Paul
the apostle desired for the Ephesian church members “to comprehend
with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and
height” of the expansive character of God. In chapter three and
verse nineteen of his letter, Paul declared knowing “the love of
Christ” the fullness of that expanse where we read:
And to
know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge,
that you
might be filled with all the fullness of God.
The
verse begins, “And to know the love of Christ, which passes
knowledge,...” Paul began with the words, “And to know”
which means “learn, get knowledge of, perceive, understand and
feel” “the love” or “the affection, good will,
benevolence, and unconditional brotherly love” “of Christ”
who is “the anointed One, the Messiah and the Son of God”, “which
passes” or “surpasses, throws over or beyond anything,
exceeds and excels” “knowledge” which means “general
intelligence, understanding, the deeper more perfect and enlarged
knowing”. Paul desired for the Ephesians to “perceive and
understand” God's amazing “unconditional love” which is beyond
that natural “knowledge” of man.
The
verse goes on to say, “...that you might be filled with
all the fullness of God.” Paul
added, “that you might be filled”
which means “full, caused to abound, furnished or supplied
liberally and completed” “with all the fullness”
or “each, every, any, all, the whole and everyone of the
causes to abound, be furnished or supplied liberally and completed”
“of God” which
refers to “the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised of God
the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit”.
When
we consider these words of Paul, we rejoice with the Ephesians for
his desire for them. The church members of Ephesus were destined
through Paul's prayer for them to “know” the full extent
of God Almighty's “love”.
Oh that we would desire to “know” God's “unconditional
love” in this manner, and when we reach the “ breadth, and
length, and depth, and height” of this characteristic of God,
all other desires will be satiated.
Next
time Paul shares how God is “able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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