Ephesians 3: 16-19 (Paul prays that the church in Ephesus might know God)

            Summary: Paul prays that the church in Ephesus might be strengthened with the Spirit that dwelt powerfully within them.  He continues to pray that Christ may dwell in them through faith, it by faith in Christ that we are sealed with the Spirit as Paul mentioned earlier in this letter.  Paul is referring here to strength to comprehend the entirety of the Gospel, mentioning its entire breadth, width, and length.  He then continues to pray that they may know the love that surpasses normal knowledge so that they may be filled with the full Spirit of God. 

            Note:  The word for “know” in verse 19 literally maintains the idea of knowing God just as        one would know any other person.

            Note:  Comprehend in verse 18 of this text is an action verb partitioning a “seizure or apprehending” of God.

            Timeless Principle: This is a prayer of Paul regarding depth of the Ephesian’s understanding of Christ’s love.  Paul longs for the church here to be strengthened by the Spirit that dwells strongly and powerfully within them.  He prays that Christ might dwell within them [wholly] through faith.  It is by faith in Him who paid our debt, and by that faith alone, can any man come to receive Christ’s Spirit in their “inner beings”. 

            Perhaps the most compelling two words in this text for us are the words “comprehend” and ”know”.  These words indicate an action.  Paul was praying that the Spirit that was within them (who is in all the saints today) would grant them strength to literally apprehend or seize the glory of the father just as the elder saints had been doing with all “breadth and length and height” of understanding.  This is an astonishing confidence that Paul is referring to.  He is literally calling people to know God in full personhood through the strength of the Spirit within them.  The question that this presents is that of how? How can a finite person gain understanding of an infinitely Holy and large god?  Is it even possible?  The answer to most of our surprise is spelled out here when Paul mentions the depth of the saints understanding (v.18).  So we are led to one central conclusion, man can know God.  In fact this is what God desires.  He longs for us to aspire to know and grow in personal relationship with him.  His son was crushed so that we, sinners, might be reconciled to him.  How one comes to such immeasurable knowledge of Him is described in verse 19.  We can know God by (through the strength of the Spirit who lives within) experiencing his love.  We come to him through experience and this not to be mistaken with useless knowledge.   It is this experience of God’s majestic love that “surpasses knowledge”.  May we reckon upon what is real and fight to apprehend and seize a greater understanding of God by setting our aim on the immeasurable riches of his grace and not on useless knowledge stored up without the slightest experience of God in his majesty.