To Know the Love of Christ

Ephesians 3 and the Love of Christ Beyond Emotion

If you can turn your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 3, this morning, we will be in verses 14 -19 in Ephesians chapter 3. And once you have that verse, please stand for the reading of God's Word. 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, the length, the height, the depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

You may be seated. Lord, this morning as we approach the preaching of Thy Word, we ask God that You would be gracious unto us, that You would be rich in mercy and love and tender affection unto Your saints this morning, so that we can comprehend with all the saints that are gathered all around the world what is indeed the length, the depth, and the height of the love of Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Jesus, to You belongs all the glory, and we pray, Lord, that Your name would be lifted high. In Your name we do pray, amen. Well, church, the question I have for you this morning is, have you ever been in love?

Have you ever experienced love of another? Maybe you experienced the love of a dear friend who was very kind to you, merciful, always there for you. Maybe you remember when you were a child the love of your mother, or the love of a father, the love of a grandparent, a grandfather, a grandmother, aunts or uncles.

You remember that time when you first experienced and maybe truly began to comprehend the warmth and the depth of that particular love that is in your mind and in your heart? This love is more than just an emotion.

When the world talks about love, it talks about maybe a feeling, maybe a warm sensation of how you felt, but I want to tell you about a love that surpasses emotion, that surpasses even knowledge itself, and it's the love not of a boyfriend or girlfriend, not the love of a lover, not the love of a mother or a parent or a grandparent or even a child.

I want to talk to you today specifically about the surpassing love of Jesus Christ, the Savior. You see, love is an emotion, but not just an emotion, and when one experiences love, love tends to change one's outlook, one's life, one's perceptions, maybe one's dreams and hopes and anticipations.

Love, when it comes into someone's life, when it comes into the picture, it often changes you, molds you, makes something different, maybe for better, maybe for worse. But today, I want to talk to you again about a love that is so powerful, a love that is transcendent above every earthly love that you can ever experience, touch, or feel.

It is the love that will result in glory, and the love that I preach to you today, again, is a love that is far surpassing any emotion, and it's a reality that is stronger even than the grave itself. In the Word of God today, we see in verses 14, for this reason, Paul is in this moment as he's writing this, he's summarizing what it is that he has been speaking of over the last several verses.

He says, for this reason, the reason being, the surpassing greatness of Jesus and the mystery, the unraveling mystery of the Gospel. He says, for this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

The Father as the Source of All Life

I want you today to know the love of Christ, and the love of Christ comes also from the love of the Father. You see, we have a Father who's in heaven, who's unlike any father that you've ever had before.

He's unlike any father that you've ever met. He's unlike any father who you will ever meet, because this Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is a Father of tender mercies, who has great affection for his people, and great affection for his children.

If you, like me, have maybe a complicated history with your earthly father, know this, that our Father, who's in heaven, knows all of your pains, knows all of your sufferings. He's not unaware as to where you've been and where you're going.

And the Father that I preach to you today is a Father who will never be absent, who will never give up on you, who will never surrender you to the world and its passions. This is a Father who has sealed and demonstrated his love for us, in and through the person of Jesus Christ.

This is why Paul can give us such an exaltation of praise to the Father by saying, for this reason I bow my knees before the Father, the first and source of the Holy Trinity, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

If you're following in today's insert, to know the love of Christ is to know the Father. And not only to know the Father, but to know the Father as the source of all life. I want you to put that in there as well, if you're following along in today's teaching.

To know the love of Christ is to know the Father as the source of all life. Paul leads his gospel message with a prayer similar to what we find in Ephesians 1, verse 17. As a result of the gospel that Paul just preached, he says that we must bow before the Father who is indeed the source of all life.

Echoing from other verses in scripture that we see throughout the Bible, that God is the author of life. That every family, yours included, every tribe, every nation, every language that is spoken finds its origin in the Father, who is indeed the creator and head of the cosmos.

All things find its origin in the Father, God the Father. For this reason, Paul says, I bow. To bow is a sign of humble submission, humble acknowledgment. And when the king would come, the people would bow before the presence of majesty.

But in this case, Paul is not asking us simply to bow before someone of great stature, but he's asking us to bow before Father, before Abba, our dad, our source, our sustenance. To bow before Him to whom every name is named.

The one whom we find our life and being and sustenance and longevity in the Father. Again, this is why when we see such praiseworthy gospel and the mystery of Christ being revealed as Paul reveals it in verses 1 through 13, it should result in worship, adoration, and prayer and praise to the Father.

I want this to be an encouragement to us. That as we learn more about our Heavenly Father, the more we should be in awe of Him and the more that awe should lead us into worship. Into worship. As you can probably see, there are certain things in the Bible, most of the things in the Bible, gets me fired up.

Because I love the Word of God. I love this precious truth that has been given to us by our Father. And the more we learn about our Father and the more we learn about Holy Scripture, the more we should be ready and willing to bow and to worship, behold and behold true sovereignty in the face of Jesus Christ.

We should be a people known for worship. Because we know the Father. And when we worship, it's not simply an act of acknowledgement of who the Father is, but it's an act of enjoyment in who the Father is.

Because unlike other fathers, you know, I'm a dad, I've got four children, and some days my kids are really happy with me, some days they're not. Like last night, they weren't very happy with me. But most of the things that I do, I try to do for their good.

But friends, the Father that we have in heaven, He's not like us. He's wholly different. And He's set apart in such a way that when we behold Him in Scripture, that when we experience Him through the receiving of the Word, it changes us from the inside out.

You see, as a father, I can tell my children between right and wrong, and what's truth and lies, and what they ought to do with their lives. But ultimately, the decision will lie with them and in their lives to do what is right.

They will have to make that choice on their own. But when you receive the knowledge of the Father, it changes you. Because you have come to know the love of Christ in the Father. And the love that I present to you today will change you.

It will change you absolutely. You see, the posture of our hearts, as Paul is showing us in verses 14 and 15. For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father. The posture of our prayers, the posture of our worship, the posture of our Christian lives ought to be one of total surrender to the Father.

It's humble submission, acknowledgement of who He is and what He has done. Again, we see in verse 15, it says this, that from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. What an interesting text that is.

The meaning of verse 15 is that all the families of the earth, all the clans, all the tribes, all the peoples have their origin in God. To know the love of Christ is to know the love of the Father. And this love strengthens us, encourages us, motivates us.

Just like any other love would motivate you to do certain things, well, the love of the Father ought to motivate you to be more like Christ. This love, this amazing love, also strengthens us and gives us power.

Strengthened by the Spirit in the Inner Man

Notice what it says in verse 16 of Ephesians 3, that according to the riches of His glory, He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being. This love that is proclaimed to you this morning from the Apostle Paul is a love that strengthens you.

It comes from a fountain of riches, even the riches of the glory of God. If you're following along in teaching, knowing the love of Christ strengthens us by the Spirit in the inner man. Again, Paul uses this word, which I love.

I love it when he uses this word. He uses the word riches. Riches. I don't know about you, I'd love to be rich. Maybe some of you are rich. But can I tell you something? I'm rich because my Father is rich and He has richly blessed me in the Beloved.

You can share, you can receive, you can have an inheritance of the Father's riches through faith in Jesus Christ. Our Father is indeed rich. He owns everything. All the clans and tribes of the earth are His.

All the peoples of the earth are His. All the resources of the earth are His. All the stars and galaxies and all that is in the creation is His. And therefore He can say, the Apostle Paul can say of the Father, that according to the riches of His glory, He may grant you to be strengthened with power.

You can be strengthened with power by knowing the love of Christ and the love of the Father. This love strengthens us. It upholds us. And He does so through His Spirit. So you see the Trinitarian work of God.

Even in the salvation and indwelling of the Spirit. So we see the Holy Trinity at work. The Father to whom everyone finds their source and origin in. To whom we find our life and movement and being. The Father sends forth His Son Jesus Christ in the fullness of time.

Born of the Virgin to live the life that we could not live. Holy, perfect, and blameless. Dying the death that we deserve. Next to two criminals. And then He rose again on the third day. Demonstrating He had authority over death itself.

That His love could overcome the grave. And then He left us not bereaved as orphans or children. But instead the Father sent forth in the name of Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God to dwell in your hearts.

To strengthen you. To uplift you. So when times are tough. The Father has not abandoned you. He has not left you bereaved. He has not left you without hope. The Father has sent forth His Spirit to live in you.

To dwell in you. To strengthen you. To uphold you. And so know this. The love of Christ does not leave you alone. It does not leave you abandoned. It will always provide the means and the strength for you to continue in the struggle of life.

You see the love of Christ brings us into this stark reality. Not that all things will be perfect in life. Not that God will remove every hardship from your life. Not that God will remove every hang up and habit of your life.

But instead that through the difficulties of life. Through the trials of life. He has given us endurance and strength through the Spirit. If you know Him today. You've come to know the love. That endures even to the end.

If you know Him today. You've received strength in the inner man. That's the heart. The center of your existence. Your being. Your spiritual man. God has given you strength. The Bible says it this way in another letter of Paul to the Corinthians.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 4. He says though we be wasting away outwardly. Sometimes that's the stuff of life. Sometimes we are in such conditions and such circumstances. That we do feel like we are wasting away outwardly.

But it says in that scripture. But inwardly we are being renewed day by day. That's the love of the Father. That though outside the exterior self may be wasting away. Inside we have an eternal weight of glory that awaits us.

That cannot be taken or moved from us. But that indeed the promise of the Father are sure. That He will not lose not even one of His elect in Christ. Should that not motivate us. And move us to be strengthened in the inner man.

To know that God the Father has richly blessed us in Christ. He is the source of all life. He has given us the spirit of Christ. To dwell in the inner man. So that we may know His love. And walk courageously in it.

You see God is again a rich Father. He's not a stingy uncle. Who flaunts His wealth. But never gives out of the abundance of His heart. Our Father is indeed rich. And He is outrageously generous. He's outrageously generous because of His love.

Toward us in Jesus Christ. You know the scripture says you have not because you ask not. If you feel like you have not come to know this love. If you feel like maybe God has turned His back on you. Friends turn your faces.

Not towards the dirt of the earth. But instead towards where the Father of the heavenly lights dwells. And turn your hearts and your affections towards Him. So that you may know the length and the height and the breadth of the love of Christ.

See the abundance and the generosity of the Father. Is not one that is primarily based however in physical blessings. I want you if you can turn to Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4 verse 19.

Paul ends this letter to the Philippians. And he says in Philippians 4 .19. And my God will supply every need of yours. According to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus. Our Father He knows your needs.

He knows what it is that you need. And He's a good Father. But I want you to know that He knows your needs. He also knows your wants. But like a good Father. He may not always give you what you want. But He'll always supply you with what you need.

And that might confuse some of us. Maybe you're in a season of life today. Where you're like man I really feel like I need this. And why is God withholding His hand of blessing to me in this season of life.

It may be that our Father who is infinitely wise. Who is infinitely strong. Who knows all things from the beginning to the end. Knows that what you actually need is to build endurance. To build character.

That the difficulties that He's allowed and permitted in your life. Like in the story of Job. Is ultimately for your good and for His glory. Never let your suffering go to waste. Never let your trials go to waste.

Let them be a tool of your sanctification. To draw you nearer to the Father. To draw you nearer to Christ. Knowing that ultimately He will supply all of your needs. According to His riches in Christ. See again He's not stingy.

He will always supply you with what you need. And what you need is to know Christ. And His surpassing love. And to be changed by it. Transformed by the renewing of your mind. This is what God desires for us ultimately.

Is our holiness. Our sanctification. Which is why Christ could say when He was on the earth, Be ye holy. Just as your heavenly Father is holy. His whole goal of sanctification is to make us more holy like Jesus.

To make us more like Christ. That we be conformed to the image of the Son. So that Daniel chapter 12 can become true at that last day. That we will be like those bright ones shining like the sun. In all of its glory.

That is God's will and purpose for you. Is that you be sanctified by the love of Christ. And He does so by His Spirit. If you can turn to John chapter 7 very quickly. We see a fabulous verse that connects this idea.

Straight from the Lord Jesus Christ in John chapter 7. Verses 38 and 39. Jesus said the following in John chapter 7 verse 38. Whoever believes in me as the scripture has said. Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

Verse 39 says. Now this He said about the Spirit. Whom those who believed in Him were to receive. For as yet the Spirit had not been given. Because Jesus was not yet glorified. Jesus promises the believer.

That if you believe in Him. Out of your heart will flow rivers of living water. And the Bible makes it clear in the text. That this is a reference to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in you. You see the love of the Father is not a trickle.

It's not from a broken cistern. But it is indeed from the fount of all blessing. The fount of the very person of the Father. Being communicated to us through the sufferings and glories of Christ. And being applied to us by the person of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit dwelling in you is indeed a fountain. Inexhaustible. Filled of riches that you can only begin to imagine. So don't lose heart. Because out of your heart will flow rivers of living water.

And the rivers of living water in Revelation. We see this picture again of this river of living water. And the scripture says that the rivers of living water is for the healing of the nations. Brothers and sisters we get a little piece of that.

In our own hearts. For as the spirit dwells in us and overflows into the lives of others in the church. We become people and centers of healing. To the brothers and sisters and to the nations. Who are called to know Christ.

You can be a source of living water through faith in Jesus Christ. Who is the source of all living water through the spirit. And we see this encouragement again back in our main text in Ephesians chapter 3.

Which says that he will grant us the spirit to be strengthened in the inner man. Again the inner man is where Jesus refers to. Out of the heart will stream rivers of living water. The heart and the inner man being synonymous.

Being the same. Being a picture of the spiritual man. The spiritual self. Beyond that which is carnal and physical. You see Christ's love transforms the inner man. God's love changes you from the inside out.

Often external loves that we experience in this world will change us from the outside. They'll change maybe the way that we talk. Maybe the way that we behave. Maybe the way that we act towards others.

It will change the exterior for a time. Those of you who are married for instance. You may know that when you got married and you said I do. What a marvelous beautiful glorious day that was. And your eyes were filled with hope and expectation.

For the life that will be lived in that covenant. But sometimes because of the waves and the wind and the turmoil of life. The affection. The fervent love that we once had sometimes wanes in our marriages.

It's not as the world would put it. There's a honeymoon phase. Once the honeymoon is over then you get to the monotony of life. And you have bills and children and daycare. And all these things that you have to worry about and contend with.

And what happens is that often time love becomes complacent. And love is changed for a schedule. And for just the comforts. And that's why 50 of marriages in America end up in divorce. Half of all marriages in this country end up in divorce.

Because what happens when you no longer feel that love. Is that people say well this is not what I signed up for. I signed up for happily ever after. And if you can't fulfill that need for me then I'm out of here.

You see that temporal love can only take you so far. Can only take your marriages so far. Can only take your relationships so far. Can only take the inner man so far. But there's a love. There's a love that transcends all those things.

That will strengthen you in the inner man. To love your spouse. To love your husband. To love your wife. As Christ loved the church. And how did he love the church? With what kind of love and affection did he love us?

With such love. With such affection. That he would go and die for his bride. A love that he would lay himself down gladly for his beloved. And that's the love that Christ is inviting us into. Not only to receive but to live out.

And so when we're struggling in our marriages. We have a love that can help us endure even unto the end. When we've come to the Father. We receive this love that transforms us again from the inside out.

So that not only is my love being expressed in my religious service to God. But in my service to all his creatures made in his image. This is indeed the love of Christ. The love of the Father. To be strengthened in the inner man.

Christ Dwelling in the Heart Through Faith

Verse 17 says the following in Ephesians 3. It says, Let's stop there. So that Christ may what? Dwell. Richly. In your hearts. Through faith. This is what God has called us to. If you're following along in today's teaching.

Christ dwells in our hearts through what? It's okay. You guys can talk. Faith. Faith. Do you have faith? That God's love will carry you to the end? Do you have faith that God's love will help you and strengthen you to endure to the end?

And your marriage and your relationships and your finances and your trials and your tribulations. And all the things of life. Do you know that God's love will strengthen you? So that you may endure. That you may know Christ.

And that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. So that being rooted and grounded in love. Are you rooted and grounded in Christ's love for you today? What does it mean to be rooted and grounded?

Obviously, here we see a picture of a seed or a tree or some type of vegetation that finds its life and origin and sustenance in the ground. And if you've ever seen, I just lived in Wisconsin. We have these really large trees.

And unlike California, we get a lot of rain in Wisconsin in the springtime. And you'd often get these very high wind storms that will come. And you have these huge trees that will not be able to endure under the pressure of that wind.

And it will be uprooted. And it's amazing when you see an uprooted tree caused by the wind. You see this huge tree. And you see the trunk of the tree. You see the roots just standing all above the ground.

And it's an amazing sight to see. But our love or the love of the Father and the love of Christ is one that is rooted so deeply into the ground that it's grounded. That no matter the winds and the trials of life may come and blow against you, that love will keep you grounded.

So that you're not tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. You're not tossed to and fro by every wind of indecision or every wave of emotion. But instead, you have a sure anchor for your soul, even the Lord Jesus Christ.

You see this faith, this love that God provides in Christ is unlike the love that you can receive from anything or anyone else in this world. His presence means not only strength for you, dear brother and sister, but it also conjures up wisdom, inspiration, and above all else, love.

Love even for the brotherhood. This is the love that he has commanded us to do. As he reminded us in John 14, he says, This commandment I give you, to love one another. If we don't love the brotherhood, if we don't love our neighbor, if we don't love our spouse, we're not operating in the love of the Father.

We're operating in the love of the world, which is temporary, where it's all about me. Whatever you can offer me, I'll love you because of that. But the love that we preach of this morning is unconditional.

That means that our ultimate end goal is not a fairy tale happily ever after like we see in Disney movies, but instead a love that endures to the end by loving someone unconditionally who does not meet the conditions.

And therein you see the love of Christ and the love of the Father. You, dear brother and sister, did not meet God's conditions. As Brother Conley was preaching from the catechism this morning, we've all woefully fallen short of the mark.

We've all woefully fallen short of the Ten Commandments, of observing the Sabbath, of keeping God's name holy, of doing all that his law and goodness requires of us. We did not even come close to meeting that expectation.

And yet, he loves us. And he loves us in Christ. You did not meet the condition, but God the Father loved you even so. And he loved you in Christ, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that you can be rooted and grounded in love.

The Love of Christ That Surpasses Knowledge

Verse 18 says that you may have the strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, the length, and the height, and the depth, and to know the love of Christ. There seems to be a bit of a contradiction here almost.

A bit of a mystery at play in these verses. So it says you may know to comprehend the love of Christ, yet verse 19 says the following, and to know the love of Christ, that surpasses knowledge. So it's both knowable and unknowable.

It's both searchable and unsearchable. It is both comprehensible and incomprehensible. This is the mystery of the Father's love in Christ towards you. You can have a taste of it. You can have a knowledge of it.

But even then, words will fall short, experience will fall short of the true depth, height, and length of God's love for you and me in Christ. If you're following along that last bullet point, in Christ we can comprehend his love, which surpasses knowledge.

And we do so, look at verse 19 again with me. And to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Fascinating text. See the definite goal to which the Christian life must move and for which therefore the apostle prays is for his readers to know the love of Christ.

That's the point of today's message, is to know the love of Christ and to know how he loved and loves. And to experience his love in loving him and loving others for his sake. Yet even here, Paul has to express this, can't escape this paradox.

In the Greek, the verb, the verb passes knowledge that we see in the text. The verb, that is the object, there is the qualification that apparently contradicts the verb, the love that surpasses knowledge.

And the love of Christ is both knowable and searchable. It's both comprehensible and incomprehensible. You see the love of Christ is infinitely greater than anyone can fully know or imagine. And it's also much more than any object of knowledge.

It is superior to knowledge. You see the love of Christ is superior to knowledge. Why is it superior? Why is it greater? Well it's greater because knowledge is usually something that is experienced here in the mind.

But love is something that is received and experienced in the heart. So you can both comprehend up here, but know and experience here. And that's what makes the love of Christ both knowable and unknowable.

Searchable and unsearchable. Because it goes even to the very depths of the human heart, the inner man. And so because of this great truth, we must find, the love of Christ must find its expression and experience in sorrows and joys, in trials and sufferings, in ways too deep for the human mind to fathom or for human language to even express.

The climax of Paul's prayer is for the saints to be filled with all the fullness of God himself. The fullness of God is the fullness of Christ himself. And he gives himself freely to his people. And when we receive Jesus and know his love, we can now drink from the fountain of the inexhaustible love and become partakers of the divine itself.

The Fullness of God and Partaking of the Divine Nature

Let's go to one more text of scripture this morning. And that's going to be in 2 Peter chapter 1. There's a mystery and a paradox that's here that I don't want to overlook that's in the text. The text again in Ephesians tells us that we receive the fullness of God.

The word fullness in the Greek is the Greek word pleroma, which means, basically, think of a vase that is filled to the brim and even overflowing. It's fullness. You can't get more full than that. And it promises for us to receive the fullness of God.

What does that mean? Well, it says in 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 3 and 4, it says,. Now, this is a bit of a complicated text. I'll quickly try to unload it and unpack it. This verse has been used often to say that humans can become gods of some sort.

That's not what we see in the text. We become partakers of the divine nature. That is, we receive the fullness of God, the fullness of Christ, the pleroma, the overflowing, overfilling of God's presence in the believer in that he changes us from a lowly nature.

And he will one day transform us by his love, even onto resurrection glory. And the same likeness of the body of the risen Savior, Jesus Christ, we too shall share in an incorruptible human nature as our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has been risen from the dead, never to see corruption again.

And because of that, we too have this hope that the love of Christ will one day not only transform us inwardly in the inner man, but one day we will become full partakers even of his divine nature by the resurrection of the dead.

What a glorious future we all have to hold on to. What a glorious hope we have in Jesus that indeed his love may be rooted and grounded in our lives so that we may have the strength to comprehend the length, the height, and even the depths of the love of Christ, even the love of the Father.

Let's pray. Lord, your word assures us that in Christ we are indeed loved and the beloved. Your word assures us that you did not leave us bereaved as orphans, but that the Father has sent forth even the Spirit in the name of Jesus to dwell in our hearts richly and to provide for us all that it is that we need, even this love that surpasses knowledge and understanding.

Lord God, may you shield, guard our hearts, that we would not see love as a trivial thing, as something that simply serves us, but rather that our love, the love that we receive from you, will be a love that overflows with the goodness and the riches and the generosity of Christ.

Lord, help us in our weakness. Help us in our marriages. Help us in our parenthood, our fatherhood, our motherhood to be more like you so that through us others may see the love of Christ manifested in this dark and dying world.

Lord, thank you for the promises that are sure, that this love will not leave us even in the grave, but this love will transform us even unto resurrection glory, that we would attain a resurrection like and unto the Savior, even Jesus Christ, to whom belongs all the glory, both now and forevermore.

Amen.