Not by Any Strength or Power on Earth

“...and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:19)

This is the last of Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians which starts in verse 14 and ends in verse 21. He prayed four things, that they would be strengthened by the Holy Spirit in the inner man, that Christ would dwell in their hearts, to comprehend and know the love of Christ and that they may be filled with the fulness of God. The last two petitions are in our verse of study.

To know the love of Christ is actually part of the previous verses, “...being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge...” Rooted and grounded speaks about the Word of God being active in their lives. The person who is not rooted and grounded hears the Word of God and is enthusiastic and gung-ho trying to do all things in the church but suddenly peters out and then they are no more. The Word was temporary in their hearts. The Word didn’t take root in their hearts. Jesus said when tribulation or persecution come because of the Word of God the KJV says that they get offended. In the original Greek that means that they get tripped up, they stumble, get enticed to sin or apostacy. “But he has no root in himself, and is temporary. For when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the Word, he immediately stumbles.” (Matthew 13:21) Paul prayed that the Ephesians would be rooted and grounded in love, rooted in Jesus, rooted in God Who is love. (1John 4:16)

When one is rooted and grounded in love, one can comprehend the breadth, length, depth, height and know the love of Christ. The word comprehend was translated from the Greek word meaning to seize, attain or possess. This brings a deepness to our knowledge of the love of Christ. When we read it in its deep meaning it brings an understanding of what Paul was praying: That they may be able to seize, attain and possess the breadth, length, depth, height and know the love of Christ.

The object of being rooted and grounded is to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, the limited knowledge that we’re able to have with our limited minds here on earth. When we are root and grounded, we can know the love of Christ which is beyond this limited world and limited knowledge of this world. And when that happens, we will be filled with all the fullness of God.

What is the fullness of God? There are several Scriptures stating about the fullness of God. Paul in Ephesians writes, that the church which is the body of Christ is the fullness of Jesus Who fills all in all. “And He has put all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” (Ephesians 1:22-23) We have received this fullness. “And out of His fullness we all have received, and grace for grace.” (John 1:16) It has to do with grace, God’s undeserved favor. Because of God’s grace we have received the fullness of Christ. It’s everything Jesus is. This is done through the work of the Holy Spirit in us. As everything in the Lord, God does the work and provides the fullness of Christ in us. This doesn’t mean we do what we want. We yield by obedience and follow Christ, by denying ourselves and living a sacrificial life. This is what is missing in many of our lives. We love the freedoms, the joy, the love, the peace and the promises of God. But we ignore what Jesus said about the kind of life we must live. It’s complete repentance and living a life of righteousness, free of sin. Again, this doesn’t mean we are going the work of “trying to be good.” If we yield in obedience to what we cannot do, the Lord does the work in our heart to abhor sin. And in His strength, we are able to live righteously. It’s a work of God. I will give you an example. Before being saved, I loved alcohol. I didn’t get drunk, but I liked the taste of it and the buzz I got. I never did drugs, but I did drink. I don’t know when I lost my taste for it. It’s nothing I did. I might have a glass of wine at a dinner once a year or so. But I don’t really like it anymore. It was a work of God. This is not to say having a drink is a sin. Getting drunk is. How much better and glorious it is to have the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

The fullness of Christ is everything Christ is. In our journey, the Holy Spirit reveals sin in our flesh. It may be anger, envy, combativeness, etc... anything that displeases God. When it’s revealed to us many say that it’s just how I am. But we must recognize it as sin, repent of it and allow the Holy Spirit to work in us to change us. We must allow the Holy Spirit to stop us from continuing in this sin. And we must pray that the Lord will give us a hatred for this sin instead of embracing it. It may or may not be an immediate change. Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t. The Holy Spirit works in us to change us more and more into the image of Christ. And each time we are victorious, we are going from glory to glory to the fullness of Christ which is all that He is, His attributes, character, perfection, holiness, power, love and much more. "But we all, with our face having been unveiled, having beheld the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are being changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord Spirit.

(2Co 3:18)

To sum it up, it’s an impossibility to have the fullness of Christ by any human strength or power here on earth. It is a work of God. But we must be willing to let go of this world and of the things of this world.