In Ephesians chapter 3, Paul says more about this "mystery" that has been revealed to him. The secret is that Jews and non-Jews (that's all humanity) are the "chosen people". They are together, in Christ, heirs of the blessings, treasures, riches of being God's special people. And Paul marvels that he has been given the privilege of being a herald of this Good News. He tells his readers not to worry about the fact that he has been jailed for this message--he's under the impression that his suffering will not hinder the outworking of God's purposes for the world one iota. The fact that we are reading his words today is a good sign that his hunch was right! Paul rounds out this section by getting back to the prayer he had started earlier. And in reference to those "riches, blessings, and treasures" he prays that his readers would be given the power to grasp the unlimited dimensions of God's love that comes to us in Christ. And he praises God for his power to do more in and through us than we could ever ask or imagine...
We took some time on Sunday to talk about all this, and raised more questions than we had time or resources to answer. So let's work on some of that this week. Some lingering questions (feel free to add your own):
- What exactly are the blessings Paul keeps referring to?
- How does the "church" display the "wisdom of God in all its variety"?
- Who are the unseen rulers and authorities who are seeing God's wisdom in the church?
We had some questions for personal reflection too:
- In light of God’s unfolding plan for all of history, and our place in that plan as exhibit A, what situation, problem, conflict, or need can you entrust to God? Boldly enter God’s presence and ask him for the inner strength you need to endure or overcome.
- How real to you is the love of God? Do you need power from God to understand and experience its dimensions? Ask him.
- Imagine what the fullness of life and power that comes from God could empower you and us to do! Jot down some ideas, remembering that God can do infinitely more than we can ask or think!
So chime in with your two cents! Ask more questions. Take a crack at answering some. Let's see what comes of it...
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An Interview About My Book "Entering The Fray"
11 years ago
In trying to answer the question "How real to you is the love of God", I've been asking (as Paul asked for his readers) for "the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is". But in reading Paul's very next statment, I'm wondering if this is even attainable, since he says Christ's love "is too great to understand fully".
ReplyDeleteIs Paul differentiating between God's love (understandable) and Christ's love (not understandable)? How could they be any different? Or is he differentiating between "understanding" and "understanding fully"?
Also wanted to add how powerful I thought it was to pray through this section (verses 14-21) of Paul's letter at the end of our meeting together on Sunday. It's amazing to me to think that his original readers/hearers may have adopted the same prayer at one of their own meetings. And how many other groups of believers throughout history may have done the same?
ReplyDeleteCould this be an example of "the church [displaying] His wisdom in its rich variety"?...
k, Good thoughts! That prayer at the end was really meaningful to me too. I didn't think of doing that until just in the moment--but it really helped the text come alive for me.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Paul is differentiating between God's love and Christ's love. I think he's making a connection between the two. As I read through Ephesians, I've noticed that almost everywhere that Paul says God does something, anything--in the same breath he says that it's through (in, because of, for the sake of) Christ. I'm thinking the same thing is going on here. The height, depth, length and breadth of God's love is an unfathomable reality that no one can ever fully understand. And in fact, on our own, it's outside of our reach--"we were by nature objects of God's wrath". But because of what Christ has done, the boundless love of God has come blasting into our reality, so that we can experience his love in our lives and in our community.
By the way, I think one of the points Paul is making by referencing the "dimensions" of God's love is that part of the "mystery" that has been revealed is that God's love is not bound to the Jews only (this is how it ties to the previous section). God's love for humanity is universal. All are invited to experience it. And the surest, most concrete way to "experience the love of Christ" is to experience it in the church, meaning to experience a love that crosses worldly boundaries and brings natural enemies together as family. As I interact with brothers and sisters in the church who are very different than me, whether ethnically, personality-wise, economically, etc. and discover that because of our connection with Jesus we can love each other deeply--that's definitely a display of God's wisdom!