It is quite amazing to see how Eph. 3:16-21 reveals the spirit and attitude, the prayer and faith that a serving one should have in order to work out the New Jerusalem and bring forth the one new man.
In this portion we see how Paul knelt before God and asked the Father to strengthen us according to the riches of His glory through His spirit into our inner man, so that Christ may make His home in our heart.
The result of this is that we are rooted and grounded in love, and we are able to apprehend with all the saints what the universal dimensions of Christ are, so that we may be filled unto all the fulness of God.
In this prayer we see Paul’s spirit and attitude, which is what he was filled with, what he said, and what he cared about in his heart; his spirit and attitude were related to the vision of God being manifested in the flesh, God being mingled with man for the building up of the church.
Paul was obsessed with Christ; first, when he was opposing Christ, he persecuted Him by persecuting His followers, and after his conversion, he pursued Christ to gain Him, know Him, be found in Him, and experience Him to the uttermost.
Even more: Paul wanted to live Christ, for Christ was his life, and he said, To me to live is Christ.
So when Paul was writing to the believers, he wanted to bring them into this same experience and enjoyment of Christ; he wanted that Christ would be revealed in them, Christ would live in them, Christ would be their life in an experiential way, and Christ would be formed in them.
Paul wanted that the church would be filled with Christ, and that Christ would be all in all in the church as the one new man. In this portion in Eph. 3:16-21 in particular Paul’s prayer stands out, but even more his spirit and attitude is very endearing.
We all need to cooperate with Christ so that He may be wrought into us in our daily living, and we need to cooperate with Him to work Christ into others and build Christ as the material for God’s building into others for the spiritual temple of God, for the expression and fulness of the One who fills all and in all.
This should also be our spirit and attitude, and for this to take place, we need to pray Eph. 3:16-21 every day for many days; we need to pray this both for ourselves, for our spouse, for the saints in our small group, and for the saints in the church life.
And the first aspect we should pray for is that the Father would strengthen the saints into the inner man with power through His Spirit according to the riches of His glory.
We’re Strengthened into our Inner Man for Christ to make His Home in our Heart
We first need to be strengthened by the Father through His Spirit into our spirit (which is our inner man) with the fourfold power that raised Christ from the dead, ascended Him to the heavens, subjected all things under His feet, and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church.
The result of being strengthened into our inner man by the Father through His Spirit with power is that Christ is making His home in our heart (see Eph. 3:16-17).
It is very interesting that Paul speaks not of the mind but of the heart; this shows that Christ can be sensed in us and that we respond to Christ dwelling in us. Our heart is the organ of our feeling and emotion, and this is where Christ dwells in us.
Here we see that Paul was obsessed with Christ; even in his prayer for the saints, he didn’t neglect the need to work Christ into man. We need to be so obsessed with Christ that we pray for Christ to increase in the saints, and our spirit and attitude is that Christ would make His home in our heart and in the saints’ heart.
In a sense, when he wrote Eph. 3:16-21, Paul transcended even the universe, for what he had in mind and heart was that God would be wrought into man. Christ needs to become real to us in our feeling and in our heart, and we will be rooted and grounded in His love.
In such a condition, we will know the breadth, the length, the height, and the depth. What are these, and what do these refer to? These four words – the breadth, the length, the height, and the depth – refer to the immeasurable Christ, the universally vast Christ.
If we know Christ inwardly, if we live in Him, if we let Him make His home in our heart, and if we’re rooted and grounded in His love, we will see that the One who dwells in us is the breadth, the length, the height, and the depth.
Christ Himself becomes our universe – He is so vast and immense that His dimensions are the dimensions of the universe, and He becomes our personal universe.
These four dimensions are of a cube, just as the Holy of Holies is a cube.
When we are inwardly strengthened by the Father through the Spirit with power into the inner man, Christ makes His home in our heart, and we know His immeasurable vastness; we know Him both individually and corporately, as the Body, and we are balanced by the Body, we take care of the feeling in the Body, and we are kept in the Holy of Holies, consummating in the New Jerusalem.
The result of all this is that we will know the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ, and we will be filled unto all the fulness of God (Eph. 3:19).
This is what our spirit and attitude should be in the church life, even as we serve the Lord and the saints; our thoughts and prayers should be for this. Our inner mood should be for Christ to make His home in our heart and in the saints heart, so that together we may apprehend the universally vast Christ, and we may be filled unto all the fullness of God.
This should be our goal; our goal shouldn’t be merely an increase in the number of saints in the church life, but the increase of Christ within God’s people.
Like Paul, we should be totally obsessed with Christ, desiring that He would increase in us and in all the saints for the church to be the fulness of Christ. We should focus on this matter to the extent that we don’t know what to pray other than this; this should be our spirit and attitude as we serve the Lord in prayer.
We need to pray for the saints, minister Christ to them, and even in serving the young people, we should bring them to enjoy Christ more and love the Lord. When others love the Lord and enjoy Him, all problems are repelled.
Father God, grant us to be strengthened with power into our inner man with power through the Spirit so that Christ may make His home in our heart through faith. Amen, Lord, work Yourself into us and make Yourself at home in all our heart until You can be sensed in us and we respond to Your indwelling. May Christ increase in us and in all the saints, and may our spirit and attitude be for the increase of Christ in the saints for the church. May we apprehend with all the saints the breadth, length, height, and depth, and may we know the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ and be filled unto all the fullness of God! Amen, Lord, may this be our goal in serving You in the church life!
He is Able to do Super-Abundantly Above all we Ask or Think – to Him be the Glory in the Church!
Paul’s prayer in Eph. 3:16-19 is so high and lofty – yet so experiential, and in this prayer we see his spirit and attitude toward the saints – he really wanted Christ to be wrought into them so that they would become the fulness of God.
Because Paul was concerned that the Ephesian saints might think that this prayer was too difficult, he followed these verses by immediately expressing his faith. He said, but to Him who is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power which operates in us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all the generations forever and ever. Amen (Eph. 3:20-21).
Hallelujah, no matter how high our prayer and expectation is that Christ would be wrought into the saints, God is able to do it!
God is able to do super-abundantly more than what we ask and even thing; we may think, Lord, may You make Your home in my wife’s heart…and also in the hearts of the saints in our small group… – and the Lord is able to do it!
As long as we cooperate with Him in prayer, having the spirit and attitude that Christ would be wrought into the saints for the building up of the church, God is able to do it!
He will do it because God wants to gain the glory not only in Christ Jesus but also in the church for all the generations (v. 21). To Him be the glory in the church – this will be fully fulfilled in the New Jerusalem, and today in the church life we have a foretaste, a small taste of the full taste that we will have for eternity.
The New Jerusalem is the complete manifestation of God’s glory (Rev. 21:10-11); the church today should be a miniature of the New Jerusalem. This is the spirit and attitude, the prayer and faith with which we should serve the Lord.
If we do this, our service in the church will be great and glorious, and the brothers and sisters will be filled unto all the fulness of God. We shouldn’t be more zealous for preaching the gospel or doing other activities in the church than for Christ being wrought into the saints.
It should be crystal clear to us what our goal is – our goal should be God’s goal, which is the mingling of God with man, so that He may gain all the glory in the church forever.
We should focus on this matter to the extent that there’s no way we pray for anything else, and we should have such a spirit and attitude with prayer as we serve the Lord.
As we pray this, as we think this way, and as we have such a spirit and attitude, we need to be assured that He is able to do super-abundantly above all that we ask or think, for He wants to gain His glory in the church and in the New Jerusalem forever!
Lord, we believe that You are able to do super-abundantly above all we ask or think, for You want to gain Your glory in the church as the fulness of God! Amen, Lord, work Yourself into us and into all the saints so that the church life would become a miniature of the New Jerusalem, filled with the glory of God! May this would be our spirit and attitude, our prayer and faith, so that You may increase in all the saints as You make Your home in their heart, for God to gain all the glory in the church!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message given by Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, How to Administrate the Church, pp. 122-127 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Taking Christ as our Person and Living Him in and for the Church Life (2018 spring ITERO), week 8, How One Ought to Conduct Himself in the Church in Order to Bring Forth the One New Man.
- Hymns on this topic:
# O that Christ may make His home my heart, / Spread Himself in every part! / Saturate and life impart! / That with all saints, I may apprehend / All the vast dimensions of my loving Christ. (Song on, O that Christ may make His home)
# Thus with all saints we can apprehend / All the vast dimensions of God. / Knowing Christ’s love passes all we know, / We’re together filled to fullness with our God. (Hymns #1232)
# But to Him who is able / Able to do superabundantly / Above all that we ask or think, / According to the power / Which operates in us, / To Him be the glory in the church / And in Christ Jesus / Unto all the generations. / To Him be the glory, / To Him be the glory / Forever and ever. Amen. (Scripture song)
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