Eph 3:20-21 | KingComments | STEP | . The word “may” indicates a desire, which is connected to what is previously said. Paul prayed in that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith. He also drew the atmosphere of this dwelling by pointing at being rooted and grounded in love. When faith and love work this way, then believers can “comprehend” and “know” the things that follow. This is an important principle for Bible study. Intelligence is not the main thing, but the fact that the Center of God’s counsels lives in our hearts. Bible study without having Christ as the Center, and without it being embedded with love, results in knowledge that makes a person puffed up with pride. That’s why this prayer is so important. Being ‘capable’ is not a question of intelligence, a certain rational capacity, but a spiritual capacity to comprehend the following things. These things have to do with all the counsels of God that especially have been brought forward in chapter 1. In this second prayer Paul connects those counsels in a very special way with Christ Who is the Center of them. If you want to understand this, you cannot act on your own. You will need “all the saints”. That is also logical. The manifoldness of all those counsels and the boundlessness of Christ’s love are only to be known by pondering over together and sharing these things with each other. In order to have a most complete picture of God’s counsels and of the love of Christ, each saint is necessary. How could you or I, limited creatures as we are, be able to understand such glory? The glory of God’s counsels and of Christ as the Center of it, have an incalculable outreach: 1. Try to think about the “breadth” of it. That includes all the saints from the day of Pentecost until the rapture of the church. 2. Then the “length” of it – that is from eternity to eternity. 3. Just look up, in the “height”. There you see Christ, above all principalities and powers, and His church united with Him. 4. Just look down, in the “depth”. In those depths you were lying, lost in your sins. But Christ went deeper, picked you up and placed you and me and all who belong to the church in the height, in the Father’s house, to the heart of the Father. . Christ did that all, driven by a perfect love for His Father, for the church and for each member of the church separately (cf. ). Above all, His love shines in His work on the cross. It is a profound desire of Paul that we learn to know this love better and better. At the same time he says that it is actually impossible to know that love. How could that eternal, Divine love be fully encompassed by the heart of a man? Is that discouraging? No, it is challenging! Who would not want to penetrate into a love that can never be fully fathomed? I will clarify this by the following and often used example. A child stands at the ocean with his small bucket. He scoops water in it and says: ‘Hey look, I have the ocean in my bucket.’ This will be the desire of every heart that knows Him, in Whom that perfect love of God has become visible, to be filled with that love completely. The result is that “you may be filled up to all the fullness of God”. As it is said, it is not possible for a creature to be filled with the whole fullness of God. If we, however, stretch ourselves to know the love of Christ more and more, we will grow more and more in that direction. Then we are back at the beginning. After all, it all began with all the fullness of God, right? Through Christ we have all received of that fullness, and grace upon grace ( ). In Christ that fullness appeared on earth: “For it was the [Father’s] good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him” ( ). To ‘be filled with all the fullness of God’ – that is the ultimate goal of Paul’s prayer – therefore means that we are fully focused on Christ, and that our hearts and lives are full of Him. You can sense that there is no lower goal. At the same time you might also sense how hard it is to realize that in the world we live. There are so many things around you that want your attention and of which you sometimes have to give attention to. . That’s why the content of this verse is such a great encouragement. In any case it is a wonderful verse. You can apply it to every practical situation, but the main purpose is that you understand the context in which this verse is used. Then you get the true meaning that is above the application to our daily needs. You will desire that the content of this prayer will become true in your life. It will be clear that it is all about that and not about something that only happens in heaven. There we don’t need prayers anymore. No, on earth this prayer is truly necessary. On earth you are aware of your shortcomings and you doubt sometimes if you will succeed. In this way your eyes are being focused on Him Who is able to realize it in your life. Then you will pray for that. Again you look up, to Him Who is capable of answering your prayer. Sometimes you don’t even pray and you only think how wonderful it would be if your life would be filled with Christ and His love. Then you look up again. Then you see Him, Who knows your thinking and Who is able to fulfill your desires. It is already amazing to look up to Him Who knows your praying and thinking and replies to it, but it goes much further. He “is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think”. Everything is exceedingly abundant and goes beyond whatever a man can pray or think. That suits completely to the way in which God is presented in this letter, namely as the Source of all blessing. God doesn’t give sparsely. When He gives of His fullness, there is no limit. In praying for and thinking about God’s counsels, you sink in it. When Paul arrives at this point, he no longer addresses the believers alone. He involves himself in it and says “we”. He also senses that he is dependent on “the power that works within us” for the realization of that. By that he points back to the beginning of his prayer, . The Spirit of the Father can work that the things you pray for and about which you think, can be fully effective in your life. . This glory of God has been fully unfolded by Paul. That glory has become visible in God’s counsel in respect to the church, while Christ is the Center of it. Overseeing all this, only one thing is left and that is to praise the Father of glory and say to Him that He is worthy to receive all glory. What is visible to only a few and is shown by just a few today will be seen through all eternity. All generations of all ages will worship and adore that glory in the church and in Christ Jesus. Paul closes this praise, this special prayer with a suitable “amen”. He confirms the content by that: so it is. Now read Ephesians 3:18-21 again. Reflection: Pray that you may learn to know the love of Christ as it is presented in this prayer.

‏ Ephesians 3:20-21

Second Prayer (II)

Eph 3:18. The word “may” indicates a desire, which is connected to what is previously said. Paul prayed in Eph 3:17 that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith. He also drew the atmosphere of this dwelling by pointing at being rooted and grounded in love. When faith and love work this way, then believers can “comprehend” and “know” the things that follow.

This is an important principle for Bible study. Intelligence is not the main thing, but the fact that the Center of God’s counsels lives in our hearts. Bible study without having Christ as the Center, and without it being embedded with love, results in knowledge that makes a person puffed up with pride. That’s why this prayer is so important. Being ‘capable’ is not a question of intelligence, a certain rational capacity, but a spiritual capacity to comprehend the following things. These things have to do with all the counsels of God that especially have been brought forward in chapter 1.

In this second prayer Paul connects those counsels in a very special way with Christ Who is the Center of them. If you want to understand this, you cannot act on your own. You will need “all the saints”. That is also logical. The manifoldness of all those counsels and the boundlessness of Christ’s love are only to be known by pondering over together and sharing these things with each other. In order to have a most complete picture of God’s counsels and of the love of Christ, each saint is necessary. How could you or I, limited creatures as we are, be able to understand such glory?

The glory of God’s counsels and of Christ as the Center of it, have an incalculable outreach:

1. Try to think about the “breadth” of it. That includes all the saints from the day of Pentecost until the rapture of the church.

2. Then the “length” of it – that is from eternity to eternity.

3. Just look up, in the “height”. There you see Christ, above all principalities and powers, and His church united with Him.

4. Just look down, in the “depth”. In those depths you were lying, lost in your sins. But Christ went deeper, picked you up and placed you and me and all who belong to the church in the height, in the Father’s house, to the heart of the Father.

Eph 3:19. Christ did that all, driven by a perfect love for His Father, for the church and for each member of the church separately (cf. Exo 21:5). Above all, His love shines in His work on the cross.

It is a profound desire of Paul that we learn to know this love better and better. At the same time he says that it is actually impossible to know that love. How could that eternal, Divine love be fully encompassed by the heart of a man? Is that discouraging? No, it is challenging! Who would not want to penetrate into a love that can never be fully fathomed?

I will clarify this by the following and often used example. A child stands at the ocean with his small bucket. He scoops water in it and says: ‘Hey look, I have the ocean in my bucket.’ This will be the desire of every heart that knows Him, in Whom that perfect love of God has become visible, to be filled with that love completely.

The result is that “you may be filled up to all the fullness of God”. As it is said, it is not possible for a creature to be filled with the whole fullness of God. If we, however, stretch ourselves to know the love of Christ more and more, we will grow more and more in that direction. Then we are back at the beginning. After all, it all began with all the fullness of God, right? Through Christ we have all received of that fullness, and grace upon grace (Jn 1:16). In Christ that fullness appeared on earth: “For it was the [Father’s] good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him” (Col 1:19).

To ‘be filled with all the fullness of God’ – that is the ultimate goal of Paul’s prayer – therefore means that we are fully focused on Christ, and that our hearts and lives are full of Him. You can sense that there is no lower goal. At the same time you might also sense how hard it is to realize that in the world we live. There are so many things around you that want your attention and of which you sometimes have to give attention to.

Eph 3:20. That’s why the content of this verse is such a great encouragement. In any case it is a wonderful verse. You can apply it to every practical situation, but the main purpose is that you understand the context in which this verse is used. Then you get the true meaning that is above the application to our daily needs. You will desire that the content of this prayer will become true in your life.

It will be clear that it is all about that and not about something that only happens in heaven. There we don’t need prayers anymore. No, on earth this prayer is truly necessary. On earth you are aware of your shortcomings and you doubt sometimes if you will succeed. In this way your eyes are being focused on Him Who is able to realize it in your life. Then you will pray for that. Again you look up, to Him Who is capable of answering your prayer.

Sometimes you don’t even pray and you only think how wonderful it would be if your life would be filled with Christ and His love. Then you look up again. Then you see Him, Who knows your thinking and Who is able to fulfill your desires.

It is already amazing to look up to Him Who knows your praying and thinking and replies to it, but it goes much further. He “is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think”. Everything is exceedingly abundant and goes beyond whatever a man can pray or think. That suits completely to the way in which God is presented in this letter, namely as the Source of all blessing. God doesn’t give sparsely. When He gives of His fullness, there is no limit. In praying for and thinking about God’s counsels, you sink in it.

When Paul arrives at this point, he no longer addresses the believers alone. He involves himself in it and says “we”. He also senses that he is dependent on “the power that works within us” for the realization of that. By that he points back to the beginning of his prayer, Eph 3:16. The Spirit of the Father can work that the things you pray for and about which you think, can be fully effective in your life.

Eph 3:21. This glory of God has been fully unfolded by Paul. That glory has become visible in God’s counsel in respect to the church, while Christ is the Center of it. Overseeing all this, only one thing is left and that is to praise the Father of glory and say to Him that He is worthy to receive all glory.

What is visible to only a few and is shown by just a few today will be seen through all eternity. All generations of all ages will worship and adore that glory in the church and in Christ Jesus.

Paul closes this praise, this special prayer with a suitable “amen”. He confirms the content by that: so it is.

Now read Ephesians 3:18-21 again.

Reflection: Pray that you may learn to know the love of Christ as it is presented in this prayer.