Word of Encouragement (5/13/2021)

We are continuing our reflection 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 it means for Christ to dwell in our hearts through faith. Today. We will see more of what that entails: “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....” What is Paul praying for in this petition? He is ultimately praying that we would come “to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.” This is an interesting prayer, isn’t it? Paul wants us to know that which is beyond knowledge. This is an effective expression that shows us that what we are to know is not just mere factual, academic knowledge. This is understandable because what we are to know is the love of Christ. Love is not something we can know merely by reading about it in a book or studying about it in the classroom. To truly know love, we must experience it. Poems may exalt love and songs may sing about love but there is something about love that is beyond description or explanation. Of course, we come to know Christ’s love by reading about it in the Bible. But, insofar as it is an inspired description of Christ’s love, God uses it to help us experience the very thing that we are reading about in the Bible.

The expression, “to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,” also points us to the enormity of Christ’s love: we can know Christ’s love but we cannot know the fullness of it (because it surpasses our knowledge of it, or our capacity to know it). Paul hints at the immensity of Christ’s love in the previous clause: “...that you... may have strength to comprehend... what is the breadth and length and height and depth....” Paul lists these four dimensions of Christ’s love, not to say that it is measurable, but to say that it surpasses knowledge (and therefore immeasurable). We may be filled with the love of Christ to the brim of our souls but there is more where it comes from. Paul prays that we would come to comprehend the love of Christ, not because we can master it, but because it is abounding without measure.

This is not something we can do on our own. That is why Paul prays “...that you... may have strength to comprehend....” You may wonder why we need “strength” to comprehend Christ’s love. In Greek, it simply means “be able to comprehend....” This ability doesn’t come from us. It comes when we are “rooted and grounded in love.” Peter T. O’Brien says that this expression refers to what Paul spoke of in the preceding clauses: “the strengthening of the inner person by God’s Spirit [v. 16] and Christ’s indwelling in their hearts [v. 17]” (Ephesians, PNTC, p. 260).

Let us make this our prayer. As we do so, may the Lord deepen our knowledge and experience of His love more and more!

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