.

Isn’t that what Jesus himself said we were supposed to do?

John 15:3–5 CSB

You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.

:-35

Do you want to live a life that is filled to the fulness of God?

Do you want to see him glorified by giving you the ability to overcome sin in your life and help others to do the same?

Then let Jesus live in your heart! Act like he is present, act like his Spirit is giving you strength, act like He is in control.

If you are still new to following Jesus, this may not make a ton of sense right now, but stick with us.

You may not know what would change if Jesus lived in your house because you don’t know Jesus very well.

The rest of our series through Ephesians is going to help with that, because from here on, Paul starts giving us practical advice about how we are supposed to live now that Jesus has drawn us back to himself.

All of that is g

With the Spirit strengthening you and you putting faith in Jesus to live with you, then He will start moving you forward into the third component of this prayer...

3) Understand his love.

Look at 17b-18...

Sometimes I worry that I am going to sound like a broken record, but once again, we come back to this theme.

Remember what we said about love back when we looked at 1 John?

1 John 4:10–11 CSB

Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another.

The foundation of our life with Christ is his love for us, so we are rooted and established in love.

It is the basis and the anchor behind our walk with him.

As God strengthens you in your inner being through his Spirit, and as you live with Christ as an active part of your daily life, you will begin to understand his love in ways you never thought possible.

Scholars have debated over exactly what Paul is referring to with these dimensions, but here’s what we can agree on: it has to do with the overwhelming scope of God’s love.

One way to think of it is to go back to 2:21 - Since God is building his temple, his dwelling place, out of every believer on earth, you can think about how big that temple would be!

One commentator put it this way:

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Chapter 3

The “breadth” implies Christ’s world-wide love, embracing all men: the “length,” its being extended through all ages (Eph 3:21); the “depth,” its profound wisdom which no creature can fathom (Ro 11:33); the “height,” its being beyond the reach of any foe to deprive us of (Eph 4:8)

Paul is praying for God to give you the ability to wrap your mind around the enormity of God’s love.

This love, as we talked about, transcends barriers of race or time. It is more immense than you and I could ever wrap our minds around, which is what he says in the very next verse!

Rad verse 19 again - he is praying impossible prayers! So you can know that which can’t be known!

You and I can never fully fathom the love of God, because it is a part of his infinite character and nature. He will always be bigger than we can understand.

Yet, Paul’s prayer is for you and I to know as much as our human minds can comprehend about this incredible love that God has for us.

That love was most clearly demonstrated through Christ on the cross.

As you and I grow in this, we are filled with as much of God as we can possibly handle.

o All the riches of His strength available to us

All the riches of His grace available to us (1:7, 2:7)

o All the riches of His mercy available to us

All the riches of His mercy available to us (2:4)

All the riches of His glory available to us

All the riches of His glory available to us (3:16)

What more could you possibly ask for?

When we allow him to fill us like that, with his Spirit as our strength, living with an awareness of Jesus at the core of who we are, and growing to understand his love in all it’s scope and size, then look at what happens.

Read verses 20-21 with me...

Haven’t we seen that God can do more than we could imagine? He has given us every spiritual blessing, he has made us alive, he has fully reconciled the Gentiles to himself, and he isn’t done yet!

Again, this is due to his power, not ours. That incredible power that raised Jesus from the dead!

What group of people is God using to bring him glory? The church—Not just the Jews, not just the Gentiles, but the church, the combined body of Christ, to which we will turn next week as we continue looking through Ephesians together.

Starting with chapter 4, we begin to see very practical, hands-on instruction on how we live in light of all the realities we have talked about so far.