To Grasp the Fullness of God
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 3:17–19 ESV Read More
This is the end of a section where Paul is telling the people in Ephesus and the surrounding cities about his prayer for them. This part, actually, is the effect that will come from what he is praying. Yes, the end result is that Christ would dwell in their hearts through faith. When that happens, they’ll be rooted and grounded in love and be strong enough to comprehend God’s love. Yes! Let’s read that again.
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.
It takes spiritual strength to fully comprehend this stuff. It’s as simple as “Jesus loves me this I know,” and as complex as the Hebrew word חסד and it’s implications toward communion. No brain can contain the depths of God’s love, but we can see it in the most simple, broken person as they cry out to Jesus.
Consider this, things that are spiritual are non-physical and non-material. A spirit can’t be cut in half like physical matter can. That is part of the definition of spiritual. If I cut off the edge of my blanket, I now have two blankets, or one ruined blanket and one scrap. The Holy Spirit can’t be divided into parts, He is always whole. That means that wherever the Holy Spirit is, He is there in His entirety. All of the fullness of God is in that place, and He can be in multiple places at once. (Since He’s not in parts and doesn’t take up space, He doesn’t need to travel through space. He’s already wherever He wants to be as soon as He wants to be there.)
So when we worship, pray, sing, read, or any other thing led and in participation with God, all the fullness of God is present – I’ll even say anxious – to get involved. God wants to be the God-With-Us god. To see Him and to discern His presence takes Christ dwelling in our hearts and that we be rooted and grounded in love. Selfless love for one another and for the people God created humbles us to be wise with the friendship of God. The presence of God is always available to the broken-hearted, the outcast, those who would call on His name.
Talk to any older saint that has been through it and you’ll see. The comprehension of the fullness of His love is for those strong enough to carry Christ through every hard thing. That strength that comes from Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith is from God, and it is strengthening us for even greater things.
You can get the Daily Bible Readings to your inbox via email every day by subscribing here. Join the discussion online on Facebook or Twitter.