Word of Encouragement (5/12/2021)

We are reflecting on Paul’s prayer in Eph. 3:14-19: “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Yesterday, we talked about what riches of glory are available to us in Jesus Christ for the strengthening of our inner being. Today, we learn that the strengthening of our souls is “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith....” You may find it strange that Paul was praying this prayer. He was writing to the Philippian Christians. That means Christ had already made His dwelling in their hearts already. Why did Paul have to pray that Christ would dwell in their hearts?

Paul could not have meant the fact of Christ’s dwelling, then; he must have meant the quality of His dwelling. This is similar to what the Lord said to the Laodicean church: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20). Jesus spoke as if He were outside their hearts even though the Laodicean Christians were believers. Jesus said this to show how their fellowship with Him was far from where it should be.

This is humbling, isn’t it? It is humbling because, first, Christ has made His dwelling in every believer, even in the weakest and meekest: “...do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God” (1 Cor. 6:19)? (To have the Holy Spirit is to have Christ because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, Rom. 8:9). In the Old Testament, God’s people had to stay outside of the sanctuary, longing to look into it and enter into it but could not. Only the priests could enter the Holy Place and only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place, and that, only once a year on the Day of Atonement. When the Holy Spirit (in the form of glory cloud) was poured out on the tabernacle (Ex. 40) and the Jerusalem temple that Solomon built (1 Kings 8:10-11), even Moses and the priests could not enter. But, on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the people of God (Acts 2). We have been made the living temple of God through the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ (Eph. 2:21-22). What an incredible privilege!

But Paul’s prayer is also humbling because the quality of His dwelling varies from Christian to Christian. When you look at Christians, it is obvious that some walk closely with Christ whereas others seem hardly mindful of Him in what they do. We saw how the Laodiceans’ fellowship with Christ had much to be desired. On the other hand, there were people like Paul and John and Peter, etc. This is why Paul prayed that Christ might dwell in our hearts through faith—that is, Christ’s lordship over our lives might become more and more evident.

Keep in mind that Christ is fully present in each believer, objectively speaking. He cannot be partially present with us, just as we cannot be partially married: either we are married or we are not. Similarly, Christ is either wholly in or wholly out (as far as His saving presence is concerned). But, just as the quality of one’s marriage varies, the quality of Christ’s presence with us varies. So, we must not be content with how our fellowship with Christ is now. We should pray that Christ may dwell in us “better and better.” But we also must remember the important role of our faith plays (“that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith”). Remember that Jesus urged the Laodiceans to hear His voice of invitation and open the door of their hearts so that He might come in and dine with them (Rev. 3:20).

Would you make Paul’s prayer your own? And would you think about what you can do to make Christ dwell “better and better” in you? What sin(s) do you need to part with? In what things do you need to trust Christ more? In what areas of your life do you need to obey Christ better?