Our identity as a follower of Jesus should provoke us to pray that the Holy Spirit would empower us to comprehend Christ’s love for us...

This week, we are looking at a prayer that is recorded for us in a letter in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Ephesians. Yesterday, we looked on as Paul prayed that God would give the members of the church of Ephesus the ability to experience the Holy Spirit’s transforming power as a result of Jesus taking up permanent residence in their lives. Paul wanted the members of the church at Ephesus to experience the Holy Spirit’s activity in their life so that they would become more like Jesus as Jesus lived within them.

Paul was praying for us today as followers of Jesus that we would experience the Holy Spirit’s power as a result of Jesus taking up residence in our lives through faith. And as Jesus takes up permanent residence in our lives, Paul prayed that the Holy Spirit would be at work in our lives in such a way that we would experience the Holy Spirit’s transforming power in our lives.

Now a natural question that arises here is “well Dave how can you say that Paul here is praying for us today? And what did Paul want the Holy Spirit to do in our lives if Paul was actually praying for us today?” Today we find the answer to those questions in what Paul has to say next in the second half of Ephesians 3:17:

and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

By using the phrase “rooted and grounded in love”, Paul is painting a word picture for the members of the church of Ephesus. You see, just like a healthy tree that is firmly rooted in the ground; just like a secure foundation that provides a secure base for a building, the members of the church at Ephesus were firmly rooted and secure in their relationship with Jesus.

Paul explains that the reason they were firmly rooted and secure in their relationship with Christ was due to God’s selfless and sacrificial love for them that He had demonstrated through His activity through His Son Jesus which resulted in their relationship with Jesus. And because they were firmly rooted and secure in their relationship with Jesus, Paul prayed that they may be able to comprehend something, with all the saints.

Notice that Paul’s prayer is for all the saints. This morning, if you are here and you are a follower of Jesus that would be you. Paul here is praying that followers of Jesus throughout history would be able to comprehend, which means to understand or grasp, something. Paul wanted followers of Jesus throughout history to be able experience the Holy Spirit’s transforming power in such a way that they would be able to wrap their minds around something.

Paul then reveals what exactly he wanted followers of Jesus to be able to wrap their minds around in the second half of verse 18. Paul wanted followers of Jesus throughout history to comprehend “what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge”.

Now this phrase, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “I am praying that that God would give you the ability to comprehend and wrap your minds around the love of Christ that transcends comprehension. I am praying that you would be able to comprehend how wide Jesus love for you is. I am praying that you would be able to comprehend how long Jesus love for you is. I am praying that you would be able to comprehend how tall Jesus love for you is. I am praying that you would be able comprehend how deep Jesus love for you is. And the reason why I am praying that you would be able to comprehend and wrap your minds around the love of Christ is because the love of Christ is incomprehensible. There is no way that you are going to be able to wrap your finite minds around the infinite love of Christ. However, I am praying that God would, by His Holy Spirit empower you to be able to comprehend and wrap your minds around the incomprehensible and infinite love of Christ so that you would become more like Christ”.

And it is here that we see the Apostle Paul reveal for us a timeless truth when it comes to our identity as a follower of Jesus. And that timeless truth is this: Our identity as a follower of Jesus should provoke us to pray that the Holy Spirit would empower us to comprehend Christ’s love for us. Paul’s prayer for the members of the church at Ephesus, and for followers of Jesus throughout history, was that as we grew in our understanding of what God had done for us through Jesus that resulted in our relationship with Jesus, that our understanding of all that God had done for us through Jesus would provoke something within the core of our beings. And what would be provoked would be that we would pray that the Holy Spirit would empower us to comprehend Christ’s love for us.

Now think of it this way; would you give your only child to rescue your enemy who hated you? Would you willingly choose to adopt as a part of your family someone who had rebelled and rejected you? Would you willingly give an inheritance to someone who had rebelled and rejected you? Would you willingly identify with someone who had rebelled and rejected you as being yours?

Now, if I was honest, I would never do that for you. Would you do that for me? How wide, how long, how tall, how deep would someone’s love have to be to do such a thing? But that is exactly what God did for us though His activity through His Son Jesus that resulted in our relationship with Jesus. And Paul wanted followers of Jesus throughout history to somehow be able to comprehend and wrap their minds around the incomprehensible love of Christ.

So Paul prayed that the Holy Spirit would be at work in our lives in such a way that we would experience the Holy Spirit’s transforming power in our lives so that we would be able to comprehend and wrap our minds around the incomprehensible love of Christ so that our lives would reflect the love of Christ as we lived in relationship with Christ.

Now a natural question that arises here is “well Dave, if the love of Christ is incomprehensible, why would Paul even bother praying that God would help us to comprehend the love of Christ? I mean that seems to be a waste of time? Why pray something that cannot possibly be answered?”

Friday, we will see Paul himself provide the answer as he concludes this section of his letter...