Ephesians
3:14–21
Subject: Love for our
Church Family
Relevance: The Spirit makes continuous and genuine Christian expression possible by
enabling us for supernatural Christian living, loving, and laboring so that our
Father is glorified.
Theme: We
need the Holy Spirit’s supernatural strengthening for Christlike loving to the credit
of our Father. Beloved, this is a prayer for strength to love each other.
Introduction: Paul had been affirming the unity
of a local church made up of many differing individuals. Paul prayed that
the Ephesians would be strong inwardly through Christ's Spirit.
QUOTE: “This deeper experience will enable
them to "apprehend" (get hold of) God's great love, which will result
in their being "filled unto all the fullness of God." So, then, Paul
is praying for strength, depth, apprehension, and fullness.”— (The Bible
Exposition Commentary)
Message:
I.
The Particulars of Christ’s
Love (Eph. 3:17-19)
A. Dwelling (Eph. 3:17)
i. What are the hallmarks of our church when we each build our lives on
love, as Paul prayed? (Eph. 3:17)
ii. Deepening Fellowship with Christ, “Dwell.” The result of this strengthening is that this faith in Christ may dwell in believers’ hearts, our whole personalities. “Dwell” is not to the beginning of Christ’s indwelling
at the moment of conversion, but to Christ being at home in, the very center of
and deeply rooted in, our lives. We must let
Christ’s loving character become the dominating factor in our attitudes and
conduct.
iii. Quote: “this is a request that He might have full
access to every room and closet; that He might not be grieved by sinful words,
thoughts, motives, and deeds; that He might enjoy unbroken fellowship with the
believer. The Christian heart thus becomes the home of Christ, the place where
He loves to be—like the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus in Bethany. The
heart, of course, means the center of the spiritual life; it controls every
aspect of behavior. In effect, the apostle prays that the lordship of Christ might
extend to the books we read, the work we do, the food we eat, the money we
spend, the words we speak—in short, the minutest details of our lives.”[1]
iv. Paul is praying for a deeper experience between Christ and His people. He yearns for Christ to settle down and
feel at home in their hearts - not a surface relationship, but an ever-deepening fellowship.
B. Rooted (Eph. 3:17)
i. Nourished, Supported, and Stabilized by Christ’s love, “Rooted.” Now we move into the
plant world.
ii. The tree must get its roots deep into the soil if it is to have both
nourishment, support, and stability, and the Christian must have his spiritual
roots deep into the love of God.
iii. Ps 1:1-3, describes this reality,
and Jer. 17:5-8, further comments on it. So, "From what do I draw my nourishment and my
stability?" If there is to be power in the Christian
life, then there must be depth. The roots must go deeper and deeper into the
love of Christ.
C. Grounded (Eph. 3:17)
i. Built upon the best foundation (2Tim 2:19; Heb. 11:10; Rev. 21:19), “Grounded.” Grounded is an architectural term referring to the foundations on which we build.
ii. ILLUSTRATION: “In the first two
churches I pastored, we were privileged to construct new buildings, and in both
projects it seemed we would never get out of the ground. In my second building
program, we had to spend several thousand dollars taking soil tests because we
were building over an old lake bed. For weeks, the men were laying out and
pouring the footings. One day I complained to the architect, and he replied,
"Pastor, the most important part of this building is the foundation. If
you don't go deep, you can't go high." That sentence has been a sermon to
me ever since.” —W. W.
Wiersbe
iii. Quote: “To be rooted
and grounded in love is to be established in love as a way of life.
The life of love is a life of kindness, selflessness, brokenness, and
meekness. It is the life of Christ finding expression in the believer (see 1
Cor. 13:4–7).”[2]
iv. The trials of life test the depth of our experience. If two roommates
have a falling out, they may seek new roommates, for after all, living with a
roommate is a passing experience. But if a church member, who loves the
fellowship, has a disagreement, the trial could deepen their love as they seek
to resolve the problems. The storm that
blows reveals the strength of the roots. Jesus told the
story about the two builders, one of whom did not go deep enough for his
foundation (Matt 7:24-29). Paul prayed that the
believer might have a deeper experience with Christ because only a deep experience could sustain them during
the severe trials of life.
D. Experiential (Eph. 3:18-19)
i. In this manner, spiritual growth and transformation, we can “know” Christ’s love, even though we don’t fully understand it (Eph. 3:18-19)!
ii. The purpose is to have power (“have
inherent strength”), together “with” all the saints, to grasp
how wide and long and high and deep the love of
Christ is. These measurements most likely describe not
the thoroughness of comprehension but the
immensity of the thing to be comprehended.
iii. Comprehensively we are to “know” experientially the love of
Christ that supersedes all knowledge (see Phil. 4:7). The more a Christian
knows about Christ, the more amazed he is at Christ’s love for him.
iv. Paul prayed that it might be experientially
realized in each person (cf. Eph. 4:13).
Experiencing God’s moral excellence and perfection causes fellow believers to
love each other. Positionally, we are one in Christ; experientially we are to love each other as one in
Him.
v. But, what
about our differences? Professional differences? Social differences? Social
Media differences? Collegiate differences? Political differences? Team
differences? Ethnic differences? Occupational differences? We can dilute Christ
power in our experience if we elevate these things above loving each other with
Christlike love!
Conclusion:
All this is possible only because God is more than able to do
immeasurably more than all we could pray for or even imagine possible, because
it is according to His power that is at work within us as believers.
The Lord Jesus was a master at
communicating love and personal acceptance. He did so when He blessed and held
… little children. But another time His sensitivity to touch someone was even
more graphic. This was when Jesus met a grown man's need for meaningful touch,
a man who was barred by law from ever touching anyone again.…
To touch a leper was unthinkable.
Banishing lepers from society, people would not get within a stone's throw of
them. (In fact, they would throw stones at them if they did come close!) … With
their open sores and dirty bandages, lepers were the last persons anyone would
want to touch. Yet the first thing Christ did for this man was touch him.
Even before Jesus spoke to him,
He reached out His hand and touched him. Can you imagine what that scene must
have looked like? Think how this man must have longed for someone to touch him,
not throw stones at him to drive him away. Jesus could have healed him first
and then touched him. But recognizing his deepest need, Jesus stretched out His
hand even before He spoke words of physical and spiritual healing.
— (From The Gift of the Blessing
by Gary Smalley and John Trent)
Please keep uppermost in mind
that this concerns our perception of God’s love, not whether he loves us or
not. While the choices we make will affect that perception, there is nothing a
believer can do to remove themselves from it. Romans 8:35–39 reminds us that
nothing, absolutely nothing, in
heaven or on earth can separate us from the love of God.
How can we live our lives so that we are most likely to experience
the love of Christ?
Pray daily: We’re not perfect, Father, but we are yours…the throne of our heart
belongs to you. We acknowledge your salvation and your grace, and your great
love. We ask you to make us every day into the image of Jesus Christ…including
Christlike love. Manifest your love through us in the form of kindness, selflessness,
brokenness, and meekness. May the life of Christ find expression in us habitually.
Help us to live with our church in love every day as you do. We are
amazed at such love and mercy that forgive us time and time again. Help us to
live this way towards each other. Thank you.
