Filled with the Fullness: Ephesians 3:14-21

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

Paul kneels. Jews typically stood to pray, hands raised. But Paul kneels—the posture of urgency, of desperation, of a man who needs what only God can give.

Before the Father. The word is pater—Father. From this word comes patria—family, clan, lineage. Every family derives its name—its very concept of family—from the Father. He is the original. Human families are echoes.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being.

Out of his glorious riches. The resources are infinite. The storehouses are full. Paul asks that God would draw from those riches—not from meager supply but from glorious abundance.

Strengthen you with power. Dunamis. Not just endurance but power. Strengthened—reinforced, established, made mighty.

Through his Spirit. The Spirit is the means. The same Spirit who sealed them, who gave access, who dwells in the temple of the church—this Spirit strengthens.

In your inner being. The inner person. The hidden self. The part of us that only God sees. That's where the strengthening happens. Deep within.

So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

Dwell. Katoikeo—to settle down, to make a home, to take up residence. Not visiting. Not passing through. Dwelling. Christ makes his home in our hearts.

Through faith. Faith is the door. Faith opens the heart to Christ's indwelling. Faith welcomes him in.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.

Rooted and established. Two images: a tree with deep roots, a building with solid foundation. Love is both the soil and the bedrock. We grow down into love; we are built up on love.

Together with all the Lord's holy people. This is not individual mysticism. It is communal comprehension. We grasp the love of Christ together. The dimensions are too vast for solitary exploration.

How wide and long and high and deep. Four dimensions. Width—spanning all peoples. Length—stretching through all time. Height—reaching to the heavens. Depth—descending to the lowest depths. The love of Christ is cosmic.

And to know this love that surpasses knowledge.

The paradox of prayer. Paul prays that they would know what cannot be known. Grasp what surpasses grasping. The love of Christ is knowable—but never exhaustible. We can know it without knowing it fully. We can experience it without comprehending it.

Surpasses knowledge. Gnosis was prized in Ephesus—philosophical knowledge, mystery-religion secrets. But Christ's love surpasses all gnosis. It is beyond the best that human wisdom can reach.

That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

The climax. Filled. Not partially but to the measure. Not with something less but with all the fullness. Not of something small but of God.

What does it mean to be filled with the fullness of God? It means having in us what God has in himself. His love. His power. His presence. His character. Filled to overflowing with God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.

Now the doxology. After asking for rooting, establishing, grasping, knowing, filling—Paul praises the God who can do even more.

Immeasurably more. Huperekperissou—super-abundantly beyond. More than we ask. More than we imagine. More than our biggest prayers and wildest dreams.

According to his power that is at work within us. The power is already active. Already at work. The resurrection power of chapter 1, the life-giving power of chapter 2—at work within us now.

To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Glory in the church. The church brings God glory. This community of former enemies, this temple of living stones, this body of the resurrected Christ—brings glory to the Father.

And in Christ Jesus. Glory in the church and glory in Christ. The two belong together. The church glorifies God because the church is in Christ.

Throughout all generations. Not just now. All generations past, present, future. The glory echoes through time.

For ever and ever. Eis tous aionas ton aionon. To the ages of the ages. Eternity layered on eternity.

Amen. So be it. Let it be. The agreement of faith.

Paul's prayer is complete. But the filling continues. The rooting deepens. The power strengthens. The love expands.

And God does immeasurably more.