Although Paul is in prison for proclaiming the Gospel, he delivers up a tall order in chapter 3. He knows that every part of his message is about God’s grace – the undeserved love that moved Jesus to enter the world and die for our sins. He sees that his life, “though I am the very least of all the saints,” is a public display of God’s mercy and grace. He is a walking symbol of the kind of life that can be redeemed – once a persecutor of the church and approving of the murder of Christians, he himself now suffers for the sake of telling people about Jesus.
Paul calls this grace, “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” He ponders the mystery – something hidden that is now revealed in Jesus – that God loves sinners, that he forgives liars, adulterers, murderers, and thieves. He welcomes people who cheat on their taxes, aren’t nice to their neighbors, and racists. He takes all people who believe that Jesus died for us makes us His children – not just servants but children!
Do we fail to be amazed by that? “Unsearchable,” Paul calls it.
Because of Jesus’ blood shed for us on the cross, and because of His empty tomb we have, “boldness and access with confidence to our Father in heaven. Paul says that in response to this unsearchable treasure he bows his knees before the Father. He takes the position of humility and boldly uses the access to the Father to ask – to pray – for these Ephesians . . . and for us.
He prays that according to the riches of his glory God may grant us to be strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit in our inner being, so that Jesus my dwell in our hearts through faith. He prays that we will be rooted and grounded in love; that we have strength to comprehend, “what is the breadth and length and height and depth” of these “unsearchable riches”; and that we know Jesus love so that we will be filled with God’s fullness.
That’s a powerful prayer! He’s asking for A LOT!
That phrase, “rooted and grounded in love,” makes me think of a retreat I was able to go on a couple years ago in Arizona. Although there were about 60 pastors on this retreat, we were sent out into the desert to be alone with God. One day as I sat looking at the little trees that dotted the landscape it struck me how deep their roots must be. “Rooted and grounded,” indeed!
Living the life of faith is difficult in this spiritually dry world. (Perhaps we need to see ourselves as desert dwellers.) We need to be rooted and grounded in Jesus love. It all begins there. That is the life giving water that courses through trunk, branch, leaf and fruit. It’s Jesus’ love that makes us alive. It is His love that made Him willing to die for us. It is His love that brings us forgiveness of sins. It is His love that sent to Holy Spirit to guide us, comfort us, and create and build up our faith.
How easy is it to grasp the truth that, in Jesus, God Himself gave Himself as the sacrifice for our sins? How easy is it to comprehend that, knowing the cost, God chose to create and redeem us? How easy is it to know the mind and heart of God?
“Unsearchable!” But the encouragement here is to search away! Dig deeply into the mystery. Inspect every jewel, every nugget, every piece of the gospel you can. You’ll never get to the bottom of it, but there is so much to revel in!
Now to You, O Father, who are able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, be all glory along with Jesus and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever! Amen! Fill us with wonder and awe at the unsearchable riches you have given to us in Jesus. Blow our minds with the depths of Your love, and help us to always live in the joyful awe that you have poured it out on us. Amen.
Paul calls this grace, “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” He ponders the mystery – something hidden that is now revealed in Jesus – that God loves sinners, that he forgives liars, adulterers, murderers, and thieves. He welcomes people who cheat on their taxes, aren’t nice to their neighbors, and racists. He takes all people who believe that Jesus died for us makes us His children – not just servants but children!
Do we fail to be amazed by that? “Unsearchable,” Paul calls it.
Because of Jesus’ blood shed for us on the cross, and because of His empty tomb we have, “boldness and access with confidence to our Father in heaven. Paul says that in response to this unsearchable treasure he bows his knees before the Father. He takes the position of humility and boldly uses the access to the Father to ask – to pray – for these Ephesians . . . and for us.
He prays that according to the riches of his glory God may grant us to be strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit in our inner being, so that Jesus my dwell in our hearts through faith. He prays that we will be rooted and grounded in love; that we have strength to comprehend, “what is the breadth and length and height and depth” of these “unsearchable riches”; and that we know Jesus love so that we will be filled with God’s fullness.
That’s a powerful prayer! He’s asking for A LOT!
That phrase, “rooted and grounded in love,” makes me think of a retreat I was able to go on a couple years ago in Arizona. Although there were about 60 pastors on this retreat, we were sent out into the desert to be alone with God. One day as I sat looking at the little trees that dotted the landscape it struck me how deep their roots must be. “Rooted and grounded,” indeed!
Living the life of faith is difficult in this spiritually dry world. (Perhaps we need to see ourselves as desert dwellers.) We need to be rooted and grounded in Jesus love. It all begins there. That is the life giving water that courses through trunk, branch, leaf and fruit. It’s Jesus’ love that makes us alive. It is His love that made Him willing to die for us. It is His love that brings us forgiveness of sins. It is His love that sent to Holy Spirit to guide us, comfort us, and create and build up our faith.
How easy is it to grasp the truth that, in Jesus, God Himself gave Himself as the sacrifice for our sins? How easy is it to comprehend that, knowing the cost, God chose to create and redeem us? How easy is it to know the mind and heart of God?
“Unsearchable!” But the encouragement here is to search away! Dig deeply into the mystery. Inspect every jewel, every nugget, every piece of the gospel you can. You’ll never get to the bottom of it, but there is so much to revel in!
Now to You, O Father, who are able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, be all glory along with Jesus and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever! Amen! Fill us with wonder and awe at the unsearchable riches you have given to us in Jesus. Blow our minds with the depths of Your love, and help us to always live in the joyful awe that you have poured it out on us. Amen.
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