Ephesians 3:14-19 – 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 and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10
A. The Petitions
B. Petition # 1 – Strength in our inner being
C. Petition # 2 – Strength to Know the Unknowable
1. The Dimensions of Christ’s Love – Ephesians 3:18-19
a. Reasons for the words – Phil. 3:12-13
– To experience the personal nature of God’s love – 1 John 4:8, 16
– To experience the vastness of God’s love – Romans 8:37-39
b. Meaning of the words
– Breadth (width) – Colossians 1:3-6, Revelation 5:9-10, Revelation 7:9-10
– Length – Psalm 139:7-10, Isaiah 54:6-8, Jeremiah 31:3, Ephesians 1:3-4, Revelation 13:7-8
– Height (a vertical dimension)
His Faithfulness to His love – Psalm 57:10, Psalm 103:11, Psalm 108:4
His completion of His love – Philippians 1:6, 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10
– Depth
The Depth of Spiritual Oppression – Psalm 69:2
The Depth of Spiritual Depression – Psalm 130:1, Micah 7:19