This amazing section consists of two sentences in eight verses, but they are intense. There is so much depth I imagine I could spend days or weeks on them and not extract all the treasure they hold. I encourage to read the section for yourself and see that you may mine different gold than I have. I will spend a little time on each verse today and quarry a nugget or two to encourage us through the day and give us even more reason to praise the Lord.
Verses 14-15 read,
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,”
We worship and submit to God because of the salvation He gave us and is offering to anyone who asks. He is our Father. We are named for God, Jesus. We are in His Family, adopted to be His heirs. Because we are named for Him, we represent Him and our family throughout our lives. What we do and how we react is reflected on our brothers and sisters all over the world. It is reflected on God. We are Christians, we are Children of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and we have a name in Heaven that we don’t know yet. (Revelation 2:17). Names have meaning. In the Bible, people’s names said something about them, their personality, their purpose, or their relationship with God. So our names also have meaning, the name we will receive in Heaven, the name that identifies us as Believers, and the name that denotes us as belonging to God. These names are an honor and we should reflect that honor.
Verse 16 reads,
“that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,”
God has an endless depth of triumph, brilliance, and beauty and from that glory He strengthens us through His Spirit. Whatever we go through, no matter how weak we feel, He is with us and His power gives us the strength to endure. His presence is the power that allows us to persevere and overcome every obstacle and further glorifies God. He is not glorified when we depend on our own limited strength. He is glorified when we let Him be our strength and our power. His strength is immeasurable. It never ends. It never gives in. He gives that might to us. It is God who makes us potent.
Verse 17 reads,
“so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,”
Because we submitted to the Father and He gave us a new name and identity and the Spirit indwelled us with strength and faith, Christ abides in the essence of our being, our hearts. Jesus who is the personification of perfect love lives in us and gives us a new foundation. Our Cornerstone, our Rock gives us the base and substance of love. We are able to love like He loves because of His love. We can love because He loved us first.
Verses 18-19 say,
“may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
It takes that power, it requires the Spirit to even begin to grasp the vastness and completeness of Christ’s love. Because we have the Holy Spirit we can realize it, but without Him, no one can know it. And we can never completely know it in the present. So we always seek it more and first. Dioko Agape.
In seeking His perfect, abundant, and infinite love God fills us with His fullness. We are filled with His Spirit, with His glory, with His desires and joys. We share in His nature, gifts, and power. We are filled with His richness, completeness, and abundance. We are not simply given a portion or shadow but are stuffed to overflowing with the fullness of God.
Verses 20-21 read,
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
The lives we live glorify God forever and through every generation after us. His power is infinite. He can do more than we can ever dream and more than we can consider asking for. Nothing is outside the realm of possibilities with God. We don’t even know what to ask for, but God knows what is best for us and what will bring about our transformation and His glory. So He works within us and that work is huge. Look back at your salvation. Consider your transformation. Think about the miracles, provision, and protection over your life and your heart. The power that did that is incalculable. The authority and force that accomplished that is within you. God, the Holy Spirit in your spirit, God, the Son, Jesus Christ in your core has done that.
What more does He have in store for you? I encourage you to continue pursuing to know Him more, to carry on seeking to love Him more and love others with His love, and to take joy in His fullness by making use of it and glorifying God everywhere and every moment.