Ephesians 3:14-21 · Ephesians 1:1 — Serving
Filled with Christ to Serve
Paul's prayer invites believers to know Christ's boundless love and be filled with God's power, enabling them to serve others with humility and reveal God's glory through unity and praise.
For the past several weeks we have looked at the idea of being a servant. We noticed that God created us to do good works in this world. These good works do not come from us but from the God who empowers us to add to the good in this world.
Then we noticed that Jesus was emphatic about the role his disciples would have in this world. He expects us to serve and he used his own demonstration of service at the cross to make his point.
Then we began looking at how we must change our attitude in order to serve. We envision ourselves as being better than others; perhaps even refusing to act because such actions are too menial for us. Jesus reminds us that the humility of a child is necessary if we are going to be part of his kingdom.
Last week we looked at Jesus’ demonstration of service as he washed the feet of his disciples. Wanting to reveal the full extent of his love, Jesus washed the feet of every disciple, including Judas. How could he do such? Because he knew where he had come from and he knew where he was going. Confident about his role in this world, there was no humiliation in doing that which revealed his humble spirit.
The Prayer of Paul
The text today is a prayer from the pen of Paul. It is a prayer focusing on the love of Christ. The objective—to know the love of Christ to such an extent that we are filled with God. And filled with God that we may reveal his wisdom to the heavenly realms which results in God’s glory being seen in the church and in every generation. Let’s look at the context.
Paul begins chapter 1 with one long sentence. The point of the sentence is to enhance the blessings which God’s children enjoy. With one long sentence Paul stacks all the blessings so that we are left overwhelmed with the grace of God which results in powerful praise. Look at the blessings: chosen to be holy and blameless, predestined, adopted, received grace, redemption, forgiveness, revealed his mystery of oneness, sealed with the Holy Spirit, and promised inheritance.
Paul ends the first sentence with a prayer that all of God’s saints may know God and his power. Power plays an important role in Ephesians. This power which raised Jesus from the dead is the same power which is living within us. The power which not only raised Jesus from the dead, but the power so that all things were placed under his feet so that Jesus is head of not only the church but head of all things for the benefit of the church. This power is ours as well.
Chapter 2 reminds us that we were dead because of sin. But God who is rich in grace saved us. He saved us so that we could do good in this world. He saved us so that we would know that our time on this earth is to enhance the good. This he prepared for us to do and saved us so that we could reach the height of our purpose. Then the mystery is revealed. The plan of God was not for Jews but for Gentiles as well. God’s plan was that through the death of Jesus he would create a new nation. A nation made up of all who were at one time enemies. National citizenship did not matter; what mattered was citizenship in the country where peace reigned with Christ as the head. This nation has no boundaries; its language is the language of praise; its power comes from God. This profound mystery includes all who submit to Jesus as Lord. And this profound mystery serves to convince the powers and authorities in the heavenly realms of God’s wisdom.
Then we come to Paul’s prayer in 3:14-21. It is a prayer that adds an exclamation point to what Paul has written. Jew and Gentile have been made one because of Christ. The prayer is that those who are one by the work of Christ on the cross will experience that oneness in the depth of love and unity. Paul’s prayer is that knowing the love of Christ—a love which is beyond our ability to fully know—leads to being filled up with God. This love boggles the mind. But it is this love which results in praise. It is this same love which when embraced allows nonbelievers to know that we belong to Christ.
Who has the words to express with clarity the vastness of this love? As one begins to approach an understanding about this kind of love, then an accurate definition eludes us. Paul prays that we will grasp the vastness of this love which is beyond our ability to fully comprehend. Why would he pray something like that? Because our God is so much bigger than our feeble attempts to understand. And for Paul, our understanding of Christ’s love is revealed in unity, how we live day by day, our mutual submission, and in our serving others.
Two Things to Notice
There are two things to notice in this text. Power. The power which raised Christ from the dead and the power which at work in our lives comes through the work of the Holy Spirit. This is not the miraculous. The Holy Spirit’s work is to strengthen us in order for Christ to take up residence in our inner person. Nothing mystical or magical about it. The Spirit who is our guarantee that we belong to God empowers us to give greater room for Christ. Jesus wants to take up residence in your heart. The Spirit encourages us to allow Jesus to have greater space. Paul’s prayer is that ultimately that Jesus would be at home in our hearts. That he would at the very center of our loves and that he would be the great influence for what we do and our attitudes. The Spirit’s work in our lives is to work in connection with our will to allow Jesus to settle into our hearts.
This means that serving others is not found only by our will but is based upon how much room we give for Jesus in our lives. Selfishness is the constant battle. Fear of what others may think; fear of what serving another may cost us in terms of time, energy, and maybe financially; fear of being hurt. These fears lead us to push aside the love of Christ.
The power which is available to us is confirmed by the work of the Spirit as we allow Jesus to have a greater place in our lives. No wonder Paul prays for his readers and for us to have a greater place for Jesus in our lives. To reveal God’s glory in this world the power must come from him not from our own wills.
Second, there is no end to Christ’s love. We may grow weary. We may lose our focus. We may exhaust our resources but there is no end to Christ’s love. And this never ending love inspires us to praise. Look at chapter 1. As Paul lists our blessings at the hand of God he begins verse 3 with the word “praise.” He says the blessings result in “praise of his glorious grace” in verse 6 and the presence of the Spirit results in “praise of his glory” in verse 14. And he completes this prayer in chapter 3 with the praise which reveals once again God’s glory which is for ever and ever. Our lives are to be lived in praise for God.
The 1988 World Series pitted the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Oakland Athletics. The Dodgers won the series 4-1. The MVP of the series was Orel Hershiser. Throwing 2 complete games for the series, Hershiser was lauded for his heroism on the field. The night after the series was completed, Hershiser was a guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
When we understand the unlimited, inexhaustible love of Jesus and that the power we have at our disposal, then we live our lives revealing the glory of God and our life is a praise to him.
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