Renewed Strength
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Sunday I talked about the idea of not giving up and used that beautiful passage from Isaiah 40:28-31.
I love that last verse,
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
So how does one renew their strength? We can get insight from:
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Where does our strength come from according to Ephesians 3:16? It comes out of His glorious riches. Think about God’s glorious riches. Do you think that God has a huge stockpile of riches He shares with His people?
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
God’s riches are according to His glory.
God’s riches are unlimited because He is unlimited. The riches are because of His very nature. So when Paul writes that our strength comes out of the glorious riches, he means that God’s overflowing love, mercy and kindness gives us that strength and it can be renewed over and over.
The idea of strength here means to be strong or capable. A person can be strong in love, strong in knowledge, or strong in some other quality. You could say the concept here is that out of the glorious riches of God, we can be capable and strong enough to do what He has called us to do.
The strength also provides us power through His Holy Spirit. The word for power here is DYNAMIS. Guess what word we get from DYNAMIS? Dynamite. Dynamic. By definition, dynamis is that state which is not yet fully realized. It is a state of potential.
Out of the glorious riches of God we get strengthened with power from the Holy Spirit. So the power of the Holy Spirit is that state which is yet to be fully realized. In other words, the power from the Holy Spirit takes us to a whole new dimension. The power of the Holy Spirit in our inner being is preparing us so that Christ can dwell in our hearts. By the way, where the Holy Spirit is, Christ is also!
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
John Calvin said of Christ dwelling in one’s heart, “It is not enough that He be on the tongue, or flit through the brain; the heart is His proper seat.”
The Scripture here says that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith. How do we allow Christ to dwell in our hearts through faith?
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
Martin’s Song.
We come to faith in Christ by opening the door of our hearts and allowing Him to come in, take up residence within us and fully dwell there. Paul goes on to say that this heart dwelling faith is rooted and established in love. This means it is grounded, has its foundations on, and is firmly fixed in love. It is interesting that the first fruit of the Spirit is flowing from Christ and the very foundation of everything else.
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
So out of the glorious riches of God, we get strength that is powered by His Holy Spirit so that Christ can fully dwell in our inner being. Because He is rooted and established in love, we will have power, but this power is a different power than mentioned earlier. This power is from the word exischuo, which means to be eminently able and to have full strength. It leads up to the forthcoming phrase of being able to grasp. However, let’s stick around a bit and talk about this phrase, “together with all the saints.” You know, you and I can certainly know the love of Jesus and never be associated with another believer. However, if that is the case, we will only have our limited experience and our own limited knowledge. If we are with other believers, “together with all the saints.” our experience is greatly multiplied. When we come alongside of others who spur us (Hebrews 10:24) and encourage us (1 Thessalonians 5:11), we will become more capable of grasping this next concept: how wide, how long, how high, and how deep that the love of Christ is and how it is available to us.
Author and theologian C. L. Mitton wrote, “Broad enough to encompass all mankind, long enough to last for eternity, deep enough to reach the most degraded sinner and high enough to exalt him to Heaven.”
Paul continues this passage saying that this love surpasses knowledge. 1 Corinthians 8:1 says that “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”
In the final part of prayer, Paul prays “that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Wow what a blessing.
From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.