“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Eph. 314-19 (Read v. 14-21)
What is the prayer of the apostle Paul for the believers at Ephesus? He prays that God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ would grant to the believers to be strengthened by the mighty working of His Spirit in their inner man – their new nature – that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith, in order that they, rooted and grounded in the love and mercy of God, would be able to understand, with all others who are holy and righteous in God’s eyes through faith in Christ Jesus, the immeasurable love of Christ, which is beyond human comprehension, that they might be filled with all the fullness of God.
This prayer, of course, has application to you and me and believers of all time, as well. We too bow our knees to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He would, by the working of the Holy Spirit through Word and Sacrament, strengthen us in the faith. We pray that Christ would dwell in our hearts through faith and that we, being rooted and grounded in His love, would grow more and more into His image. We pray that we may know and comprehend more and more His great love for us and for all lost sinners – love so great that He willingly took our sin upon Himself while we were yet His enemies and in rebellion against Him and bore our punishment as He suffered and died upon the cross in our stead. We pray that we may begin to comprehend, with all other believers, the width,length, depth and height of His love for us. We pray that we would know the incomprehensible love of Christ and so be filled with all the fullness of God.
“The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:5-8; cf. John 3:16; 1 John 4:9-10).
Do you know the love of Christ for you? Do you comprehend, along with all the saints, how much Christ loved you to take your sins upon Himself and suffer your punishment? Do you grasp the love of God toward all the world in Christ Jesus? May God’s Spirit strengthen us in the inner man by His mighty working through Word and Sacrament, that we might know the love of Christ for us and share that love of Christ with lost mankind.
O Father, grant us Your Spirit and strengthen us in faith in Christ Jesus. Grant us to know and comprehend the immeasurable love which is given us in our crucified and risen Savior. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.