14.5 Paul prayed “THAT YOU MAY KNOW the love of Christ…”
(Eph 3:14-19)
14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,[c] 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; THAT YOU, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 MAY BE ABLE TO COMPREHEND with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 TO KNOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Along with Eph 1:16-20, the above prayer is one of the two most powerful prayers in the New Covenant. I also encourage you to pray this prayer over yourself. Personalize it with your own name. Now, let me explain more on this verse.
Firstly, Paul did not pray for the believer to receive more love from God. Secondly, Paul did not pray that the believer would love God more. The majority of Christians would be shocked by this verse because they have grown up being told that they must love God more. Christianity becomes a burdensome because they never seem to be able to love God enough. The verse does not tell them to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength – contrary to what was demanded in the Old Covenant.
This powerful prayer from Paul is THAT YOU MAY BE ABLE TO COMPREHEND the infinite love of God! This is the love that has been poured out and demonstrated on the cross. There is a change in direction of the flow of love. The Old Covenant demanded for your love for God. The New Covenant tells of God’s love for you.
God is not going to pour more of His love down to this earth. We are not to ask God to love us any more than He has. We are not to try to love God more with our self-effort. The quest of the believer is to know; to comprehend the love of Christ. This could be a lifetime journey considering that His love is infinite.
This verse also answers another question. How do we have more of God? How do we get filled with more of God? Is it through prayer or fasting? Is it through serving God faithfully? Is it through loving Him more? As important as these are, the answer is none of these. The key to being filled with God is simply TO KNOW the love of Christ.
When WE KNOW the love of Christ, we will fall in love with Him. We then love Him because He first loved us. We then live our lives for Him because He first loved us. We enjoy serving Him because He first loved us.
This is the key to the New Covenant. THAT YOU MAY KNOW the love of Christ. All God’s love has been poured out on the cross. What’s left is for us to KNOW and COMPREHEND it. This is our quest.
14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,[c] 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; THAT YOU, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 MAY BE ABLE TO COMPREHEND with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 TO KNOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Along with Eph 1:16-20, the above prayer is one of the two most powerful prayers in the New Covenant. I also encourage you to pray this prayer over yourself. Personalize it with your own name. Now, let me explain more on this verse.
Firstly, Paul did not pray for the believer to receive more love from God. Secondly, Paul did not pray that the believer would love God more. The majority of Christians would be shocked by this verse because they have grown up being told that they must love God more. Christianity becomes a burdensome because they never seem to be able to love God enough. The verse does not tell them to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength – contrary to what was demanded in the Old Covenant.
This powerful prayer from Paul is THAT YOU MAY BE ABLE TO COMPREHEND the infinite love of God! This is the love that has been poured out and demonstrated on the cross. There is a change in direction of the flow of love. The Old Covenant demanded for your love for God. The New Covenant tells of God’s love for you.
God is not going to pour more of His love down to this earth. We are not to ask God to love us any more than He has. We are not to try to love God more with our self-effort. The quest of the believer is to know; to comprehend the love of Christ. This could be a lifetime journey considering that His love is infinite.
This verse also answers another question. How do we have more of God? How do we get filled with more of God? Is it through prayer or fasting? Is it through serving God faithfully? Is it through loving Him more? As important as these are, the answer is none of these. The key to being filled with God is simply TO KNOW the love of Christ.
When WE KNOW the love of Christ, we will fall in love with Him. We then love Him because He first loved us. We then live our lives for Him because He first loved us. We enjoy serving Him because He first loved us.
This is the key to the New Covenant. THAT YOU MAY KNOW the love of Christ. All God’s love has been poured out on the cross. What’s left is for us to KNOW and COMPREHEND it. This is our quest.
posted by Joshua Lye @ 12:36 AM
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