God’s Love

 

Scripture Text

Eph. 3:14-19

Intro: In this passage of scripture the apostle Paul said when he thought of the wisdom and scope of God’s love, in His plan of salvation, he bowed his knees in prayer to God for the Ephesians that they would be able to comprehend and experience this great love that God had for them and all Christians everywhere.

 I. Paul prayed for inner strength. Ephesians 3:14-16 (NLT)¹⁴  When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, ¹⁵  the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. ¹⁶  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. a. Paul’s first request is for strength and might in the inner man, the strength and power of God's Spirit, for His presence and might in their lives. Believer’s must be strengthened with spiritual power and might in order to break loose from the sins of the flesh, and focus upon the richness of the eternal love of God which He has poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. [Romans 5:5]

2: Paul prayed for Christ to rule and reign in their hearts. Ephesians 3:17 (NLT) ¹⁷  Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. Paul prayed that by faith, our [belief] that Christ would be at home and would live in a permanent sense within the believer. Paul prayed that the believer would be aware and conscious of Christ within his heart and that Christ has taken up residence within him. He prayed for Christ to control and guide their life—continually. In [v:17b] When Christ rules and reigns in our hearts, we become rooted and grounded in His love, just like a tree planted by streams of running water! We become fruitful and productive and we will prosper in Christ’s love! When Christ is ruling and reigning in our hearts we will be able to understand the scope of God’s love.  Ephesians 3:18 (NLT) ¹⁸  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. The width of God’s love. It’s boundless. A scientific report said the observable universe is 93 billion light years wide and growing. The unobservable universe is 23 trillion light years in diameter. God’s love encompasses the entire observable and unobservable universe and beyond. It’s wide enough to all forgive all of mankind’s sin. It covers every experience of mankind. The length of God’s love. It’s endless! It reaches from eternity past covering our lifetime in the presence and reaches to eternity future. God’s love will never run out! It has No end! The depth of God’s love. God’s love is fathomless. God’s love reaches to the lowest hurting soul, to the depths of sin and shame. The height of God’s love. God’s love reaches to the highest heavens. Solomon said in 1 Kings 8:27 (NKJV)  But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. Paul prayed for all Christians to know the love of Christ. Ephesians 3:19 (NLT)¹⁹  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. That passes all human knowledge! Paul prayed in verse:18 that believers might “understand” the greatness of Christ’s love. Here he prayed that they might experience it. Paul also recognized that Christ’s love is so great that people will never fully understand it. Believers cannot rationally explain Christ’s love; they can only know it by experiencing it. This knowledge requires a continuous growing experience.  A key to growing in love for God is to be aware of what He has done, is doing, and will do for us, and to remain grateful for it.  Thess. 3:5  Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ. As we grow in Christ’s love and get to know Him better, we will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (v:19b)This “fullness” means that there is nothing lacking in our relationship to the Father. God pours his love and power into believers, making us complete for this life and preparing us for the life to come. This “fullness” of life and power is expressed only in Christ’s love. We need not look anywhere else. The ultimate goal is for believers to become Christ like individuals, filled so totally with Christs’ love that He is seen in us as we share His love with others. Apostle Paul Closes praising God! Ephesians 3:20-21 (NLT2) ²⁰  Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. ²¹ Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Invitation: Have you experienced God’s loving salvation of your soul? If not the bible says that now is the accepted time and today is the day of salvation. Let the Spirit of God speak to your heart right now about where you stand with God. Confess your sins to Jesus and ask Him to forgive your sins against God and ask Him to save your soul before its eternally to late!