Ephesians Lesson #6 Communion with a Loving God
A Prayer For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21 ESV
Strengthen the Inner Man Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of 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 by his Spirit in the inner man; Ephesians 3:13-16 KJV Paul prays not for outward circumstances to be changed, but for their inner man to be strengthened, by the Holy Spirit.
Strengthen the Inner Man.. for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. I Samuel 16:7 Religion can dress up the outer man, but only God can change the heart of man or the inner man. We can have peace in the midst of a storm and joy in the midst of great suffering and love in the midst of hate. Doctrine is like a map. We need the experience of intimacy with God. It is like exploring the city, possessing the land. The map is not the city. Do you live with the fruit of the Spirit continually? My priority is my inner life, my communion with God; through Jesus. Prayer should be upward, then inward, then outward.
Christians need to Grasp the Love of God That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;. Ephesians 3:17-18 Breadth Length Depth Height The Holy Spirit will reveal the love of Jesus to us. He has taken me through many trials to learn Christ s love. Do you know how much God loves you?
Breadth How Wide And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. Revelation 5:9-12 A love that causes people completely different to accept one another, worship together, respect and love each other. This will heal you of your prejudice s, and elitism.
Length How Long for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Hebrews 13:5 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. Psalms 139:7-10 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. John 10:27-28
Length How Long God will never give up on you. He will chase you and hunt you down. He will never let you go. He will never stop loving you. Nothing can separate you from His love. Two ways we try to hide from God s love: Rebellion/Lawlessness looking elsewhere. Prodigal Son. Religion/Legalism trying to earn His approval. Older Brother.
Depth How Deep Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:5-8 Jesus descended from heaven to earth, in the womb, as a man, with no earthly reputation, all the way to the cross, then to death, hell and the grave, because He loves us. For God so loved the world that He gave
Depth How Deep For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. II Corinthians 5:21 But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: Romans 5:20 You cannot go too deep into sin, because grace will go deeper to rescue you. Jesus became our sins. Whatever you have done, Jesus goes deeper. The Gospel is the greatest news ever for all of us.
Height How High Dear friends, we are already God s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. I John 3:2 NLT And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: Ephesians 2:6 KJV That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: John 17:21 KJV This will heal you of your low-self worth and a wrong self-image.
The Fullness of God And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Ephesians 3:19 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: Colossians 2:9-10 You are in me and I am in you. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. John 14:20
Growing & Abiding in Christ When we give our heart to Christ, He gives His heart to us. Jesus Christ comes to live in our hearts. The Holy Spirit regenerates our spirits, we are born again, justified, and made right with God. The Word gets planted in our souls. We come to live and abide in Christ. We grow in Him. This begins by acknowledging what He gives us and who we are when we get placed in Him. We learn to live out our lives in Christ. We learn to mature in Christ.
God s Word grows in our Hearts Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. I Peter 1:23 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. Mark 4:28 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. Mark 4:30-32 Parable of the sower
Growing in Christ Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: Ephesians 4:13 KJV This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Ephesians 4:13 NLT
Growing in Christ It is not just knowing doctrine, (the map) Is not obeying a person Is not conforming to religious culture Is not allowing a teacher to control you Is not appearing holy on the outside Is not attained by number of years of service It is becoming more like Jesus Christ It is submitting to His Lordship and His control It is growing in His character and nature It is seeing His fruit growing on your tree It is being strong in your inner man
The Fullness of God And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Ephesians 3:19 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: Colossians 2:9-10 When we are saved, we receive all of Jesus objectively but we need to know Him subjectively. We must learn how to live out what God has put within us.
The power that works in us Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21 KJV
Communion with God I pray your inner man be strengthened. I pray you can grasp the love of God. It is His love that will transform us. I pray you can experience the fullness of God. Christ in you and you in Christ. I pray you will experience the power of God within you, that is able to do more than you can ask for or even imagine. I pray that you will experience a new level of intimacy or communion with God.
This is My Body This is My Blood And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Matthew 26:26-28 Survey the wondrous cross. Meditate upon how much God loves you. Grasp the fullness of God s love. Allow the Holy Spirit to strengthen your inner man.