How to Fully Experience the Fullness of God
Ephesians 3:14-21
Picture this: You have just finished a ten mile hike on a 95 degree day and on the entire journey you haven’t had a thing to drink. Stumbling with thirst, you come to your father’s house and plea for water. With love and concern he brings you a cold pitcher of water and a glass (use props to illustrate) and tells you to take what you want, he’s got plenty more. With a chuckle he tells you that his well is full. What do you do? You take a couple of sips and quit. Drink more, he insists, you must be parched. But you decline because you don’t want to impose on his generosity. When you leave, you are still thirsty and he is hurt and disappointed.
Why did you do that? Why do you do that spiritually? Your heavenly Father wants you to experience fullness -- fullness of life... fullness of joy... fullness of God Himself. And yet you are only taking a few sips of living water.
Why? Today’s text shows how you can fully experience the fullness of God in your life. When we finish today, I hope that you will drink up!
The book of Ephesians is divided into 2 halves – the first, doctrinal, the second practical. Chapters 1-3 describe our new position in Christ; chapters 4-6 demonstrate our new practices for Christ.
The crescendo of the first half and the launching pad for the second half is our text -- Ephesians 3:14-21. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary says, “The doxology is plainly the climax of the first half of Ephesians; it may be regarded as the climax of the whole letter, which rises to a spiritual peak at this point and then concentrates on practical outworkings.”
14. For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 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, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
The passage contains a powerful prayer that leads into spontaneous praise. A while back Bruce Wilkinson wrote a book called, The Book of Jabez. It quickly became a national #1 bestseller and was awarded the “nonfiction book of the year for 2000.”
It showed Christians that God wants them to pray boldly for the blessings that He wants to give. Pray that prayer and keep praying it. But if you want to pray for even more, then pray this prayer and experience the greatest of blessings.
1. Pray that you will be enriched by the Father (14-16)
14. For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may...
"For this reason" refers back before the parenthesis of vss. 2-13 to the same words of verse one. The reason, therefore, is the believers new position in Christ (1:2-2:10) and in the Church (2:11-22)..., i.e., the new man and the new humanity.
These beginning chapters present a panoramic view of the Christian’s new position with Christ in the heavenly places along with all the rights, riches and spiritual resources that that go with it. If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, you have gone through a metamorphosis. You have been radically transformed into a new being with awesome spiritual power and authority.
That’s who you are and what you have. There’s no reason you shouldn’t be enjoying the fullness of all of that. Are you? Wouldn’t you like to? Aren’t you tired of living a defeated, milk toast Christianity? Wouldn’t you like to feel a vital intimacy with Christ? Wouldn’t you like to feel like God was using you to make a powerful impact on your world? Wouldn’t you like to be characterized by beautiful Christ-likeness? If the Lord has indeed made you a new person with a new position with new power with new privileges and new possessions, there is no reason to still live like the old you. If God has transformed you from a caterpillar into a butterfly why crawl when you can fly? If God has given you living water, why not drink up?
There is no reason why you shouldn’t. It is “for this reason” that Paul prays for believers. He wants them to be full – full of God and all His blessings. Paul wants this so much that he kneels before the Father and presents the petition on his knees.
There is no magical posture of the bowed knees, for Scripture shows many postures of prayer (The Jews normally stood). But the act of kneeling does seem to indicate an attitude of submission, a focused concentration and an intensity of passion. Paul loves these believers and He wants them to experience the joy of full spirituality.
It is a prayer that God wants us to pray and that He wants to answer. We approach a loving Father who wants to meet the needs of His children. God is the Father of the "whole family in heaven and on earth" in the sense that his spiritual family includes the believers of every age including those who reside in heaven and on the earth.
In the Greek there is a play on words with the similarity of "pater", father, and "patria." Paul is showing that the Father’s family even derives its name from Him, just like every good gift has its source in His generosity.
Ephesians has continually stressed God’s rich generosity...
Eph 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
Eph 1:7 ...the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
Eph 1:18 ...the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
Eph 2:5 ...God, who is rich in mercy,
Eph 2:7 ...incomparable riches of his grace,
Eph 3:8 … the unsearchable riches of Christ
This prayer is a bold prayer asking God to give "according" to His riches, rather than "out of" his riches (the way the NIV translates it). John MacArthur gives this illustration: "For a millionaire to give fifty or a hundred dollars would be simply to give out of his wealth, but to give twenty-five thousand would be to give according to his wealth. The greater a person’s wealth, the greater his gift must be to qualify for giving according to his wealth. For God to give "according to the riches of His glory" is absolutely staggering, because His riches are limitless, completely without bounds!" (p. 102)
Pray for God’s rich blessings to be poured out in your life. But don’t stop there. Pray more specifically. Pray that you will be enriched by the Father so that you will be empowered by the Spirit. Paul sets out the content of his prayer in three items, each introduced by "so that" (hina) in vv. 16, 18, 19. There is an important step by step progression here that you will want to carefully follow.
1. Pray that you will be enriched by the Father,
2. So that you will be empowered by the Spirit (16)
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…
In his book, Keep in Step with the Spirit, J. I. Packer asks, “What is the essence, heart, and core of the Spirit’s work today?” The answer? “The Spirit makes known the personal presence in and with the Christian and the church of the risen, reigning Savior, the Jesus of history, who is the Christ of faith. Scripture shows… that since the Pentecost of Acts 2, this, essentially, is what the Spirit is doing all the time as he empowers, enables, purges, and leads generation after generation of sinners to face the reality of God. And he does it in order that Christ may be known, loved, trusted, honored and praised…” (p. 47).
On the night that Jesus was betrayed, he said, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth… Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.” (John 14:16-19) We see Jesus because the Spirit of truth reveals Him. John 15:26 says, "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. John 16:13-14 adds, “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth… He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.” The Holy Spirit reveals the person of Christ and mediates His presence to believers.
This theme is repeatedly stressed here in Ephesians. In Ephesians 2:17, Paul states, "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better."
The Holy Spirit opens our spiritual eyes so that we can gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. And that returns us to our passage: ”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 saints 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 God."
The ministry of the Holy Spirit can be a real "eye-opener!" So pray that He will enable and empower your inner being to know the Lord in a deeper way. Why the emphasis on the inner being? Because it is within the spiritual dimension that the Holy Spirit enables our spirits to behold God’s glory and worship Him. Jesus stated, "true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24).
Growing Christians will ask the Father to strengthen their inner beings through the work of the Holy Spirit. And He will. The generous Father will enrich them by having the Spirit empower them so that they will have the faith in Christ that will result in intimacy with Him.
1. Pray that you will be enriched by the Father,
2. So that you will be empowered by the Spirit,
3. So that you will be indwelt by the Son (17-19)
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge
While it is true that Jesus inhabits the life of every Christian, Jesus doesn’t "feel at home" in all of those lives. We sometimes resist Christ’s desire to reside in every part of beings. We lock the doors to certain chambers that we don’t want him poking into. When people visit our home, I don’t mind them taking a tour, but I’d prefer that they don’t stick their heads in our closets or rifle through our dresser drawers. I tell them to feel at home, but I don’t give them the house. Have we signed over the ownership of our lives to Christ and dedicated every part to Him? Part of the reason I resist him poking around the messy parts of my life is the fear that He will think less of me.
It is a pure act of faith to surrender every sphere of our existence to him. It is a faith that is only possible if you really believe that Jesus loves you unconditionally. It is only then that you will trust Him with your whole life and love Him appropriately. "If anyone loves Me, he will keep my word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with Him" (Jn. 14:23).
What holds us back? A lack of faith in Christ’s perfect love... and a lack of complete love for Him. If we truly knew Christ better, we would draw near to Him and experience deep intimacy. And fortunately, as we have seen, the Holy Spirit helps us know Christ and His love better.
First of all, He allows us to know that we are secure in Christ’s love. Paul uses a botanical term, "rooted", and an architectural term, "established", to stress that we are firmly fixed in Christ’s love.
Then He impresses us with the enormous quantity of Christ’s love. It is so “wide and long and high and deep.” It is so vast!
Then the Holy Spirit allows us to personally “know” this love as we personally “know” Christ. When you get a personalized grasp on how much love Jesus has for you, you will entrust your whole life to Him, draw near to Him and experience intimacy. You will enjoy the fullness of Christ’s presence in your life...
Fervent prayer to the Father leads to inward empowering by the Spirit which leads to us allowing Christ to indwell every part of our lives.
1. Pray that you will be enriched by the Father,
2. So that you will be empowered by the Spirit,
3. So that you will be indwelt by the Son,
4. So that you will fully experience the fullness of God. (19)
If you experience the fullness of Christ, you will experience the fullness of God.
19b that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
John 14:8 Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." 9 Jesus answered: "Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ’Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?
Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Note the Trinitarian outline of this prayer, in which the apostle asks that his readers may possess grace of the Father (v. 14-15) the power of the Spirit (v. 16), and the indwelling of the Son (v. 17). The whole Godhead is working together for your best good so that you can enjoy God’s fullness.
Bold prayer to our generous Father leads to the inner strengthening by the Holy Spirit which leads to greater faith and intimacy with our loving Savior. It is then that we fully experience the fullness of God.
[Fill glass with water from pitcher and drink it]. Don’t settle for less. Fill your life with the fullness of God and enjoy a full life.
Review:
1. Pray that you will be enriched by the Father,
2. So that you will be empowered by the Spirit,
3. So that you will be indwelt by the Son,
4. So that you will fully experience the fullness of God.
How do you apply this passage to your life? By prayer. Pray this prayer for yourself and others. Pray it boldly. Pray it often.
Will God really answer this prayer?
20 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,
What does our generous Father deserve?
21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
In conclusion, let me pray this prayer for you. Please join with me on the last two verses. (Kneel) 14. For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 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, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
AMEN!
