The love of Christ
Part 5 - Glory
Ephesians 3v16-21
8th January 2016
Before Christmas we were looking at Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3:
Ephesians 3v16-19
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of
Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Paul prays for the really important things:
- That we would be given the power... to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ;
- that we would know this love that surpasses knowledge; and
- That we would be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
I wonder how much of our prayers - for ourselves and others - are about the really important things, as Paul's are.
Of course, these amazing work of God in us are progressive. They've already begun in every Christian, and they'll continue all the time we live on earth. It's good to pray for ourselves and each other, that we receive more and more revelation of God's love, and are filled more and more with God's goodness, and so are able to more perfectly reflect the love of God in our own lives.
Paul then continued his prayer like this:
Ephesians 3v20-21
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work
within us,
to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
If we understood how much God loves us, and we understood how powerful God is, then we would know that we can't even imagine how much we could pray for, and how amazing His answer could be. We suffer from thinking of God in human terms. We imagine He's like us, but sinless and more powerful. In fact, although God is like us in some ways, He's very unlike us in other ways. God is infinitely loving and infinitely powerful. There's nothing He can't do.
I don't know what God's going to do, but I know he's able to do more that we can even think about. Looking back, I know God did more for me than I could ask or imagine, but I also know he didn't take all my pain away, and he didn't stop more pain coming. He won't answer every prayer with a "Yes" but he will do for us things we don't even realise we need. In fact he'll do much more than we need. Paul says God answers out of his glorious riches. He's a generous God, and a loving heavenly father.
But we need to deal with what he doesn't do. Asking "Why?", demanding that God explain Himself to us, is not only extremely cheeky - who are we to hold God to account? It's unproductive, and it can send us into a bad place of doubt and depression. Isn't it better instead to pray for the power to grasp the immensity of God's love for us? And in the heart knowledge of that love, and the security and peace that come through it, we can then ask, "What do you want to do, Lord?"
Whatever situation we and our friends are in, God wants to do something. He wants to bring some sort of healing. Instead of asking "Why?" I'm learning to ask God what His agenda is, and to pray accordingly, trusting that He knows what He's doing. Everything God does is good.
And Paul prays that God would receive glory. We understand that God is glorified in Christ Jesus. Jesus is perfect. Jesus is the King of Kings. Of course God is glorified in Jesus. But Paul also prays for God to be glorified in the church.
How much is God glorified in your church? Is the love, kindness, gentleness, hospitality, patience, generosity and holiness of God truly displayed in your church? Has your church repented of selfishness, divisiveness, gossip, indifference and compromise? God wants to fill every church, as well as every Christian to the measure of all the fullness of God.