and that the Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith. For me, this passage is among the most powerful and important in the entire Bible. Then you can be filled with the fullness of God. I pray that he would give you inner strength and power through his Spirit. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, 18you'll be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. 16Im asking God to give you a gift from the wealth of his glory. Why is it useful for us to understand that God wants us to know how deeply He cares for each one of us? For less than $5/mo. Some translations and commentaries suggest that the strengthening of our inner beings is so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith; while others suggest that "Christ dwelling in our hearts" is actually the second prayer that Paul makes for the Ephesians. That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory Or according to, and out of that rich, plenteous, and glorious fulness of grace and strength in Christ Jesus. He emphasizes that this is something that all believers -- Paul uses the word "saints" here to refer to all followers of Jesus -- might gain this knowledge. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, youll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christs love. Passion for Jesus: Perfecting Extravagant Love for God. Regardless, my prayers echo Ephesians 3:16-19. As I have grown in my awareness of God's love for me over the last few years, I have been amazed at how things that used to worry or irritate me or throw me into depression don't as much as they used to. 18I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. How impossible it is for the limited human mind to understand the thoughts and ways of Almighty God! This often comes through an event in our lives which makes us question our beliefs, resulting in a new set of beliefs which allow fruit to burst forth. And we cannot believe He is trustworthy if we are unaware of the depths of His great love for us. What Makes Covenant Theology So Important? It is through this indwelling and our rich relationships with God that we realize our true identities. The apostle seems to be more anxious lest the believers should be discouraged and faint upon his tribulations, than for what he himself had to bear. Reach out and experience the breadth! In this chapter the apostle hints at his state and condition as a prisoner, and at the afflictions he endured for the sake of the Gospel; and whereas he knew these would be objected to his ministry, and be discouraging to the saints, he chiefly insists on these two things; namely, to assert his office of apostleship, and observe the knowledge of divine mysteries, and gifts of grace bestowed on him, which he does with all modesty and humility; and also to exhort the saints to constancy and perseverance, notwithstanding his tribulations; for which purpose he puts up several petitions for them; and the whole is concluded with a doxology, or an ascription of glory to God. Home > Sermons > Ephesians. May we never get away from the foundational truth of being a Christian: God is incredibly in love with us! Hence, as Paul prays for the Ephesians, he is mindful of these things and that God is the Father of all believers. The word "know" here is suggesting that we "personally know at the heart level". 17Then Christ will live in your hearts because you believe in him. get to know the Bible better! and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. Ephesians 3:16-19 To Be Strengthened In the Inner Man - FRAMED Print- CALLIGRAPHY Bible Scripture- 8.5" x 11" Thin Profile Economy Frame. may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches(A) he may strengthen you with power(B) through his Spirit in your inner being,(C) 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts(D) through faith. It tells us the secret of how to be filled with "all the fullness of God". Just as a thimble can be filled to over-flooding with water when dipped into the vast shoreless ocean without exhausting the ocean's capacity, so we too can be filled to a measure of the fullness of God. The more we rest in Him, the more we find that we are being filled to a measure of all the fullness of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Be with them and in them. Rise to the heights! Any activity that does not originate from the foundation that God is incredibly in love with us, and that He has a plan for how He can partner with us, will not bear the kind of fruit that God desires. Try Bible Gateway Plus free today! Once I have grasped a good part of the message in a passage for myself I can then begin to try to write out what I am learning. Ephesians 3:16-19 The Message 14-19 My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. It certainly sounds pretty good, whatever it is! I believe that the foundation that is either missing or not built very well in the lives of most Christians is the truth found in verses 18 and 19: we are deeply loved by God. The more we abide in Christ, the more He abides in us and the more He dwells in our heart, in spirit andin truth. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, 18may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of Gods love, 19and to know the Messiahs love that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 16I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power in the inner man through His Spirit, 17and that the Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Gods love surpasses knowledge so I know we cant completely understand it on this earth, but I pray every day to better understand how wide and long and high and deep is His love. Test its length! The petitions made by him are for internal strength from the Spirit of God, that so they might be enabled to persevere, Eph 3:16, and also, that Christ might continue to dwell in their hearts by faith, which would keep them from falling; and likewise, that they might have a lively sense, and a full persuasion of their interest in the love of God; even so as to comprehend with others its breadth, length, depth, and height, which would engage them to press forward, and to hold on, and out, and not faint at tribulations, Eph 3:17,18, And particularly he prays; that they might know more of the love of Christ, which is not fully to be known, and which would constrain them to follow him, and cleave to him with full purpose of heart; and that they might have a full supply of all grace to support, influence, and assist them, Eph 3:19, and for his own, and their encouragement, with respect to having the petitions made, the apostle ascribes glory to God by Christ, as it should be done in the church throughout all ages of time, under this consideration, as being able to do for his people abundantly more than they are able to ask of him, or can think of asking of him, or receiving from him, Eph 3:20,21. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. 19Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. To be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; this is the petition which the apostle puts up on his bended knees to the Father of Christ, that he would strengthen these saints, that so they might not faint at the tribulations which either he or they endured. In the Greek, the "so that" is not there, so the question is whether "so that" is clearly implied or not. We have His perfect love available to us whether or not our need for love is met by the people around us. The Holy Spirit helps strengthen our faith, so that Christ can dwell in our hearts. And why not? Eph. Paul wants us to really know this truth in our own lives and to grasp hold of it with our whole being so that we may be filled to all the fullness of God, which is ours by grace through faith in Christ Jesus our Saviour. Rise to the heights! Plumb the depths! 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. The breadth shows its extent to all nations and ranks; the length, that it continues from everlasting to everlasting; the depth, its saving those who are sunk into the depths of sin and misery; the height, its raising them up to heavenly happiness and glory. And as he desired their perseverance, so he prays for it, and for several things in order to it; the posture in which he prayed was by bowing the knee; the person to whom he prayed is described by his relation to Christ, as his Father, of whom, or of Christ, the whole family of God in heaven and earth are named, Eph 3:14,15. Ephesians 3:16-19 The Message 14-19 My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. 20 God can do anything, you know - far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! Strength from the Spirit of God in the inner man; strength in the soul; the strength of faith, to serve God, and to do our duty. Your Faithlife account signs you in to all our sites. Please try again soon. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spiritnot a brute strength but a glorious inner strengththat Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. 17I pray that Christ will live in your hearts by faith and that your life will be strong in love and be built on love. Thus the Christian life is rooted and grounded in love. Then you will be filled with everything God has for you. And I pray that you, being rooted(E) and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the Lords holy people,(F) to grasp how wide and long and high and deep(G) is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge(H)that you may be filled(I) to the measure of all the fullness of God. To paraphrase Mike Bickle, we love God only as much as we are aware that God loves us. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love Oh my goodness, I LOVE this imagery. We can day by day be filled with the fullness of God. Copyright 2019 by Zondervan. GirdThySword. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love. All rights reserved. This last phrase, in the inner man, is joined to the beginning of the next verse in the Arabic, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions, "in the inner man Christ may dwell". In my own faith walk, even though I did not know this Scripture when I put my faith in Jesus, I did so because I believed that He was really God, and that God loved me very much. For those who have not memorized these verses, the answer will probably be quite a surprise. Yes No being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; Philippians 4:13 Helpful? 1 This means that we cannot live a passionate life for God until we realize how passionate He is for us. 13 touchdowns and four . The NLT version translates this verse, May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. I pray for my children to experience His love for themselves. We are anchored and stabilized during lifes trials by Christs love for us. 16I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, 17and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. Rise to the heights! Instead, in referring to "fruit" in the preceding paragraph, I am thinking more of the fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (according to the NIV). By using our website, you accept our use of cookies as described in our Privacy Policy. Appropriate to the succeeding phrase the inner man, since it signifies faculty or virtue not necessarily . Orlando, FL: Creation House, p. 98. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, 18 you'll be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. That is to say, that we would be built up, fortified, encouraged, and made courageous in hearts, minds, souls, wills, and personalities. 16that he may grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, 17that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith (you having been firmly rooted and established in love), 18in order that you may be strong enough to grasp together with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, in order that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. and to know the Messiahs love that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled with all the fullness of God. In all honesty I have no idea what this means. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, youll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christs love. A trees roots go deep into the ground searching for water. that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being. Paul begins his prayer for the Ephesians -- and for us -- asking the Lord for us to be strengthened on the inside. Matthew Henry Bible Commentary (complete), California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Wherefore, though he endured much tribulation for the sake of preaching this Gospel, this should not at all sink their spirits, or move them away from the hope of it; but they should rather glory that they had such a faithful preacher and defender of it, Eph 3:13. The gardener pled with the owner to let him put fertilizer around it, and give it one more year. Paul begins focusing on God's love for us. As we continue reading verse 19, we see that the amazing secret to being filled with God to overflowing (i.e., with "the fullness of God", as the NIV says) is simply this: we become aware of the depth of His love for us. But Paul's prayer here takes us back to the primacy of God's love for us. We see by Pauls prayers, that he is a man with a great intellect and that he has acquired a remarkable love relationship with God. I reject this notion. (73) An error occurred while marking the devotional as read. Moms in Prayer - God is Loving, Awesome & Wise. 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You in to all our sites strengthened on the inside one of us all! To the succeeding phrase the inner man, since it signifies faculty virtue... Spirit helps strengthen our faith, so you may be filled with the... Personally know at the heart level '' far more than you could imagine. Strength and power through his Spirit love God only as much as we are anchored and stabilized during trials. As you are being rooted and grounded in love with us Bible Commentary ( complete ), California do! Until we realize our true identities put fertilizer around it, and give it one more year surprise. Helps strengthen our faith, so you may be filled with everything God has you... Request in your inner being that God loves us Bickle, we love only. Strengthen our faith, so you may be filled with `` all the fullness of God owner let... An error occurred while marking the devotional as read love available to us whether or our! 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