Preached on a Baptism Sunday; November 29, 2009
from
Ephesians 3:14-21
Theme: According to God’s riches in glory, we have rich spiritual resources for living for Jesus on earth.
This is a very special Sunday to me. It’s one of those days in which I am very thankful to God for the privilege of being the pastor of Bethany Bible Church; because today, I get to baptize my two friends Owen and Emma. And it’s also your privilege, dear church family, to witness their baptism and to support them in your prayers.
I’ve asked God to give me a passage of Scripture to preach from on this important day; and I feel that He has led me to Ephesians 3:14-21. It’s a very good passage for such a day as this, because it tells us about the prayer that the apostle Paul prayed for his Christian friends as they were beginning their new life with Jesus Christ. I believe it teaches us some things that we need to pray for Owen and Emma.
And as we all turn to this passage in the third chapter of Ephesians, I want to let you know that, this morning in my sermon, I’m going to be speaking mostly to Owen and Emma. But I hope everyone else will listen along too. That, of course, means that I have a bit of a challenge today. I must preach in such a way that Owen and Emma will be especially blessed by the things this important portion of God’s word has to say—but also so that the whole church family will be edified by it too.
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So; let’s begin by thinking about this letter remarkable letter to the Ephesians. In it, the apostle Paul had been writing to his Christian friends about the wonderful spiritual riches that were theirs because of their faith in Jesus. I very much love how Paul begins his letter in the first three verses. He writes;
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,
To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ . . . (Ephesians 1:1-3).
Now; think of that! Paul doesn’t just say, “I sure hope that you will, one day, become blessed with a whole lot of spiritual blessings!” Instead, he says that—right now, because of their faith in Jesus Christ—they already have “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”! When those early Christians first trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior, they immediately—along with receiving Jesus—got every spiritual blessing in heavenly places that God could ever give to anyone. This is because all the spiritual blessings of God are to be found in Jesus alone!
Owen and Emma, I sure hope you know that! You and I have met a couple of times; and you’ve told me about how you have trusted Jesus as your Savior. And now—even though you may not be rich in the riches of this world—you are, nevertheless, truly rich beyond your wildest imaginations in the eternal treasures of heaven! All of the rich treasures of heaven are found only in Jesus Christ; and because you have Him, you have it all! (And that’s also true of the rest of us, dear brothers and sisters, if we too have trusted in Jesus!)
It’s really sad when people who have trusted in Jesus don’t understand that. Sometimes, Christians waste a lot of time seeking after this ‘spiritual treasure’, or that ‘spiritual resource’—never realizing that, if they have Jesus Christ, they already have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places as a free gift! That’s why Paul spends the next three chapters of this wonderful letter telling them what those spiritual blessings are that they now have in Him.
Now; chapter four of Ephesians is where Paul urges his dear Christian friends to rise up and start living like people who truly are already rich in every spiritual blessing. That’s where he tells them, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called” (4:1). But when you think about it, it doesn’t really do any good to tell someone to act like they’re rich in Christ if they don’t really understand that it’s true. And so, in the passage just before chapter four, he first tells them about how he’s praying that God will do a work in their hearts and minds. He tell them that how he prays they’ll understand how rich they really are in spiritual blessings through Jesus—so they will then rise up and live like it.
And that’s the passage, Owen and Emma—and all of the rest of us in this church family—that I want us to look at this morning. I want us to think carefully about what Paul says he prayed for his dear Christian friends.
In Ephesians 3:14-21, Paul writes;
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen (Ephesians 3:14-21).
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Look again in this passage at how the apostle Paul starts. He helps us to know that these are things he talks to God about—things that he prays very hard that his friends would understand. He said that he humbly bowed his knees to the Father of the Lord Jesus; and that’s his way of saying that he prayed very sincerely and earnestly. And he also said that he prayed to the Father “from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named”. All the people that God had ever saved—people who had trusted in Jesus and are in heaven now, or people who had trusted Jesus and were still living for Him on earth—were all a part of one family, with God as their Father.
You’re a part of that family now, Owen and Emma; and so am I. And so is everyone who trusted Jesus. And Paul prayed very hard that his dear friends would understand what it means to be a part of that family. And Paul is praying that his friends would understand that God has given them some things that are “according to the riches of His glory”! There’s no limit to the riches of His glory; so there’s also no limit to how much we have in Jesus!
Now; imagine what it would be like if some boy or girl like you lived as a very poor person—but didn’t know that, in reality, they were really very rich. That boy or girl would probably have been living in a dirty, smelly room in broken-down old house. They wouldn’t have had much to eat; and what they did have would probably have not been very good. And they would probably have been wearing dirty old clothes, and a smelly old rag for a coat, and worn-out shoes with holes.
But then, imagine what it would have been like if someone came along with a letter that explained to them that they had a rich relative—someone they didn’t even know—who was fabulously rich; and who loved them and had adopted them as their own child; and was going to come one day to take them to live with them in a beautiful mansion. Or imagine what it would have been like if some official from a great kingdom would come to announce to them that they were really a prince or a princess of a vast empire—and that a carriage would soon be coming to take them to live in a magnificent castle. I’ll bet you’ve read stories, or watched movies, or heard fairy tales that are like that.
Well; in a way, that’s what has happened to you spiritually. God has adopted you. When you believed on His Son Jesus, God the Father has made you a member of His own family. And maybe you didn’t know it before; but you should know now that all the spiritual riches of heaven are yours through your Savior Jesus! One day, Jesus will come to this earth and take you to be with Him forever; and you will live in His Father’s house with Him and share in all of His riches in glory throughout eternity! And even though you’re not in heaven yet, all the spiritual riches of heaven are already truly yours right now. In God’s kingdom, you are already His adopted son and daughter! You are already a wealthy prince and princess! You are already rich!
And as your pastor, Owen and Emma, I want so very much for you to know that; so you won’t go on to live the rest of your lives as if you were—spiritually speaking—poor beggars. You see; today is a very important day in your lives. It’s the day in which you will announce to your church family that you have trusted Jesus as your Savior. And from this day forward, I want you to know the truth about how rich you really are in the great resources of His Father—rich “according to the riches of His glory”. And I want you to know it so well, that you will live the rest of your lives like what you really are in God’s sight! Because it really is true that if you have Jesus, you now have all the spiritual blessings in heavenly places!
And church family in Christ; I want for you and me to be praying for Owen and Emma that they’ll understand these things. And, of course, I want you to understand them too.
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Now; the riches we’re talking about are not silver and gold. It’s not the sort of things that this world thinks of as riches. But they are things that are far more precious than anything this world could give—things that, really, the people of this world would give everything they owned if they could have. And these are riches that are already yours.
I’ll bet you’d like to know what those riches are. The first one that we find in Paul’s prayer is . . .
1. POWER FOR DAILY LIFE THROUGH JESUS LIVING IN US (vv. 16-17a).
Owen and Emma; that’s something that people everywhere really long for. They want power for living their daily lives. They want the power to meet the challenges of life. As you grow older, you’ll see that people try to achieve that kind of power in wrong and hurtful ways.
But you have that power right now through your relationship with Jesus. Everyone who is saved by Him has that power; and Paul prayed that his Christian friends would know it. He said that he prayed that God would grant them “. . . to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man . . .”
You see; our God is a triune God. There is, in the trinity, the Father; and there is also His Son Jesus; and there is also the Holy Spirit—and all three Persons are one. And when you trusted God’s Son Jesus as your Savior, the Holy Spirit came and took up residence in you. He now lives in you. And what that means is that, any time you have a problem you have to face, or any time you have a challenge in life, you have a divine Friend—a Friend who is fully God—living in you, who gives you all the power you need to do what the heavenly Father wants you to do.
Would you like to see how powerful the Holy Spirit, who lives in you, really is? You can see it in the first chapter of this letter—starting with verse 19. And brace yourself—because it’s pretty amazing! The apostle Paul wrote that he hoped his Christian friends would understand several things about their riches in Christ—and among them was
. . . the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all (1:19-23).
The Holy Spirit who lives in you is the One who raised Jesus from the dead and made Him to rise up into heaven in glory—so that He is now the King of kings and Lord of lords. And Owen and Emma—that very same Holy Spirit, who raised Jesus up in glory, is who lives in you!
When you trusted Jesus as your Savior, the fact that the Holy Spirit came to live in you also means that Jesus Himself has now taken up residence in you through Him. As Paul says, he prays this “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith”. And what this means is that, in every challenge you face, or in any problem you have to deal with, Jesus is there with you through the Person of the Holy Spirit—to help you and strengthen you and show you what to do from His word.
And so; whatever it is that He commands you to do, you have the endless power of God Himself living in you to help you do it! I hope that you’ll live the rest of your lives always trusting in the great spiritual treasure of ‘power for living’ that God has given you in Jesus Christ!
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Would you like to hear about another rich treasure we have in Jesus? It’s . . .
2. KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS’ SURPASSING LOVE FOR US (vv. 17b-18a).
Love is another thing that people all over the world want. In fact, it’s something that they need. Everyone needs very much to be loved. And again, as you grow older, you’ll discover that people who do not trust Jesus will do some very foolish and harmful things in order to try to fulfill their need for love.
But in Jesus, you are loved beyond imagination! You are loved by God the Father so much, He has adopted you and made you His own children. And you are loved by Jesus so much that He has died on the cross for you, and has promised that you will live with Him in His kingdom forever! And you are loved by the Holy Spirit so much that He has come to live in you, and help you to live for Jesus in a way that pleases your heavenly Father!
And you need to know about that love. Here’s what Paul prayed for his Christian friends: “. . . that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge . . .”
When Paul says that his Christian friends are “rooted and grounded in love”, he means that they’re are already in God’s love—good and solid. That’s pretty wonderful; isn’t it? Because of our relationship with Jesus, we don’t ever have to earn the Father’s love. He loves us now; and He always will, because we’re in His Son forever. But the problem is that we don’t always understand that. And so, Paul prays that we’ll “comprehend” it—that is, that we’ll truly understand His great love for us and let it sink deeply into our hearts and minds.
I like how Paul puts it; don’t you? He prays that we’ll understand the dimensions of God’s love—how far it is, how wide it is, how high it is, and how deep it is. You can never go so far, or so wide, or so high, or so deep, that you’re out of His love for you. But isn’t it also interesting that he prays that we’ll understand such love “which passes knowledge”? It’s so great that we could never grasp it unless He helped us.
One of my favorite passages in the Bible about God’s love for us is in Romans 5:7-8. In that passage, Paul tells us that God loved us so much that His Son Jesus died for us! Paul writes;
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:7-8).
It’s hard to imagine such love, isn’t it? We didn’t deserve for God to love us. But while we were still sinners—while we were still His enemies—Jesus died for us! That’s how much He loved us! He loved us when we were unworthy! And now that you have trusted in His Son, just think of how you’ll never be outside of God’s love!
Paul prays that we’ll “comprehend” that love. And do you notice that he prays that we’ll comprehend it “with all the saints”? That’s talking about other Christians; and it means that, if we really want to understand God’s love, we need to learn about it along with others of the people that He loves. I’m glad that you’re in this church family. But one day, when you grow up and—perhaps—move to another city, I hope you’ll make sure to get into another good church family. I hope you’ll always make sure to be in a good church; because that’s where God wants you to learn about His love—”with all the saints”.
Owen and Emma; if you really learn—not just in your head, but in your heart—about how great God’s love for you is, it’ll change everything in your life. You’ll never have to be told to obey the Bible; because you’ll know God’s love for you and will want to obey the Bible out of love for Him. You’ll never have to be told to Go to church; because you’ll know God’s love for you and will want to be with other people He loves out of love for Him. You’ll never have to be told to tell other people about Jesus; because you’ll know God’s love for you and will want to tell others about the wonderful Savior that you love so much in return!
There’s no greater treasure you can imagine than knowing about God’s love! And because of Jesus, you could never be more loved by God than you are right now! What rich people you are!
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So; you already have all the power in Jesus Christ you’ll ever need for anything God commands you to do. And you are already as loved by God the Father through Jesus His Son as you could ever possibly be. Those are pretty fabulous riches, aren’t they?
And there are many more riches we have in Jesus. We could never count them all! But would you like to know about at least one more? It’s . . .
3. SATISFACTION THROUGH THE FULLNESS OF GOD IN JESUS (vv. 18b).
Now; there’s another thing that the people of this world really long for—satisfaction. They long to feel happy and content inside. And as you grow older, you’ll discover that, sadly, very few people really are. Some people who don’t know Jesus do some pretty foolish and harmful things to themselves—and even to other people—in order to try to make themselves happy and fulfilled on the inside. In fact, some of the richest people in the world—in terms of the things that unbelieving people think of as riches—would give everything they had just to feel happy and fulfilled for only a few minutes.
But here’s yet another treasure that’s yours in Jesus! Paul prays that his Christian friends “may be filled with all the fullness of God”; and that means fulfillment!—happiness!—contentment!—real satisfaction! Paul prays that we will be “filled with all the fullness of God”.
Now what do you suppose that might mean?—to be “filled with all the fullness of God”? Well; I know that both of you love to go to the beach. Have you ever thought to yourself that it might be fun to put the whole ocean in a paper cup and take it home with you—to full the cup with all the fullness of the ocean? Well; that’s a silly idea, of course. The ocean’s just too big. It would never fit into a little cup! All that you could do would be to put just the tiniest little bit of the ocean in the cup. But what would happen if you took that same cup, threw it into the ocean, and let it sink down in the water, and come to rest at the bottom of the ocean depths forever. Then, you could say that the cup was in the kind of relationship with the ocean that allowed every bit of the ocean to flow into that cup. Then, the cup would be filled with all the fullness of the ocean!
In a way, that’s what has happened to you because you have trusted in Jesus. You couldn’t contain all the fullness of God in yourself. God’s just too big; and you’re just too small. But God the Father puts you into a new kind of relationship with Himself through Jesus—a relationship where you aren’t just next to Him, but are all the way in Him. It’s a little like you’re a paper cup in the ocean. You’re in God; and because you’re completely in Him, He’s also completely in you! You aren’t just filled with a part of God. You have all of Him—in all His fullness—filling you!
And that means that you have a treasure of satisfaction that nothing in this world could replace. One of my favorite passages about this is found in Colossians 2:8-10. Paul was writing to warn his Christian friends not to let anyone lead them astray; or try to get them to look to other things to satisfy them. He wrote;
Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power (Colossians 2:8-10).
What this means, Owen and Emma, is that you don’t have to go searching around in life for something to satisfy you—like so many of the people of this world do. You have an endless resource of true satisfaction and fulfillment through a personal relationship with the One who made you for Himself.
How rich you are in Jesus!
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Well; those are things that I pray for you, Owen and Emma—that (1) you’ll “be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith”; and that (2) “you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge”; and that (3) “you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” That’s something Paul prayed for his Christian friends. It’s something I’m asking the other Christians in your church family to also pray for you.
And I know God is able to answer that prayer for you. I know it because of what Paul says at the very end; “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (vv. 20-21).
May you always know—and always rejoice in—how marvelously rich you both are in Jesus!