LIVING IN CHRIST – God’s Overflowing Power
Ephesians 3:14-21 NIV
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.
INTRODUCTION:
God wants us to be like the Energizer Bunny—to just keep going and going and going. When they make batteries they store power or energy within the cell or inner core of the battery. But it is not good enough for the power to be in the battery. The power needs to flow through the battery if it is to be of any good and do something. That’s why batteries have a positive and a negative end which must be aligned properly in order for the power to flow through the battery and thus make a flash light work when you turn it on.
You and I have been filled with the power of God through the Holy Spirit. But God does not just want to do a work IN you. God wants to flip the switch so that His power will flow THROUGH you, and that collectively as the church—God’s family we might be properly aligned in order that His power might be further displayed IN and THROUGH us as His children.
This is the focus of Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians, a prayer that God wants to likewise answer in our lives today. Let’s discover God’s Overflowing Power – a power at work IN US, a power working THROUGH US, and a power that OVERFLOWS US with glory to God.
I. God’s Power working IN US.
Ephesians 3:16-17a NIV
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.
1. God’s power is working in us according to “His glorious riches.”
a) God does not lack the ability and power to do this work. God does not need a stimulus package or need to tax us to do what He desires to do. GOD CAN because of his abundant riches! God will exceed your expectations because there is no limit to the riches of His mercy and grace. Can you begin to grasp the riches of God?
Ephesians 1:7-8 NIV
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
Ephesians 1:18 NIV
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.
Ephesians 2:4-5, 7 NIV
4 . . . God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ . . . 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 3:8 NIV
[Paul says that he was given grace]. . . to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
b) God will not come up short handed; His pockets are not empty. The riches of God is abundant and more than enough to accomplish His work within your inner being.
2. Our inner being is strengthened through the Spirit.
a) God has invested of HIMSELF in you. God is at work within you by His Spirit. If the riches of God’s grace are at work in you through the power of His Spirit then nothing in this world can ever destroy you!
2 Corinthians 4:16 MsgB
So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace.
b) Yes outwardly it may appear that we are wasting away, but inwardly within our inner being, within our heart of hearts—inside the real you—inwardly we are being renewed day by day. That’s why Paul can say, “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Cor 4:17 NIV).
c) Therefore when we know that the riches of God’s grace is at work within us through the power of His Spirit, “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor 4:18 NIV).
d) And therein is the problem that most of us struggle with. Our eyes are focused on the wrong things. We are fixated on our problems—the uncertainty of our day to day life and our inadequacy, our poverty and powerlessness. Instead we need to look up and get our eyes off this world and focus upon the riches of God—the riches of His grace at work within our inner being.
3. The goal is that Christ will dwell in our hearts through faith.
Ephesians 3:16-17a NIV
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.
a) Max Lucado says, “God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you there. He wants you to be just like Jesus.”
ILLUSTRATION: Stop and think about your home. HOW MUCH HAVE YOU CHANGED SINCE YOU FIRST MOVED IN? Now imagine what you could do to your house if your riches began to compare to the abundant riches of God. Nothing would be impossible.
b) Jesus has taken up residence within you and has made your heart His home. And Jesus is going to do more than just redecorate—He’s going to do an extreme make over. Unstable foundations will be rebuilt upon the Rock. Wobbly walls of sin will be torn down and rebuilt with a framework of purity and holiness. Portraits of pain, nick-knacks of anger and vase of vanity will be replaced with backgrounds of grace and potted plants producing the fruit of the Spirit. The old is in the dumpster and the new has been unpacked and taken its place. Jesus will make your heart his home.
c) Yes, God is doing a work IN US, but God wants to do more than just transform our lives from the inside out. God’s power is working in us in order that God’s power will work THROUGH US.
II. God’s Power working THROUGH US.
Ephesians 3:17b-19 NIV
17 . . . 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.
1. God’s power working through us shows that we are “rooted and established in love.”
a) Rooted in love—a picture of love growing and maturing like a plant. Separated from the roots a plant dies. Connected to its roots a plant has stability and strength. Connected to the roots a plant is nourished to grow and produce fruit. Look what Jesus said to his disciples:
John 15:5 NIV
I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Psalms 1:1-6 NIV
1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. 4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
b) We are rooted and established in love. Established is the picture of a building standing on a solid foundation. Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock” (Matthew 7:24-26 NIV).
2. Rooted and established in love with power to grasp Christ’s love.
Ephesians 3:17b-19 NIV
17 . . . 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.
a) We are rooted and established with POWER TO ACT. God’s power is to flow through us in order to touch the lives of others with His love. ROOTED in love we produce fruit that nourishes other’s lives. ESTABLISHED in love we stand upon a foundation that welcomes others into the security of Christ’s love.
b) Christ’s love is all encompassing—His love surrounds us reaching out with power to actively touch others through us. May we learn to understand the unlimited possibilities of Christ’s love working in and through our lives.
• To grasp how WIDE is the love of Christ. Through Christ God’s love is made known to all the nations of the world. His love reaches to every man, woman, boy and girl.
John 3:16 MsgB
This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.
• To grasp how LONG is the love of Christ. God’s love is not like the sands running through an hourglass that will soon run empty. God’s love in Christ endures forever.
Psalms 100:5 NIV
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
• To grasp how HIGH is the love of Christ.
Psalms 36:5 NIV
Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.
• To grasp how DEEP is the love of Christ.
Romans 8:38-39 NIV
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
ILLUSTRATION: Corrie Ten Boom wrote of her sister’s undying commitment to the love of Christ that even as she lay dying in a Nazi concentration camp said, “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.”
3. God is working through us that we might “be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
Ephesians 3:17b-19 NIV
17 . . . 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.
a) Let’s keep it simple: THE MORE WE ARE FILLED WITH GOD, THE LESS WE ARE FILLED WITH OURSELVES! The more we are filled with ourselves the less we are able to love others.
b) We are not simply to have a “head knowledge” about God’s love. Instead ours is to be a love that surpasses knowledge. In other words we are to know the love of Christ experientially—not just His love working in us, but to experience the power of His love working through us to touch others with His love.
Luke 6:45 NIV
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
c) God is working in us to make us like Jesus, and He is working through us in order that the love of Christ might flow out of our lives to others.
III. God’s Power is OVERFLOWING US for God’s glory.
Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV
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.
