Reflection on God's Word

THE SECRET TO HAVING THE FULLNESS OF GOD

by Tim Thomas

February 9, 2006

Ephesian 3:16-19

Paul begins his prayer for the Ephesians, asking God that we would be strengthened on the inside. That is to say, that we would be built up, fortified, encouraged, and made courageous in hearts, minds, souls, wills, and personalities. He is praying that God impart to us peace, confidence, and boldness, through the working of the Holy Spirit, who lives in all who profess faith in Christ. It is through this indwelling and our rich relationship with God that we realize our true identity. We are given eyes to distinguish the "real" -- which includes the spiritual world and the "big picture" that comes from having an eternal perspective and a heavenly perspective -- from the "imitation". The imitation relies only on our natural senses, which are often guided by the myriad false interpretations of reality we face everyday from "wisdom" found in the media and people we come in contact with who haven't been enlightened to the greater truth.

Some translations and commentaries suggest that the strengthening of our inner being is so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith; while others suggest that "Christ dwelling in our hearts" is actually the second prayer that Paul makes for the Ephesians. In the Greek, the "so that" is not there, so the question is whether "so that" is clearly implied or not. If it is implied, it seems to say that unless God first strengthens us on the inside, Christ cannot dwell in our hearts. It seems more natural to me that Paul was praying that the Holy Spirit strengthen us, AND that Christ would dwell in our hearts through faith.

Jesus already promised he would make His home with us (John 14:16,20,23), so why would Paul pray this if it automatically happens? The word "dwell" gives the impression of permanence, the sense of not coming and going all the time, but staying put. When we think of it this way, it seems clear what God is talking about. We all know believers who seem to be at best vaguely aware of God in their lives. They live scattered lives, sometimes concerned with their relationship with God, but a lot more of the time with all of the concerns of this world. Truthfully, it describes almost all of us, at least at times. I think that what this part of the prayer means is that it is only through our constant exercise of faith that in any practical sense we are aware of Jesus's presence in our hearts, and to the extent that we are aware of Jesus living in our hearts can He be said to "dwell" there.

This may reconcile the "so that" controversy. It seems to me that we need help on the inside to have this kind of faith that is aware of Jesus in us and with us. It's humbling that we need that kind of help -- shouldn't we be able to at least be responsible for rousing our faith? -- but the truth is, apart from God, we are weak. The Holy Spirit helps strengthen our faith, so that Christ can dwell in our hearts. So, whether we prefer "so that" or "and", we are ultimately led to the same understanding of this passage.

The second part of verse 17 is a clear transition in the prayer. Paul begins focusing on God's love for us. He begins by pointing out that when we came to faith in Jesus (i.e., when we were "rooted and established") it was in love and because of love. One of the first verses most of us hear is John 3:16, which says that because God so loved the world, He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Even though I did not know this Scripture, when I put my faith in Jesus, I did so because I believed that He was really God, and that God loved me very much. Over the years as I "matured " in the Christian faith, however, I somehow got away from the primacy of God's love, until I effectively had a "work to please God" mentality. But Paul's prayer here takes us back to the primacy of God's love for us.

May we never get away from the foundational truth of being a Christian: God is incredibly in love with us! And it is important to not take this as an "us" collectively -- though it is true that He does love the Church, the collection of all of us believers. Paul in verse 18 makes it very plain that he is praying that each believer gain an experiential understanding that God distinguishes each one of us in His love, and that God's love for me (and you!) is so magnificently huge that we cannot ever hope to really grasp its full dimensions -- but Paul prays that at least we begin to grasp it and expand the boundaries of what we understand God's love for us is.

The amazing secret of being filled with God to overflowing (found in verse 19) is this: we become aware of the depth of His love for us. To paraphrase Mike Bickle, we love God only as much as we are aware that God loves us. As I have grown in my awareness of God's love for me over the last few years, I have been amazed at how things that used to worry me or irritate me or throw me into depression don't as much as they used to. And why not? Because I know that I am loved deeply by a God who is trustworthy, all-seeing, and who has a good plan for my life. I trust (most of the time!) that God sees all of my needs and will meet all of my needs, even when on the surface the situation looks anything but good.

I believe that the foundation that is either missing or not built very well in the lives of most Christians is the truth found in verse 19: we are deeply loved by God. It is impossible to over-emphasize this truth, because it is meant to be the foundation of our new lives in Jesus. The mistake that many pastors make is they get new believers involved in activities before this foundation is firmly laid. Indeed, if that foundation is not laid, or if we move the "house" of our faith off of this foundation, we find that the house will eventually crumble. Any activity that does not originate from the foundation that God is incredibly in love with us, and that He has a plan for how He can partner with us, will not bear the kind of fruit that God desires.

That leads to one final thought. Jesus tells a parable about a tree that did not bear fruit (Luke 13:6-8). The owner ordered that it be cut down, and by implication, so that a new one could be planted in its place. The gardener pled with the owner to let him put fertilizer around it, and give it one more year. The owner agreed. I have generally understood this verse to be an ominous warning to believers that we need to "get to work" bearing fruit, or we'll get the boot. But that understanding is so inconsistent with other things we know of God's faithfulness and love. My old interpretation of the parable has the understanding that we are the tree. But what if we are not the tree but the soil instead, and the tree represents our beliefs? Perhaps this parable simply means that if the foundation we have built upon does not lead to the kind of fruit that lasts (among these we must consider the fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control -- according to the NIV), he gets rid of that poor foundation, and lays a new one. (How's that for mixing metaphors of building and gardening?!) That is to say, he causes a shaking in our lives which makes us question our beliefs, resulting in a new set of beliefs which will allow fruit to burst forth.

Why is it useful for us to understand that God wants us to know how deeply he cares for each one of us? If it is an act of God required to reveal things to us (since Paul is praying here for God to give that revelation), is there even a role for us? The answer is yes, there are two things we can do. First, we can join Paul in praying this for ourselves and others. Second, we need to cooperate with God in this, at least in agreeing that God's Word is true. If we are intellectually opposed to receiving an experiential understanding of the depth of God's love for us, then we can resist the work of God in our lives -- which means that either we will perpetually reject God's revelations of His love, or God will end up cranking up the volume so loud that we can hear -- and often that involves years of frustration on our parts, and possibly some pain, as when Saul was blinded by God on the road to Damascus (Acts 9), because there was no gentler way for God to override Saul's preconceived ideas about what the Kingdom of God looked like.