This passage is Paul’s second prayer for his readers. It’s a single sentence that divides into four parts.
Paul prays to the Father of our new family (3:14-15).
Paul’s prayer actually has a Trinitarian structure—Father, Spirit, Son. He begins with the Father and highlights God’s fatherhood.
Sometimes, if we have had a bad experience with our earthly father, it becomes difficult to get a proper perspective on our heavenly Father. But Paul has already told us that we have a good, loving, gracious heavenly Father. He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (1:2). He is the Father who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ (1:3). He is the Father of glory, who gives us spiritual wisdom and insight (1:17). He is the Father to whom we have access by the Holy Spirit because of what Jesus has done for us (2:18).
And in these verses, he is specifically the Father from whom “the whole family in heaven and on earth is being named” (3:15). That translation is better than “every family” because Paul has told us that we have a new family to enjoy (2:11-22). And you know what? That family is bigger than we understand. It’s not just the Chapin Presbyterian family. It’s the family of God around the world, and it’s that “so great a cloud of witnesses” in heaven the author of Hebrews describes (Heb 12:1).
It is to that Father whom Paul prays for the Ephesians—and for us.
He asks that the Spirit will strengthen us (3:16-17a).
Paul’s request is clear to see but a little challenging to understand. The first part is understandable—“that we would be strengthened with power through the Spirit in the inner person” (3:16b).
Paul has already prayed that the Spirit would give us wisdom to understand who we are in Christ (1:17-18), and he has already explained the great power that’s ours because God is at work in us (1:19-22). So verse 16 is clear. But what about verse 17a? Doesn’t Christ already live in us (Gal 2:20)? Isn’t Christ in us already the hope of glory (Col 1:27)?
The key is the word Paul uses for “dwell.” When he says in Galatians 2:20 that Christ “lives” in us, he uses the word for “to be alive” (ζαω). When he talks here about Christ “dwelling” in our hearts, he uses a different word (κατοικεω). The word here means “to settle down in permanent residence.” It’s the difference between leasing and owning. It’s the difference between renting space on a part-time basis and settling down as a full-time owner
So, let me ask you: Is Jesus the renter or the owner of your heart? Is he a part-time tenant or a full-time resident? Does the Spirit need to do some work in you so that Jesus can take full control of your heart?
The purpose of his prayer is that we will know Christ’s love (3:17b-19a).
If Christ is truly residing permanently in our hearts, we will begin to comprehend how great his love for us is. It’s as though Paul can’t find enough words to describe it “breadth, length, height, depth . . . that surpasses knowledge.” It’s the similar language to what we sang last week in “Wonderful Grace of Jesus”—“deeper than the mighty rolling sea . . . higher than a mountain, sparkling like a fountain . . . broader than the scope of my transgressions . . . greater far than all my sin and shame. How shall my tongue describe it? Where shall its praise begin?”
Paul prays that the Spirit will help us catch a glimpse of that love. Have you caught that glimpse? Have you begun to live in light of Jesus’ love? If not, isn’t it time to start?
The result will be that we will experience God’s fullness (3:19b).
NASB reads “the fullness of God.” That phrase could mean the fullness that God supplies, or it could mean the fullness that God is. The latter is probably the better understanding: the fullness that God is.
So, what is the result that Paul wants to see in the lives of the Ephesians—and in our lives? He wants to see us become as holy as God is holy and as perfect as God is perfect. What he wants to see is our sanctification.
Sanctification includes three aspects: (past) becoming saints, (future) living as saints in God’s presence, and (present) growing as saints every day. It’s our present sanctification about which Paul is praying here. He wants to see us growing. He wants to see us becoming every day more fully who we already are in Christ.
How are you doing? Are you becoming every day more fully who you already are in Christ? If not, isn’t it time to start?
Jesus gives us new riches to appropriate.
How rich are we? From this passage:
- We have a Father who has brought us into his family.
- We have a family that is bigger than the eye can see.
- We have the Holy Spirit powerfully at work in us.
- We have Jesus dwelling in our hearts through faith.
- We are the objects of the love of Christ that surpasses understanding.
- We have the potential to experience all the fullness of God.
Will you choose one truth and focus on it this week? Jesus gives us new riches to appropriate. Which aspect of those riches will you appropriate this week?
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