Scripture of the Week
Ephesians 3:17-19
17 That Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 May be able to comprehend with all
saints what is the breadth, and length,
and depth, and height;
19 And to know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
God’s Love is so wide we can’t reach across it.
so long we can’t walk to the end of it
so deep we can’t get under it
so high we can’t get over it
This is at the end of the
second prayer that Paul prays for the Ephesians in this epistle. In both
prayers, Paul is concerned with practical, experiential knowledge, not just an
academic grasp of doctrine. (Head Knowledge)
Scripture often speaks of the
things of God as being "already but not yet." That is, there is one
aspect of the truth that is completed right now and we participate in it now
while there is another dimension that is future indicating that we only know it
in part now.
We know from other Scripture
that Christ is the fullness of God. When we are baptized into the Body of
Christ, we are baptized into Him. At that point, and from now on, we are in Him
and He is in us. Therefore, we have the fullness of God in us in the person of
Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. We may or may not be aware of this
reality.
Paul's prayer is that we will
come to have experiential knowledge of this fullness of God which we have in Christ.
There is a degree of mystery to what Paul says here. He prays to know
the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. He wants us to know what is
unknowable. It can be experienced, but not known academically, apparently. This
requires his earlier request that we be strengthened in the inner man to be
able to experience this love that surpasses knowledge. It is supernatural, but
the key is that Christ is the fullness of God. We need nothing in addition to
Christ to have that fullness.
Bulletin Notes
“I am the Light of the world” (John 8:12) is the second of seven “I AM” declarations of Jesus, recorded only in John’s gospel, that point to His unique divine identity and purpose. In declaring Himself to be the Light of the world, Jesus was claiming that He is the exclusive source of spiritual light. No other source of spiritual truth is available to mankind.
There are two types of light in the world. We can perceive one, or both, or neither! When we are born into this world, we perceive physical light, and by it we learn of our Creator’s handiwork in the things we see. However, although that light is good, there is another Light, a Light so important that the Son of God had to come in order to both declare and impart it to men. John 8:12 records, “When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, ‘I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but have the light of life.’” The metaphor used by the Lord in this verse speaks of the light of His Truth, the light of His Word, the light of Eternal Life. Those who perceive the true Light will never walk in spiritual darkness.
We take a candle into a room to dispel the darkness. Likewise, the Light of Jesus Christ has to be taken into the darkness of sin that engulfs the hearts and lives of those who are not following Him. That’s the condition behind having this Light—that we follow Him. If we do not follow Him, we will not have this light, this truth, this eternal life.
Physical light is necessary for physical life. The earth would certainly change very rapidly if there were no longer any sunlight. A forest full of trees with very thick canopies of foliage high above has very little plant life on the ground except for moss or lichen, which needs little sunlight. Plants will never move away from the light—they are said to be positively phototropic, drawn to the light. In the same way, spiritual light is necessary for spiritual life, and this can be a good test of our standing in Christ. The believer will always tend toward spiritual things; he will always tend toward fellowship, prayer, the Word of God, and so on. The unbeliever always does the opposite because light exposes his evil, and he hates the light. Indeed, no man can come into the true spiritual light of Jesus Christ, unless he is enabled.
Following Jesus is the condition of two promises in John 8:12. First, His followers will never walk in darkness, which is a reference to the assurance of salvation we enjoy.. The second promise is that we will reflect the Light of Life. The Light is evident to others by the good deeds we do in faith and through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The emphasis here is maintaining a credible and obvious witness in the world, a witness that shows us to be faithful, God-honoring, trustworthy, sincere, earnest, and honest in all that we do. The gospel Light we have is not to be covered, but made obvious for all to see and benefit from, that they, too, may leave the darkness and come into the Light.
If You Look for Me at Christmas…
If you look for me at Christmas, you won’t need a special star;
I’m no longer just in Bethlehem, I’m right there where you are.
You may not be aware of Me amid the celebrations.
You’ll have to look beyond the stores and all the decorations.
But if you take a moment from your list of things to do,
and listen to your heart, you’ll find I’m waiting there for you.
You’re the one I want to be with, you’re the reason that I came,
and you’ll find Me in the stillness, as I’m whispering your name.
Love,
Jesus
the darkness and come into the Light.
