Our Great God

This morning on this Partnership Sunday we come in our series in Paul's letter to the Ephesians to Ephesians 3. Look first at vv.1 & 14 of Ephesians 3. Paul writes:

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles - …For this reason I kneel before the Father…

At the start of this chapter Paul is about to pray for the Ephesians in the light of what he's been writing about in chapter 2 - namely the amazing grace of God in bringing those dead in sin to new life in Christ, and of the far reaching significance of the reconciling of Jew and Gentile together in the one people of God. And as we shall see when we look at vv.14-21 it's a tremendous prayer which we can imitate for our mission partners at St Philips, Mburi in rural Kenya, and which they can pray for us here in Jesmond. But at the end of v.1 Paul breaks off from beginning to pray until v.14, to emphasize the mystery of Christ made known to him by revelation (vv.1-6) and the ministry entrusted to him (vv.7-13) which prepares his readers further for his prayer and to which we now turn:


First, PAUL'S DIGRESSION vv.2-13

In these verses Paul refers to two privileges God had given him in the outworking of God's purpose for the Gentiles. The first was "the mystery made known to him by revelation". Look at vv.2-3:

Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.

The second was a commission to preach to the Gentiles. Look at vv.7-9:

I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.

He was to make known to others what had been made known to him. So what is this mystery or open secret which, v.5,

was not made known to men in other generations but has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets…

this "mystery of Christ" (v.4), this revealed truth 'of which Christ is both the source and the substance', which "in reading this letter we will be able to understand Paul's insight into"? Well, v.6, makes it clear that

this mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

Gentile believers are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, the body of Christ, the new international community the church, and sharers together in the promise in Jesus. They are in equal partnership with Jewish believers. And we are in partnership with the believers in Mburi, our Kenyan brothers and sisters. So the "mystery of Christ" is 'the complete union of Jews and Gentiles with each other through the union of both with Christ'. And this complete union of Jews, Gentiles and Christ was a new revelation (vv.5&9).

Paul was also given the privileged ministry of spreading the gospel first and foremost to the Gentiles. He was given this grace (v.8): "to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ". The riches freely available because of Jesus' death on the cross: resurrection from the death of sin, victorious enthronement with Christ in the heavenlies, peace with God, incorporation with Jewish believers in his new society, access to the Father through Christ, membership of his kingdom and all this only a foretaste of the riches of the glory of the inheritance to come. No wonder Paul calls Christ's riches unsearchable.

Now we too are to share God's truth and these riches. If we are sure, as Paul was, that the gospel is both truth from God and riches for mankind then surely no-one will be able to keep us quiet! Whether here in Newcastle or in Mburi. And so we rejoice in our partnership in the gospel with Mburi. Paul was also, v.9, to make plain the mystery of Christ to both Jews and Gentiles. In v.8 his message was Christ, in v.9 it was the church, where in Christ Jews and Gentiles are incorporated on equal terms in the same single community. And in this new multi-racial humanity which is like a beautiful tapestry, the manifold wisdom of God was and is being displayed as it grows to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. To an extent our partnership with Mburi displays it too. Look at vv.10&11:

His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

It is a staggering thought that that the church on earth is observed by these spiritual powers and that to the degree the church is spiritually united it portrays to them the wisdom of God. How important is the church to us? How important our partnership in the gospel with Mburi? One of the major lessons of this chapter is that the church has a central place in God's plan. Yes, Jesus Christ is the centre of God's plan but his body and bride also have a central place. The church is central to history, to the gospel and to Christian living.

Paul was so concerned for the church that in vv.1&13 we see that he is suffering for the sake of the Gentiles as he stands firm for their inclusion in God's new society. And if the church has a central place in God's plan how can we take lightly what God takes so seriously? Like Paul, we are to keep before us the vision of God's new society - his family, his dwelling place and his instrument in the world, and to work, pray and be willing to suffer to see the church grow. And these angels learn not only the manifold wisdom of God from the make up of the church but also his eternal purpose or the plan of the mystery (v.9) which he accomplished in Jesus our Lord, through his death and resurrection, the gift of his Spirit, the preaching of the gospel and the emergence of the church. For, v.12, in Christ and through our faith in him all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, may approach God with freedom and confidence. (through no-one else). Which leads on to my second and final heading.


Secondly, PAUL'S SECOND PRAYER FOR HIS READERS vv.14-21

So now we return to where Paul left off at the end of v.1 but now with emphasized reason in vv.14 -19:

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

How do we pray? What do we pray for, for each other, for us as a church? How do we pray for others? Do we pray for each other and for others as Paul does here to be strengthened with God's power through his Spirit in their inner being, so that Christ might dwell in their hearts by faith? And for others to have power to grasp the height, depth, length and width of the love of Christ and to know that love that they may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God? I hope someone's praying that for me.

Do we pray that for our partners in the gospel in Mburi? For the Mwendwas and the people of that parish. As someone once said, "Prayer expresses desire". So what is it that moves us to pray? What is it that moves Paul to pray here? What reason? Well from chapters 2 and 3 it is "both the reconciling work of Christ and his own understanding of it by special revelation." (Stott) He's just been explaining Jesus' peace making work which resulted in the creation of the new society and his involvement in making this known and now he prays that God's wonderful plan may be even more completely fulfilled in his readers' experience. And here we see an important principle of prayer. What was the basis of Paul's second prayer for the Ephesians? It was his knowledge of God 's purpose which had been revealed to him. For us that means that Bible reading and prayer should always go together. For it is in Scripture that God has disclosed his will, and it is in prayer that we ask him to do it. And we have no authority to pray for anything which God has not revealed to be his will. (Stott) But positively as 1 John 5:14-15 states:

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him.

Our great God is our Father (v.14), and we can commit our prayers to him in confidence. Paul continues in v.14:

I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family (the whole family of believers made up of both Jewish and Gentile) in heaven and on earth derives its name.

People in Paul's day usually stood to pray so Paul here comes before the Father to pray with great earnestness. The Bible does not lay down a rule about our prayer posture. Our attitude is more important than our outward position. Though we may agree with one theologian that "the slouching position of the body while one is supposed to be praying is an abomination to the Lord". (Hendriksen) Do we come before our Father in humility and with reverence as well as with confidence and intimacy? Paul kneels before the Father earnestly and reverently, confident that God has unlimited resources at his disposal and that out of his glorious riches (v.16) the Father will be able to answer his prayer and give his readers strength, power, love, knowledge and fullness.

So let's look more closely at what Paul prays for his readers. John Stott in his very helpful commentary, thinks of Paul's prayer as a

staircase by which he climbs higher and higher in his aspiration for his readers, a staircase which has four steps whose key words are strength, love knowledge and fullness.

First - vv.16b - 17a: he prays

that out of the Father's glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

He prays that God will strengthen his readers in their and our innermost being and in their and our hearts, in other words in their and our whole inner being with power through his Spirit and that Christ may dwell in their and our whole inner being through faith. Remember that to have Christ dwelling in us and to have the Spirit dwelling in us are the same thing. It is by the Spirit that Christ dwells in our hearts (Jn 14 & Rom. 8) and it is strength which he gives us when he dwells there.

But you may maybe thinking surely Christ already dwells by his Spirit in every believer? And certainly every true believer is indwelt by Christ and is the temple of the Holy Spirit. But the key word here is 'dwells'. The word dwells means here to settle down somewhere permanently and to be completely at home. Which of us can say that Christ is completely at home in our hearts and our whole inner being? That he is Lord and Master of the whole of our lives and being? That he rules completely?

So Paul prays to the Father that Christ by his Spirit will be allowed to settle down in their and our hearts, and from his throne there both control and strengthen them and us. He prays for Christians to have inner strength as we face temptation. As someone has written: "The front line of the battle is not out there, but in here, deep in our inner being. That is where we need to win victories by the Spirit." (Motyer)

Paul prays that God will strengthen Christians to be inwardly strong and able to stand firm. That we will know the inward strengthening of the Holy Spirit and that we may lay hold ever more firmly by faith of this divine strength and indwelling. And Paul also wants his readers to be strengthened to love, to love each member of God's family. To be able to do so they need the power of the Spirit's might and of Christ's indwelling. The Ephesians needed that to enable them to love each other across the deep racial and cultural divide which had previously separated them. We are to love our brothers and sisters here whatever their race or background and our partners in Mburi. Look at v.17b:

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love.

His readers are to be rooted and grounded in love. He prays that their foundation might be love. In the next two chapters of Ephesians he will instruct us to "bear with one another in love" (4:2), "to speak the truth in love as the whole church builds itself up in love" (4:15-16), to "live a life of love, just as Christ loved us" and for husbands to "love their wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" (5:25). Which leads us on to vv.18&19 where Paul prays that his readers

being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.

To grasp the full extent of the love of Christ which is wide enough to reach out to the whole world both Jew and Gentile, long enough to last for eternity, deep enough to reach the worst sinner and high enough to exalt him to heaven. Some commentators see these dimensions illustrated on the cross. We will have power to grasp the extent of Christ's love only together with all the saints. On our own we can know something of the love of Jesus but "it needs the whole people of God to understand the whole love of God" - together with all the saints: Jews and Gentiles, men and women, young and old, black and white with all their varied backgrounds and experiences. Our partnership with Mburi helps us to grasp further the love of Christ.

But even then the love of Christ is so great that it cannot be completely known for it surpasses knowledge. It is too wide, long, high and deep even for all the saints together to know fully. His final petition for his readers, v.19, is that "you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God". So he prays for the very highest he can pray for, the full indwelling of God. This must look forward to our final state of perfection in heaven when we will become like Christ, for Christ is himself the fullness of God and when we shall reach the fullness of love. But until that heavenly perfection we are to be growing towards that final fullness, as we are transformed by the Spirit from one degree of glory to another (2 Cor 3:18). Colossians 2:10 says that "we have been given fullness in Christ". But it is plain from Ephesians that we still have room for growth. As individuals we are to go on being filled with the Spirit (5:18).

And the body of Christ, the church although already the fullness of Christ is still to grow up into him till it reaches his fullness (4:13-16). And note that Paul prays "that we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God". His fullness or perfection is the level up to which we pray to be filled. What a prayer! What are we praying for? Now these are indeed bold petitions but God can answer prayer. He possesses glorious riches and in v.20 he works powerfully within us. He is able. Look at vv. 20-21:

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (in the body and in the Head) throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.