To Know the Love of Christ

To Know the Love of Christ

Ephesians 3:14-19

In his book entitled A Call to Spiritual Reformation, eminent NT scholar D.A. Carson stated,

What is both surprising and depressing is the sheer prayerlessness that characterizes so much of the Western church. It is surprising, because it is out of step with the Bible that portrays what Christian living should be; it is depressing, because it frequently coexists with abounding Christian activity that somehow seems hollow, frivolous, and superficial. Scarcely less disturbing is the enthusiastic praying in some circles that overflows with emotional release but is utterly uncontrolled by any thoughtful reflection on the prayers of Scripture.

The words of Dr. Carson could not be more on target. Sadly, I must admit that my own life too often reflects this sorry state of affairs. If we were honest, would we not have to admit that a survey of the life of our own congregation would reveal a lack of prayer? To take this one step further, let us ask ourselves if the prayers we do pray have a truly biblical focus.

I hope to challenge myself and you today to be biblically saturated and motivated people of prayer. As we look at one of the masterful prayers of the Apostle Paul, we will find a solid example of God-honoring and Christ-centered praying.

Don’t Overlook the Obvious

Let’s begin by getting a firm grasp of the obvious. This is a prayer. Someone is saying, “OK genius, how long did it take you to figure that out?” Granted. This is obvious. But it is important. Here is the point. Prayer is absolutely essential because the things desired in this prayer are things only God can do. They are issues of spiritual transformation which can only be accomplished by divinely supernatural resources. We need to pray because there are spiritual things we absolutely need that only God can accomplish. Paul is not asking the Ephesians to do something. He is asking God to do something in them (v. 16, “grant”). To fail to pray is to opt for a spiritually stunted life.

Now with this in mind, let’s look more closely at the specifics of this wonderful prayer.

I. Pray from a posture of humility and dependence (v. 14-15).

            A. Bowing the knees – humility.

                        1. Bowing down as before a dignitary or king.

                        2. Demonstrates a right assessment of self and God.

            B. Before the Father from whom every family in heaven

                 and on earth derives its name – dependence.

                        1. This phrase does not mean that God is the spiritual

                             Father of all beings.

                        2. Rather it refers to the Father as the Creator of all

                            beings. All life in the universe is contingent upon

                            the Father. He alone is the only Independent source

                            of all life. He created it and it exists by His will.

                        3. Therefore, we are dependent upon Him.

APP: True prayer is an acknowledgment that you don’t have all the power and all the answers. It is an admission that you are inadequate and unable to accomplish what needs to be done. At the same time, it is a wonderful testimony to the unlimited power and resources of God. True prayer reveals what you believe about yourself and what you believe about God. You are insufficient. God is all-sufficient.

TS – The apostolic example in our text reminds us to begin prayer from a posture of humility and dependence. Secondly…

II. Pray toward the purpose of spiritual maturity (vv. 16-19).

            A. The substance of this prayer is spiritual growth and

                 development.

                        1. Too many of our prayers are geared toward temporal

                             Things and too few toward eternal things.

                        2. This prayer is rich with petitions focused on the

                            Development of spiritual character and growth.

Just a word about the structure of the prayer. I believe we see two requests which lead to two results. Both requests are stated in two complementary ways. The results are then stated. Here is what it looks like.

Request One:

            a. That God would strengthen the inner man with power

                through the Holy Spirit.

            b. That Christ would dwell in your hearts by faith.

Result One:

            a. Being rooted and grounded in love.

Request Two:

            a. That you will comprehend with all the saints the height,

                depth, breadth, and length (of Christ’s love)

            b. That you will know the love of Christ which surpasses

                 knowledge.

Result Two:

            a. That you will be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now let’s consider these requests and results.

            B. Pray that God will strengthen you inwardly by the power of

                 the Spirit so Christ dwells in your heart by faith (vv. 16-17).

                        1. Note the important focus on the inward life. We need

                            the Spirit of God to give us strength in our inner man.

                                    a. The inner man is the soul, the spirit, the part

                                        of you that is immaterial.

                                    b. The outer man wastes away but the inner man

                                        may be renewed day by day (2 Cor. 4:16).

                                    c. It is by the presence of the Holy Spirit that the

                                        inward strengthening takes place.

                        2. This inward strengthening is further describes as

                            Christ dwelling in the heart by faith.

                                    a. We cannot separate the presence of Christ and

                                        the presence of the Spirit (see John 14:16-18).

                                    b. This spiritual strengthening is the same thing

                                        as Christ dwelling in your heart by faith.

                                                1) Dwelling is a word which refers to

                                                    Settling down in one’s home.

                                                2) It is true that Christ immediately lives

                                                    in every believer. Yet, there is a sense

                                                    in which our experience of His

                                                    presence may grow and grow.

                                                3) This takes place by faith. That is as

                                                     we continually trust Jesus.

Handley Moule describes this Greek term for dwelling like this, it is “a word made expressly to denote residence as against lodging, the abode of a master in his own home as against the turning aside for the night of a wayfarer who will be gone tomorrow” (Stott, Ephesians, p. 136).

ILL: Perhaps you have heard of Robert Mungers booklet, My Heart Christ’s Home? He describes Christ as going through all the rooms of your heart, removing debris and trash, rearranging things until it is a place where he comfortably dwells. This is the idea.

APP: Don’t you want Christ to settle into your heart and live there like it is His place? This is intimate relationship with Jesus. This is a life which is being continually conformed to His tastes.

This is a prayer which desires Jesus to get rid of everything in your heart which hinders true fellowship with Him. It is to invite Jesus to set out to the curb every corrupt habit, every rotten attitude, every trashy thought. It is to invite Jesus to continually disinfect your heart by His holy presence. It is to invite Jesus to rearrange the furniture of your priorities, desires, and affections so that He is pleased.

            3. The result of this process of spiritual strengthening is that we

                are rooted and grounded in love. The grammatical qualities

                of these words indicate something done to us in the past

                which has abiding results.

                        a. When Christ dwells in our hearts by faith we are

                            then rooted and grounded in love. One is botanical

                            and the other architectural.

                        b. These words have to do with stability. O Brien says,

                            “Love is the soil in which believers are rooted and

                              will grow and the foundation upon which they are

                              built.”

So, when we are strengthened inwardly by the Spirit and Christ dwells in our hearts by faith, we are rooted and grounded in love. Love is that which nourishes and stabilizes our lives through Christ’s presence.

C. Pray that you will know and comprehend the love of Christ which

     Surpasses knowledge (vv. 18-19).

            1. When rooted and grounded in love, we have a spiritual

                Environment conducive to grasping the dimensions of the

                Love of Christ.

                        a. It is described in its fullness by the four dimensions.

                            Breadth, length, height, depth are meant to indicate

                            the fullness and vastness of Christ’s love.

                        b. This grasping of Christ’s love is not done in isolation

                            from other believers. It is “with all the saints.” This

                            experience of grasping the vast love of Christ is for

                            the believers together.

                        c. This knowledge is divinely imparted. God must give

                            us the ability to grasp it.

            2. The reference point for the four dimensions is specifically

                Given in v. 19 – the love of Christ.

                        a. It is a love that surpasses knowledge. In other words,

                            it is infinite.

                        b. But it is a love that should be experienced. What is

                            requested here is not just intellectual ability to grasp

                            the concept of Christ’s love. It is also that these

                            believers would experience the love of Christ in their

                            lives. They need the power of God to help them have

                            a deeper appreciation for and experience of Christ’s

                            limitless love.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones comments, “We are no longer looking at the love of Christ externally with a sense of wonder and amazement; we are now experiencing it, being bathed in it, enveloped by it, being ravished by and filled with it.”

ILL: It is like the difference between knowing you are loved by someone and having that someone personally demonstrate or express their love. Many a grown child has said, “I know my Father loved me, but he never told me he loved me. He never hugged me.” This prayer is that God would give us the ability to experience not just a concept of Christ’s love but a personal, experiential sense of that love in our own lives.

                        3. This comprehension of Christ’s love results in our

                            being filled with all the fullness of God.

                                    a. This is another way of saying that when we

                                        truly experience and appreciate the love of X,

                                        we are moving toward full maturity as Xns.

                                    b. It is a similar expression to that in 4:13. It is

                                        becoming all that God intends for us to be in

                                        Christ. It is to become godly, mature, fully-

                                        Developed believers.

ILL: We see a similar correlation in human relationships. What happens to children who grow up in a home where there is no experience of love from their parents? They are spiritually, socially, and developmentally stunted. They struggle to become mature.

APP: In the same way, when we lack the direct, personal experience of Christ’s love, we struggle with becoming mature. We don’t know how to rightly love others because we have never appreciated the fullness of His love for us. We don’t know how to rightly love Christ because our comprehension and experience of His love is underdeveloped.

CONCLUSION:

Now, I want to come full circle to where we started and state the obvious again. This is a prayer. These blessings are not something we can climb up to by our best efforts. They are divinely imparted through the power of the Spirit of God. We must ask God to grant them to us. We must pray in humble dependence on God’s power and quiet confidence in His goodness.

I challenge you today to review your prayer life in light of a prayer like this one. How much time are you spending in praying for spiritual development and godliness in your life? This kind of praying will have a transforming effect on the way you look at life and priorities. What would happen if we were praying this way for each other? What would happen if all of us were spiritually strengthened, Christ was at home in our hearts, we were experiencing the vast dimensions of God’s love, and becoming more mature? Let’s pray to know the love of Christ.