Ephesians: For His Glory (6)

Ephesians: For His Glory

Ephesians 3:14–21 ESV

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we 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.

Prayer is the tool that changes everything

Up until this point we have looked at Ephesians and have seen that when we were dead in our sins Christ came and sacrificed so that we could have life.

We have seen that because of the blood of Christ, we who were far off have now been brought into the Family of God which is the Church.

We have seen that through us (The Church) God is making known His plan of Salvation- we are Stewards of the Grace we have recieved- We have a Job!

The Chruch has the Ministry of Reconciliation

Now Paul turns and speaks of Prayer

What is Prayer?

“The primary purpose of prayer is to bring us into such a life of communion with the Father that, by the power of the Spirit, we are increasingly conformed to the image of the Son.”- Richard Foster

Paul says, “For this reason I bow”

The ESV Study Bible Chapter 3

When Paul considers the majesty of God’s worldwide work of redemption in Christ, he responds in the only appropriate way: humble adoration of God the Father

Paul I identifies God here as Father

Prayer begins with our relationship with God

Once we were Far off but know we have been Adopted in

Ephesians 1:5 ESV

he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

This is because of the Work Christ did on the Cross

It change our status with God and now we are no longer Enemies far off from God, But we are sons and Daughters

Romans 5:8–10 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

This is because the work of the Cross

Now we come To God as our Father

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 1634 Son Gets an Hour a Day

A young successful attorney said:

“The greatest gift I ever received was a gift I got one Christmas when my dad gave me a small box. Inside was a note saying, “Son, this year I will give you 365 hours, an hour every day after dinner. It’s yours. We’ll talk about what you want to talk about, we’ll go where you want to go, play what you want to play. It will be your hour!”

“My dad not only kept his promise,” he said, “but every year he renewed it—and it’s the greatest gift I ever had in my life. I am the result of his time.”

We come to God as a child comes to there Father:

My Children never need to make an appointment to come to me

My Children never have to wait in a line in, because my time is full and buisy

They don’t have to schedule a week in advance time to talk to daddy

Often times if I want personal space they just barge in away-

This is the relationship we have with God

We come as His Children and He is a loving father

This is prayer

“Simple Prayer involves ordinary people bringing ordinary concerns to a loving and compassionate Father. There is no pretense in Simple Prayer. We do not pretend to be more holy, more pure, or more saintly than we actually are. We do not try to conceal our conflicting and contradictory motives from God—or ourselves. And in this posture we pour out our heart to the God who is greater than our heart and who knows all things”- Richard Foster

WE are The Family of God- Sons and Daughter who can come to our heavenly Father who loves us, and is a good Father-

As the Church we Pray for each other

Often Times we pray for things in our own lives that comes up; Hardships, pains, injuries, People, Cats, Chickens

Sometimes we prayer for those whom we love to come to Salvation, to find grace, and overcome whatever it is in their lives that they are struggling with

Here Paul is praying, “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.”

“Prayer to be Strengthen with Power by His Spirit”

Strengthened- “To be Strong to overcome resistance”

We have God’s Spirit dwelling in our hearts

We have the promise of His Spirit

Ephesians 1:13–14 ESV

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

This is another work of the Cross of Jesus Christ

God took away the separations and now dwells within us

We don’t walk alone

We have the Spirit of God Strengthening us, Guiding us, Producing Fruit within us

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

“Being rooted and grounded in love.”

Love is the natural and necessary outcome of a living faith and it is the fruit of Christ’s work in our lives

Paul’s Prayer is a request that Christ would be the center of their lives

When Christ is the center your whole life reflects it

it is seen in the way you live, your friendships, your relationships, the way you are at school, the way your treat others, even the music you listen to

As we live with Christ at the center we walk in Godliness which leads to greater understanding of God and His works

Ephesians 3:18–19 ESV

may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Paul gives four measurements here; Breadth … length … height … depth expresses the immeasurable dimensions of God’s riches in Christ

“The love of Christ which Surpasses knowledge”;

The content of this comprehension is to know experientially the love of Christ that supersedes all knowledge (cf. Phil. 4:7). The more a Christian knows about Christ, the more amazed he is at Christ’s love for him.

Ephesians 3:20–21 ESV

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we 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.

This is who we come to in Prayer

It is God our Father, who is able to do more than we could ask or even think of.

The church is a testament of this: No human or angel (cf. 3:10) would ever think that Jews and Gentiles could function together in one body. But with God’s power of love in each believer’s life, Paul was confident that Jewish and Gentile believers can function and love one another. This is astounding and though it is not naturally possible, God is able to accomplish it.

Our Lives are testimonies of this too:

Once we were dead, stuck in sin, lost without hope.

Some depressed, hurting, broken, self-harming.

But God did more then we could ever ask and He took is from being dead, and made us alive

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 1944 This Is How God Loves

In St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, is a life-size, marble statue of Christ writhing in anguish on the cross. The statue is subscribed: “This is how God loved the world!”