Eph 3:14–21 — To Know the Love of Christ

This prayer harks back to the intercession of 1:15-23 taking up its themes and developing and expanding them Note repetition of themes:

The character of the one to whom the request is made “The Father of glory” (1:17) “The Father … according to the riches of His glory” (3:14-16) “to him who is able to do abundantly beyond all that we ask or imagine” The content requested Spiritual insight and illumination concerning the immense blessings that we have in Christ (1:18) To comprehend the incomprehensible love of Christ (3:18-19) the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s love. How this insight is achieved By means of the surpassing greatness of his power, brought about in the resurrection and exaltation of Christ (1:20) By being strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man (1:16) or, what is the same thing, by Christ’s dwelling in our heart (1:17). The cosmic scope of the request. The church, His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all (1:23) To be filled up to all the fullness of God (3:19), and glory to God in the church to all generations (3:21)

What is the love of Christ?

We have to look at the surrounding context of Ephesians as a whole Love before time 1:4-5 - predestination to adoption as sons in Christ Love in the accomplishment of our salvation 2:4 - love for us when we were dead in sin 5:2 - he gave himself for us Love in eternity 5:25-27 - Christ will present his bride to himself in all her glory 1:18 - we are God’s inheritance (“in the saints”). Now there are three specific aspects of the love of Christ that I would like to draw out from this text:

The Experiential Dimension. The Corporate Dimension. The Eschatological Dimension.

(1) The Experiential Dimension

Love precedes knowledge. The logical flow of thought in vv. 16-19. The inner man or the heart must be strengthened by means of the indwelling Spirit of Christ. Thus, rooted and grounded in Christ’s redeeming love we will be enabled to comprehend the depth of that love which is really beyond comprehension. The knowledge of Christ’s love isn’t something that can be reduced to intellectual study of certain propositions Certainly the intellectual aspect must not be eliminated as if this knowledge were supra-rational and mystical. But there is an undeniable experiential component of this knowledge If we love something we know it better than if we have merely analyzed it To love the organ music of Bach is to know that music much more deeply than merely to be an expert organ player who may be familiar with the notes and yet be untouched by the power and emotion of Bach’s music. But this experience must not be reduced to mysticism. The relationship between Christ and the Spirit “the Spirit in the inner man” is parallel with “Christ dwelling in your heart through faith” The latter defines and explains the former Mystics speak of the Spirit divorced from Christ Paul speaks of the Spirit in terms of Christ and faith in Christ. However, we must not err in thinking of this knowledge of Christ’s love in purely individualistic terms as if it were merely my own personal relationship with Jesus. There is much more here …

(2) The Corporate Dimension

Grasping the deep, deep love of Christ requires participation in the corporate body of Christ “with all the saints” Notice how frequently Paul speaks in corporate terms in Eph. 1-3 Church as the new Israel in 1:3-14 “The riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (1:18) Christ exalted as Head over all things to the church, which is his body (1:22) From exclusion from the covenant to inclusion - fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household (2:11-19). The church as God’s spiritual temple (2:20-22) Fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, fellow partakers (3:6) God is displaying his wisdom to the demonic powers “through the church” (3:10) God is the Father of the whole family in heaven and on earth (3:15). Why do we need all the saints to comprehend God’s love?

Because love is essentially communion or fellowship. And we cannot know what that divine fellowship is alone Eph. 4-6 fleshes this out in specific ways:

Maintaining the unity of the Spirit. The teaching and pastoral ministry of Christ’s gifts Speaking the truth to one another in love, no unwholesome words Forgiveness and reconciliation within the body Singing hymns together Husbands and wives Children and parents Masters and slaves Praying for the advance of the gospel among the nations. You don’t really know just how deep and wide Christ’s love is unless you are living as an active member of God’s family Endeavoring to maintain our unity in Christ Learning how to forgive your brother or sister Worshipping God together Submitting to one another. But ultimately, the corporate existence and fellowship of the church on earth cannot yield the full measure of the knowledge of Christ’s love That requires the corporate existence and fellowship of the church for eternity in heaven …

to which we now turn …

(3) The Eschatological Dimension

The closing doxology (vv. 20-21) Paul’s intercessory petition in vv. 16-19 stretches the bounds of normal petitionary prayer. The only prayer that would seem to top it is the High Priestly prayer of Jesus himself (John 17) Has Paul gone over the top?

No, because God’s ability to act on behalf of his people far exceeds even our ability to request God can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. There is no limit to his power Ultimately, the prayer will be answered eschatologically, in heaven Just like “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done” “to him be glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus” Why both church and Christ mentioned?

The Head-body organism that is the product of the union of Christ and his church. We talked about this last week (1 Corinthians 12:12) Paul speaks in similar terms in Eph. 5:30-32. The mystery of Christ’s love for the church is what will bring glory to God as the eternal ages roll on and on stretching out over the infinite vista of eternity NOTE:

What is the inner man?

You have to look at 2 Cor. 4:16. The outer man is being destroyed that is, Paul is being outwardly shaped by his participation in the sufferings and cross of Christ Yet the inner man is being renewed day by day that renewal is nothing less than the eschatological renewal of all things at the end of the age but Paul is experiencing it ahead of time in the inner dimension of his existence by the Spirit who is the foretaste or downpayment of the resurrection existence. The paradox is that the eschatological renewal is something that Paul enjoys internally only to the degree that the outer man is wasting away. He is lifted up and strengthened in the hope of being glorified with Christ a hope that he in a very real sense already enjoys by the Spirit’s internal work of assurance. Thus, the inner man / outer man distinction is related to the already and the not-yet The new creation inwardly begotten by the Spirit in those who are united by faith to Christ Must not be interpreted anthropologically as a reference to the soul or the heart of man as if everyone, including the unbeliever, possessed an inner man Only the believer possesses an inner man by virtue of the possession of the indwelling Spirit of Christ. It isn’t the contrast between the physical and the non-physical parts of our created existence as human beings. It is the eschatological contrast of the two overlapping ages.