Paul’s letter to the Ephesians was written to a church located in a city that was a center for pagan worship, in particular, the goddess Artemis. It was a wealthy city, a center of learning, and it was filled with temples and shrines for all manner of idols. And in their congregation there was tension and strife. 

Chapter 3 begins with the words “For this reason…I have written…” So we have to look back at the preceding verses to see what the reason is.

The foregoing verses, (Ephesians 2:19-22) addressed to the gentiles, explain how the church is one in Christ; Jew and Gentile together.

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

It was a stressful environment in that church as the Jewish Christians learned to accept, and live with, the gentile Christians. Therefore Paul offers a prayer for the church:

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,…”

Paul was the most effective church planter in the Apostolic era. He travelled far and wide to bring the gospel to the gentiles. He was well-trained in the scriptures, highly intelligent, a prolific writer, and an effective teacher. But Paul knew that it was not by his own strength that these churches were established, nor could they be maintained by the un-aided strength of the new believers, so he “bowed his knees” before God to pray for the church. The Jews of that day always prayed while standing up, so to kneel before God was an expression of humility and urgency. Here is what he prays:

“…that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being…”

1. That you may be strengthened in the power of the Spirit. What can I do? What can we do? We wonder and fret and look for answers. In our own strength we can accomplish very little. But God has equipped us as individuals and as His church with strength and resources to accomplish His purposes for His church. As we just read, we are being “…built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” Remember what the early church faced: vicious opposition from the Jewish leaders, cultural resistance from idol-worshippers, and religious persecution by the Romans. Christians were excluded, marginalized, and even martyred for the faith. Yet all the while, God was building His church on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ as the cornerstone. By the power of the Spirit in us, God is still building His church, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.

Paul continues,

“…so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…”

2. That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. “To dwell” means to be completely at home; or as one dictionary definition has it “to live as a permanent resident.” Christ is present in the hearts of those who believe. We cannot claim Christ by the power of our own will. We can’t hang a cross around our neck and slap a fish symbol on our car and thus become a Christian. We become Christian by the grace of God through faith in the Christ who fulfilled all the righteousness of the law, died on the cross and was raised again from the dead to rule eternally with the Father. Our faith is in what Christ accomplished. And Jesus dwells in us now and forever according to God’s promises. The church exists because Jesus lives HERE, in our hearts. Thanks be to God! Paul goes on to expound on the inevitable results from this 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.”

3. That you may comprehend (and take comfort in) the all-encompassing love of Christ. All-encompassing means “inclusive, inexhaustible and self-sacrificing.” To comprehend is to understand, to grasp however incompletely, just how great is the love of Christ for His people. Look to the sky. We can comprehend how high it is. From the top of a tall building, we can understand that it is higher yet. We can board an airplane, and fly six miles above the surface of the earth, and still the sky is higher. We can comprehend it, yet still not fully grasp the vastness of the sky. Comprehension is one thing. But Paul further prays that we KNOW the love of Christ. To know it is to experience it. To know by the power of the Holy Spirit that Christ died for ME, to experience with certainty the transforming, life-changing love of Christ poured out on my behalf.

So we have both. To comprehend, and to know the love of Christ is to be filled with all the fullness of God. Into our empty, sin-sick hearts, the full holy power of God comes, transforming by His grace His own adopted children forever. Paul ends with this doxology.

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen”

Remember the church exists for God’s glory ( the ultimate purpose of the believer and the church is God’s glory.) and He will never let the church fail. It is His power that sustains us and His church. He is able to do what we cannot even imagine. By His power He established the church. He caused it to grow and flourish, against all odds. And He sustains it even to this very day, in every place. Not by our strength but by His power living in us.

About 30-35 years after this letter to the Ephesian church was written, John the Apostle received a vision from Christ that we know as the Book of Revelation. Listen as Jesus addresses the same church at Ephesus that Paul prayed for:

Revelation 2:2-5 “I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from this place, unless you repent.”

Paul has prayed that the love of Christ would dwell in their hearts. Jesus challenges them to return to that love which once burned so brightly.

So, what can we do? What should we do?

Jesus tells it; we need to repent. Whatever it is that has made us complacent, indifferent, and casual about our faith and our church membership needs to change. It’s not our circumstances that need to change; we need to change. We need to be rooted and grounded in love, not fear. We need to regain a love and a passion for the Christ who so loved us. And we do that by doing the things that make us the church.

Love your brothers and sisters in the faith. Pray for the church. Make attending worship a priority. Study God’s word. Give your Tithe to the church. 

God will do the rest.

God is able to do more than we can imagine, more than we can ask or think.

Thanks be to God.