Appreciation of the Mystery

Appreciation of the Mystery
Ephesians 3:14-21
14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height- 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
V. 14 “For this Reason”, Paul is referring back to the previous verse when he asks the Ephesians not to lose heart, and it for this reason that He bows before God, that he not lose heart. We have to recognize our ability to be sustained in the Christian walk is to rely not upon our own strength, but to call upon God’s strength. We bow before Him in honor, and submission to the God of the universe. We pray to Him for wisdom, strength, our needs, the needs of others, and to offer up praise. We bow before Him and pray reestablishing the relationship with the Father, through the Son, that we may be included in the family of God.
V. 15 The word family has it’s roots in God. God is the Father of Jesus, and Jesus is the link to the Father. In John 14:8,9 Philip asks Jesus to show them the Father. Jesus’ response is; “He who has seen Me has seen the Father”. The Father is reflected in the Son, and the Son is the reflection of the Father. We are joined to the family of God by faith in the Son. Therefore when people look at the family of God they are to see the Son. What are we as the family of God showing the world? Are we presenting a family that others want to join? I remember growing up that there were always one or two fathers that kids would say, “I wish he was my dad”. They were the family that always seemed to have fun. The dad that was always playing in the yard with the kids, he was the cool dad. Are we representing God in a way that others want to be around Him as well? That they think He is the cool dad, because to me He is that and so much more. It is a joy to be a member of the family of God, and we need to be with a group of believers that share in that joy.
v.16 “That He would grant you” As I watched my children and the children of others, ask for something from their parents, there is a sense of expectation in their request. This expectation borders on the thought that we, as parents, owe them, so much so that their requests become demands. I know that God owes me nothing and I am deserving of nothing. In fact if I were to get what I deserved I would have been long ago pushing up daisies. What I have received from God, is from His grace as He saw fit to give me. God did not owe me salvation, but out of His mercies I have received.
“according to the riches of His glory,” When I realize I serve a God who gives out of the fullness of His infinite mercy and grace, I know that I serve a God who is more than able to meet my needs. In giving one should act according to his ability that God has given to him. For if God has given out of His ability, than how can we deny others the same treatment?
“to be strengthened with might” Our troubles and temptation are great indeed, but we are strengthened by God to be able to withstand them. If we were to rely upon ourselves to keep us from trouble and temptation we would fail. We need the might of God, to walk in the ways of God.
“through His Spirit” The sovereign energy of the Holy Ghost, given to us by God’s infinite richness, is more than enough to give us the spiritual strength to face conflict and do the work of the Lord.
“in the inner man.” We are all compound beings having both an inner and outer man. It is the outer man that the world sees, and is fed by earthly foods. It is the inner man that last forever and is not visible to all. The inner man is not fed by earthly food, but by the Spirit of God. Wisdom, peace, love and holiness, are the food of the inner man. This is bread of life that Jesus came to give, that whoever eats of this bread shall live and be strengthened by it. By supplying manna in the wilderness, each day anew, for the Israelites, God was pointing to Christ and that He was the true bread of Heaven. That God’s mercies were renewed each day through Christ.
VS. 17,18 “ that Christ may dwell” Paul compares the human body to the temple of God in Jerusalem, that just as God’s Spirit came to dwell in the temple, so it does in the body of the believer through Christ Jesus. God from the beginning formed man as His temple, that He may dwell with man. After the body was defiled, God could no longer dwell with man. Purity was the key for God’s dwelling in the temple of Jerusalem, and purity is the key to God’s dwelling in us. Jesus was the incorruptible one, who now by faith, dwells in us allowing God to once again dwell in the temple which is the body of not only man, but the church.
“being rooted and grounded in love.” This is a double metaphor; one that is taken from agriculture, the other from architecture. Plants are to be rooted in the soil, which gives the plant all the nourishment it needs to grow into a healthy producing plant. We are to find our nourishment in the love of Christ as He dwells in us and His love nourishes us that we may bear fruit for the Kingdom. A building is only as stable as its foundation. If the building is grounded by a firm foundation, it will last through the storms. So is it with us. If we stay rooted in the love of Christ, and build not only our ministries, but our lives upon the rock of Jesus Christ, than it will withstand the storms of life.
In verse 18 again Paul uses the metaphor of a building, if we are in Christ and are nourished by the Spirit of God, than we are able to understand the plans of God concerning His church and His will for our lives. No builder begins a building without first looking at the plans, so are we to do as the church. We are to search scriptures and study the blueprint for the church from the beginning to see what God intended for the church to be when He called Abraham out of Ur. Faith is the foundation of the church, faith in God, that He will reconcile man to Himself, and Faith in Christ, that He is that instrument in which reconciliation is brought. In Matthew 16: 16 and 17 we read the statement upon which the church is built. “You are the Christ the Son of God” not any man shall the church be built upon, but by that statement alone. God spoke the worlds in existence, and this statement speaks the church in existence, glory be to God. We by faith become the body of Christ, and become the light and salt to a dark and unseasoned world. Oh how God wants to work through the body of Christ to bring salvation and it can begin with each and every member of that body by just reaching one, just one for Christ.
In verse 19 Paul says that by studying the blueprint of the church, we may know the love of Christ. By knowing the love of God through His Son, Jesus Christ, we are filled with the fullness of God. I was watching a commercial recently where people come out of Taco Bell and shout to the world, “I am full!” What is the fullness of God? To be filled with God is a great thing, but to be filled with the fullness of God is a greater thing. By the fullness of God we are to understand all the gifts and graces, which He has promised to man through Christ, that we are filled with meekness, gentleness, goodness, love, justice, holiness, mercy, and truth. If we are filled with these attributes of God, than how can sin have place in our lives? If we are filled to the overflowing with all that God has for us, than what room is there for sin. And when we do fall in sin, does not the soul revolt from the injection of what is now foreign to it. We are to shout to Satan that WE ARE FULL, we are so full of God and His love that there is no place for sin in our lives.
In the last two verses Paul gives glory to God, how can I add to that? To God be the glory forever and ever. Amen.