To Know the Love of Christ

Why Every Christian Should Pray Ephesians 3:14-21 (Part I)

A Glorious Prayer

The prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21 is one of my all-time favorites. I think it is because the requests that Paul make to God are too glorious to be fully expressed in human language or even fully comprehended by us. I doubt the inspired Paul himself understood all the implications of what he was asking. It is evidenced by Paul’s use of phrases that express grandeur, infinity, abundance and the supernatural power of God. He even says at the end of the prayer: ‘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’. There is so much glory engulfed in these words that I keep staring at them, years after years longing to go deeper into knowing the Love of Christ. This morning, I read it with a fresh understanding after carefully following the flow of the sentence and how each part builds on the other.

The Request: To Be Filled with All the Fullness of God

“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.” (Ephesians 3:14-19)

In short, Paul is praying for the Ephesians, along with all the saints, to be ‘filled with all the fullness of God’. As he prays, he explains how this filling would happen. You may be wondering: what does being ‘filled with all the fullness of God’ means? Well, as we explore the ‘how’, I believe the ‘what’ will become clearer.

- A Gift Request

One thing to notice about this prayer is that it is a request for God to give a generous gift, out of the abundance of his Glory (Ephesians 3:16). That sets the tone for how we understand not only the request but also its fulfillment. It is a gift from God and we cannot earn it. Another thing to notice is that the recipients of this gift are completely passive in this prayer. Paul is not praying that they would do something to make the filling happen. Paul is merely stating spiritual works accomplished by the Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), that build upon each other to fill the saints with all the fullness of God.

How Are We Filled with All the Fullness of God?

Let’s break the passage apart:

1. Father’s Gift ->The Holy Spirit‘s Strengthening with Power (verses 14-16a)

Paul first prays that the Father would grant that they are empowered by the Holy Spirit in their inner beings.

2. The Holy Spirit‘s Strengthening with Power -> Christ in Heart Through Faith (verses 16b-17a)

The Holy Spirit’s strengthening is what will enable them to receive Christ in their hearts through faith. Christ’s ruling or dwelling in one’s heart is a work of the Holy Spirit through faith. It happens at the new birth and continues to happen as we grow in sanctification.

3. Christ in Heart Through Faith -> Being Rooted and Grounded in Love (verse 17)

The consequence of Christ’s dwelling in one’s heart through faith is being rooted and grounded in the Love of God. This happens whether we understand it or not. Christians are continually in the Love of God. This love is secure and steadfast.

4. Rooted and Grounded in Love -> Supernatural Strength (verses 17b-18a)

Being firmly and unshakably planted in the love of God is the foundation for obtaining the supernatural strength necessary for the next step.

6. Supernatural Strength -> Knowing the Love of Christ (verses 18b-19a)

Did you notice how Paul describes the Love of Christ in verse 18? It is immeasurably abundant (breadth and length and height and depth) and incomprehensible (surpasses knowledge). Therefore, we need supernatural power from God himself to be able to grasp it. Knowing this love goes beyond intellectual assent. It is a spiritually discerned, believed, and experienced reality.

7. Knowing the Love of Christ -> Filled with all the fullness of God (verse 19)

This is where the prayer comes together. The result of knowing “the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge” is that we get filled with all the fullness of God.

Summary

One thing that I never noticed before is that the ‘love’ in verse 17 (rooted and grounded in love) and the ‘love‘ in verse 19 (the love of Christ) are the same. It is the Love of God. Paul is praying that they would understand a love that they already have. A short paraphrase of this prayer would sound like this: ‘Father, I pray that Christ would be enthroned in their hearts through faith by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that they may know in greater measures the immeasurable love of Christ in which you have rooted them and thus be filled with all the fullness of God.’

So, what does being ‘filled with all the fullness of God’ means? Why does Paul pray for it and why should we also? I will answer all these questions in Part II. Stay tuned!