Ephesians 3:14-16To: Ephesians Main MenuTo: Grace Notes Home Page Ephesians 3:14For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This verse takes up where verse 1 left off in mid-paragraph. Verses 2 through 13 have been parenthetical. Notice that the phrase "for this cause" occurs both in verse 1 and here. Both phrases refer back to the conclusions of chapter 2. The Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens and members of the household of God. Paul's prayer of verses 14 to 19, therefore, is based on these facts and proceeds from these facts. In chapter 2 he lays out the position and condition of Christians, who by the grace of God, have been brought into a position as members of the Father's royal family. In chapter 3, Paul's prayer is that the logical and spiritual next step will be taken, namely that members of the royal family will take advantage of their new position and grow mightily in Christ. "I bow my knees" - this is another of Paul's great, fervent prayers that believers learn, apply and prosper from the Word of God. Read again his prayer in Eph. 1:17-21. The Apostle wants the best for his beloved friends in Asia. He knows the value of concentrating on the strengthening of the "inner man." The great need of any Christian is stability, and the wisdom that comes from knowing God's viewpoint on every issue. When a Christian is "rooted and grounded", he will be stable, supported, and nourished as a believer. When a Christian is able "to comprehend, with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height" and knows "the love of Christ, which passes knowledge", he has the ability to make sound decisions and to solve the problems of everyday life, using the very wisdom of the Creator. Why does the Apostle Paul pray? Read all of Paul's prayers in his epistles. Note that he almost never prays for the details of life for his friends. In particular, in his prayers in Ephesians, he does not pray for the health of his friends, that they will get jobs, that their finances will be improved, that their relationships will be straightened out, that they will be safe from harm, These things are details of life - those things which, by definition, are associated with our physical life on this earth - things like money, relationships, family, health, sex, jobs, social life and position, promotion. Paul prays that Christians will be so grounded in the Word of God, regardless of the ups and downs of life, whether poor or rich, whether in good health or bad, whether in safety or in jeopardy, whether alone or surrounded by adoring friends, that they will know the will of God, that will be models of stable and courageous thinking, that they will be filled with the fullness of God, knowing the lord of God which passes knowledge. Application When we pray, we should give top priority to the known will of God. We are told in the Bible if we pray according to His will, He hears us. But we usually don't know the will of God concerning details of life. When we pray for someone's health, we don't know if the Lord wants the person to be well, or whether He is providing a spiritual test to the individual. Likewise for any other type of personal suffering, such as job loss or family problem. Personal suffering is a very real and necessary part of the Christian life and is always meant "to work together for good for those who love God." If we pray that the suffering be relieved, we are often praying at cross purposes with God's plan for the individual. We want our friends to be happy and free of pain, but, in fact, it is not the relief of suffering that brings joy and confidence to the Christian. Topic: PRAYER Topic: CHRISTIAN SUFFERING When we are suffering, God's purpose for us is that we walk in the Spirit, stay occupied with Christ, live in His Word, grow in Christ, and live productive Christian lives with "eternity's values in view." So when we pray for others who are suffering or who have need, we should keep God's eternal program in mind. The most important issues are the spiritual ones; and we should give priority in our thinking, and in our actual prayer, to the issues the Scripture shows to be the most important. If you are in charge of a prayer meeting, try conducting it from this perspective. Remind those who pray of Paul's focus in prayer, and of the overriding spiritual issues in people's lives that are so much more important that the details of life. Your prayer request time will change from mournful litany of people's hard times to an encouraging and joyous discussion of the eternal possibilities which accompany mastery of the details of life. Ephesians 3:15Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. We are members of a family, the family of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because Jesus Christ is "King of kings, Lord of lords, the Bright Morning Star," His family is a royal family. In fact, we are "seated together with Him in the heavenly places" right now (Eph. 2:6), so that our union with Christ gives us a wonderful position as intimate members of Christ's family, the church, the Body of Christ. Rev 19:16, "He has a royal title written on His robe, `King of kings and Lord of lords.'" It is because a Christian has permanent position of solid authority as a member of the royal family of Jesus Christ that Paul can speak so confidently in these verses of the value and absolute necessity that believers be thoroughly rooted in the principles of the Christian life. At His birth, our Lord was born Jewish royalty, in His humanity. The virgin birth introduced the humanity of Christ into the world, at which point Jesus Christ became Jewish royalty. He is descended from lines of two of the sons of David by Bathsheba. While Joseph was not the physical father of Jesus, he is the legal father in a human family; and the line of royal descent from Solomon ends with Joseph, as shown in Matthew. The line of royal descent from Nathan, given in Luke, comes down to Mary, our Lord's real mother. Jesus' royal title is "Son of David," and His royal family is the dynasty of David. As Jewish royalty, our Lord will fulfill the Davidic covenant at the time of His second coming. The royal family of God, therefore, is made up of every believer, regardless of background, race, classification, etc. All distinctions are erased at the point of salvation and reconciliation. This is a permanent family relationship that will last forever. Our position is eternal and secure since it is related to our regeneration. This means alsoall believers are in full time service for Christ as royal priests and royal ambassadors. Our objectives as members of Christ's family are to glorify God. We do this by: 1. Advancing in spiritual maturity, according to the plan of God. All these are summed up in the phrase "to glorify God." All the other priorities in life are really not important. These facts, too, influence where Paul places his emphasis in his prayers. 1 Pet 2:9, "But you are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the virtues of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." As an exercise, read Ephesians, Hebrews, Romans, and Colossians with the aim of extracting any comment which deals with your position as a member of the Lord's family. Ephesians emphasizes the position of the royal family. Hebrews emphasizes the priesthood of the royal family. Romans emphasizes the objectives of the royal family. Colossians emphasizes the lifestyle of the royal family. The Plan of God for Members of His Royal Family The first objective for a Christian is to learn the Word of God on a consistent basis until he begins to have a personal love for God. This develops spiritual self-worth and focus. Next, the believer must continue to grow spiritually by learning and applying Bible truth, until he is spiritually self-sustaining, and has developed impersonal love for other people. Then, a Christian must pass through testing: people testing, thought testing, system testing, and disaster testing. Finally a Christian must reach spiritual maturity, where through testing of the evidence of his faith he becomes a witness against Satan. At maturity, we receive our blessings which were deposited in escrow in Christ in eternity past (Eph 1:3-14). These blessings glorify God to the maximum. Then God may test us concerning these blessings as evidence against Satan. This is the objective of the royal family while on earth. Topic: CITIZENSHIP OF THE BELIEVER Ephesians 3:16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; "That He would grant you" - aorist subjunctive active of (didomi), "to give; to grant; to permit; to present.' "Grant" is a New Testament Grace word. That for which Paul is praying is available on a grace basis. However, the subjunctive mood of the verb indicates that there is potential here. Whether a Christian receives the benefit of the "grant" depends on personal volition. Paul prays that Christians will take advantage of that which God has provided. Verses 17 to 19 list the provisions of this grace gift: inner strength, Christ dwelling within, grounding in love, comprehension of the whole realm of Bible truth, knowledge of the love of Christ, and being filled with the fulness of God. The Lord never provides anything that is not equally available to all people. Salvation, inner strength and growth, great happiness and productivity are available to anyone, regardless of education or situation in life. "according to the riches of His glory" The unbeliever can only personally experience grace in salvation. He has little knowledge of God and no appreciation for the character and person of God or the Lord Jesus. Paul the Apostle knows the source of true riches; and he directs us to that source. The believer learns to know God in His complete character (breadth, length, depth, height), His "glory"." Topic: GLORY "to be strengthened" - from the Greek, the passive infinitive of (krataiow), "to have an inner ruling power." The passive voices of the verb indicates that a Christian "receives strength". Since this is by grace, it is on a non-meritorious basis. The infinitive indicates that this is God's purpose for every believer. "with might" - (dunamis), "inner power". "by the Spirit" - "by means of the Holy Spirit" The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to teach us spiritual truth, to make spiritual things understandable. The filling and control of the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary for this to take place. The Spirit is the agent of perception and understanding. "in the inner man" - in the human spirit, in the mentality, in the thinking apparatus of the soul. READ 2 Peter 3:18: We are commanded to "grow" in grace, and to keep on growing. There are roots to that which grows; then that which is above ground produces fruit. Christian edification is that which is above ground. We must make positive decisions to be filled with the Spirit (by confessing sin); to expose ourselves daily to Bible teaching; and to believe the doctrine, by faith applying the teaching in our minds. But the command to grow is accompanied by God's giving us the ability to perform the command. We grow in grace and in knowledge. Our part is receiving the academic instruction of Bible truth. God's part, through the Holy Spirit as our Teacher, is to establish the roots and bring about growth. Topic: EDIFICATION End of Lesson 19Warren Doud [ Grace Notes ] 1705 Aggie Lane, Austin, Texas 78757 Phone: 512-458-8923 E-Mail: wdoud@bga.com e-mail: wdoud@bga.com http://www.realtime.net/~wdoud/ |
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