For that reason I bow my knees earlier than the Father, from whom each household in heaven and on earth is called, that in response to the riches of his glory he could grant you to be strengthened with energy by his Spirit in your inside being, in order that Christ could dwell in your hearts by religion—that you simply, being rooted and grounded in love, could have power to grasp with all of the saints what’s the breadth and size and peak and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses data, that you could be be full of all of the fullness of God. Now to him who is ready to do way more abundantly than all that we ask or assume, in response to the facility at work inside us, to him be glory within the church and in Christ Jesus all through all generations, ceaselessly and ever. Amen. —Ephesians 3:14–21
The Posture of Prayer
Kneeling exhibits that we’re coming to a sovereign whom we rely on. It’s also usually related to excessive ardour and neediness. It displays our desperation.
Additional, on this passage, the “household” in each “heaven and on earth” (Eph. 3:15) might be a reference not solely to angels but in addition Christians in heaven who’re organized for worship like earthly households. That our “Father” is the one who “named” them is Paul’s method of declaring that he not solely created them but in addition workout routines final and absolute authority over them.
On this prayer, Paul is asking God to provide his readers power. That’s clear sufficient. However power for what? In what method are we weak and in want of the form of power that solely God may give? Within the subsequent verses it turns into instantly clear that our weak spot is in our failure and incapacity to wholeheartedly imagine in, really feel, and rejoice within the love that God has for us in Jesus.
The Steadfast Love of the Lord explores Scripture to discover a clear image of what God’s steadfast, unfailing love seems like and the way, by the ministry of the Holy Spirit, believers expertise his affection.
Strengthened by the Spirit to Imagine
Total, Paul’s prayer for us to be “strengthened” is certified in 4 methods.
First, it’s “in response to the riches of his glory.” Generally glory is God’s brightness, greatness, or renown, nevertheless it additionally connotes energy (Col. 1:11; Rom. 6:4). Thus Paul right here prays that God would give his individuals fortitude or power and do that out of the infinite treasures of his majestic would possibly. That’s vital to recollect as a result of at numerous factors alongside the best way you would possibly end up battling doubt as as to whether God can pull it off. Can he genuinely allow me to really feel and luxuriate in his love? Does he have adequate assets to beat and subdue my fearful, anxious coronary heart? Sure!
The phrase translated “in response to” (Eph. 3:16) factors past the concept of supply or origin to that of proportion—Paul asks for energy not merely “out of” God’s riches however “in response to” (or in proportion to) them. He asks for energy on a scale commensurate with God’s riches.
Second, this energy is given “by his Spirit.” The Spirit is at all times the one who does issues for us on the within, producing qualities and traits that we are able to’t produce on our personal (see Rom. 15:13; 2 Tim. 1:7). With out the ever-present, effectual energy of the Holy Spirit none of this might ever occur. He’s the one who strengthens us. This, then, is the primary reply to the issue I posed at first of this chapter: if the Holy Spirit doesn’t function in and on our hearts to supply us with the power to beat all our objections, fears, and hesitations about whether or not God actually loves us, we are going to by no means stroll within the freedom and peace that such love is designed to empower.
Third, this strengthening happens in “in your inside being” (Eph. 3:16). This lets us know that the form of power we want can by no means be gained by lifting weights, faithfully going to CrossFit, or doing push-ups (see 2 Cor. 4:16). The inside being is the inside life, the core of our character, and the middle of our id. It’s the particular person we’re on the within. Coronary heart, thoughts, will, spirit, soul, and affections are all encompassed by this phrase. That’s the place the battle rages. That’s the place the enemy needs to persuade us that God is mendacity to us about his love. That’s why we’re “weak” within the inside being and should be made sturdy.
Does he have adequate assets to beat and subdue my fearful, anxious coronary heart? Sure!
Fourth, the aim or aim of this inside religious strengthening is that “Christ could dwell in your hearts by religion” (Eph. 3:17). The Christians in first-century Ephesus, similar to you and me, had been already sealed by the Spirit (Eph. 1:13), united with Christ in his resurrection and exaltation (Eph. 2:5–6), and integrated into one physique the place the Spirit dwells (Eph. 2:22). Paul will even say in Colossians 1:27 that “the hope of glory” is “Christ in you.” So it might probably’t be that Christ didn’t already dwell in them or doesn’t now dwell in us. What we lack is the encouragement and incentive to attract on this fact—the flexibility or capability to expertise it in life-changing methods.
Paul is clearly praying to God for our felt expertise of the particular person of Christ. He prays that we is likely to be internally strengthened by the Spirit in order that Christ would possibly dwell in our hearts. However how can that be if we had already obtained Christ into our hearts after we had been born once more?
The one viable clarification is that Paul is referring to an experiential enlargement of what’s already theologically true. He needs us to be strengthened by the Spirit in order that Jesus would possibly exert a progressively higher and extra intense private affect in our souls. The results of this enlargement of the divine energy and presence in our hearts is the flexibility to “comprehend” or grasp “what’s the breadth and size and peak and depth” (Eph. 3:18) of Christ’s love for us. Paul clearly needs his readers, and that features all of us, to grasp Christ’s love. However how is that this attainable if this love “surpasses data” (Eph. 3:18)? How will you know what can’t be identified? Clearly, this isn’t simply an mental train. That is Paul’s method of claiming that God intends for us to really feel and expertise and be emotionally moved by the passionate affection he has for us, his kids.
When Paul says that we want power to expertise the indwelling presence and energy of Christ, he says this comes by “religion” (Eph. 3:17). I believe his level is that our weak spot is within the space of religion: we merely don’t imagine what we learn in Zephaniah 3 or John 3:16 or any of these unbelievable descriptions within the Psalms of God’s steadfast love. We waver in our confidence. We fear that it’d all grow to be solely a dream, maybe a nightmare. Our religion should be strengthened and intensified. And solely the Holy Spirit could make that occur!
This text is tailored from The Steadfast Love of the Lord: Experiencing the Life-Changing Power of God’s Unchanging Affection by Sam Storms.
