Ephesians 3:14-21
Filled Full
Today I want to talk about fullness. Last month was Annie’s birthday and so we went out to dinner. And I decided to ask her a few questions to reflect on her 28 years on this planet and what she has learned.
So the first question I asked her was, “What do you have to offer this world after 28 years? What great pearls of wisdom have you gained to pass on to others?”
And she thought for a moment, and I kid you not she said, “Think before you get married. Don’t go on emotions.”
So, I asked her another question, “What is your favorite milestone in life?” She thought again for a minute, and she said, “graduating college.”
I thought certainly there was more coming so I waited. We looked at each other. And finally I said, “Anything else?”
**What is the point of this? Simply to illustrate that life can be full. It can be full of good things and, apparently it can be full of regrets.
What I want to talk about today is Fullness. Think about this. For some people it seems that their lives are full of joy. For others they seem only full of bitterness. Some are full of baloney, and some are full of themselves. But, are we full of God? This is where Paul is going in Ephesians 3:14-21.
Are we filled full with God as a Church? Are you filled full? Jesus said in John 10:10, “I come that they might have life and have it to the full.” That life He came to give is His own Full and abundant life. It is interesting though that in Scripture we learn that Fullness is both Complete, and Continuing. Colossians 2:10 says, “and you have been given fullness in Christ.” This seems to be speaking of our standing or position before God. However, in other passages it speaks of fullness as a process.
In our passage today we see that. Everything Paul says in verses 14-21 leads up to the believers being filled full. The passage climaxes in verse 19 when he says, “and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” I love that!
Fullness is a theme Paul is weaving throughout Ephesians. He said in 1:23, that “Christ fills everything [for the Church] in every way.” Then in 4:10 he said, “….” Then in verse 13, “…..attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” And then look over at 5:18, “..be filled with the Spirit.”
This idea of the Church growing in fullness is a fundamental objective and goal for local church ministry. This is why Paul labored so hard. Listen to how he speaks in Galatians 4:19, “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.” This is something we should all be aiming for individually and corporately. This is what we should have in mind whenever we decide how we’re going to act, talk or respond. The greater goal of the fullness of Christ, fully formed, in the Church should be the drive in each of our lives. And in 2 Corinthians 3:18 we see that it is also the objective of God; Paul says we “are being transformed into His likeness, with ever-increasing glory...”
This passage is being born out of the previous chapter. Verse 14 picks up where chapter 2 ended. Paul was going to start chapter 3 off with his comments here in verse 14. You can tell because notice that in verse 1 and verse 14 both start with the phrase “For this reason..” Everything in verses 2—13 are parenthetical. These verses are another one of Paul’s great digressions. But the important thing to realize is that what Paul’s prayer is in verse 14 is actually directly related to his teaching in chapter 2. He said that there is a new community called the Church, and it is composed of Jews and Gentiles. In the Church they both have access to God, they both have peace with God, they both are members in God’s household, and together they are being built into a holy temple that “rises up” (v21) and, notice verse 22, “to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.” Chapter 3’s prayer was a response to chapter 2’s teaching. The Holy Temple is being built, it is rising up, and it is to be full of all the redeemed who are all full of Christ
How is this passage important to what comes after it in the rest of the book?
In the following chapters Paul is going to give detailed instruction for the believers on how to live filled lives.
What does filled full mean? Let us first say that this concept is incomprehensible. It is truly impossible to talk adequately about the infinite God being “full” in we who are finite. But let us attempt an understanding anyway.
Let us first say what it is not. “It is not that we could be filled as God Himself is full. Nor is it the fullness of God Himself in us…Instead it is the fullness that God requires of us. The fulfillment God intends for man is the maturity that is measured by the full stature of Christ.” EBC, p52
Our salvation is called a new birth. And just like babies develop and grow and fill out from the day they are born, so too do we as those who are born again.
Filled = Total Domination. This word pleroo means to be filled, to make full, and it carries the sense of being “totally dominated”. When someone is full of rage they are totally dominated by hate. When someone is full of happiness they are totally dominated by joy. When someone is full of greed they are dominated by a love of money. To be filled with all the full measure of God means that we are totally dominated by God.
Full of God, Empty of Self. To be full of God means we are not full of “Self”. The controlling influence in my life is not Self, but God. This is why self-denial is integral to growing as a Christian. “If any man would come after Me he must deny himself, take up his cross and then follow me.” This idea of fullness, being totally dominated by God, also carries the idea of submission. I am submitted to the Lord. It is the picture of the servant, the bond-slave of Christ. Here we have the portrait of a person who has divested themselves of any self-ambition, and has committed themselves as servants to the purposes of the Lord. Every want, word, action is brought into submission to the Lord. To be filled with God means to be empty of self. [MacArthur, p 111]
Fullness is a Choice. To be full is a choice. To be filled full of God is something we choose. It is not the feeling that comes from a song. Fullness does not come if everything is turning out how we want it to and things are going right in my life. Actually, God may allow things to go badly in order to bring about your reliance on Him.
Let me suggest Several Facts related to being Filled Full:
First, notice that Prayer is required. Paul says 3 times in this passage that he prays for them. In verse 14 he kneels before the Father in heaven. In verse 16 he says, “I pray…” And in verse 17 he says again, “I pray that you…” Paul is praying for them to be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Prayer is how things get done. The fact of a church’s prayer life or lack of one is a revelation of that church’s faith. It is a church that trusts in other things than in God for the accomplishments of ministry. Paul did not fail to pray for them. We should not fail to pray for one another.
Secondly, I would notice that we must be Planted in Love. Notice how much Paul is talking about love here. In verse 17 he says “rooted and established in love”. Then notice in verse 18 when he says, “so you may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” and then he keeps going in verse 19 “and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.”
What Paul is saying here, and what he prays for, is that the believers would comprehend the love of Christ for them as it truly is. This means learning more about His love. We do not yet know His love as we ought to. The irony is that we can never exhaust it, yet, we are called to know it. So let me say that practically, this means that we are continually called to know this love more than we already do. There is no complacency. It is so high, so wide, so long, and so deep that we cannot possibly contain it in our brains.
Turn with me to Romans 8:35-39, and read….
The love of God has joined you to Christ and there is nothing that can ever separate you from Him. Love unites. Love binds. Love joins together.
So Paul mentions also that in order to comprehend God’s love we need God’s power. His power is what makes us able to understand. Notice how he says it…
God’s power enables us to know His love for us. Strength in the Christian life is characterized by knowing the power and fullness of God’s love for us. Weakness is characterized by a low view, or ignorance of His love.
Conclusion:
Make being filled and being full the aim of your life. Make it the aim of your prayers for others.
Filled Full
Today I want to talk about fullness. Last month was Annie’s birthday and so we went out to dinner. And I decided to ask her a few questions to reflect on her 28 years on this planet and what she has learned.
So the first question I asked her was, “What do you have to offer this world after 28 years? What great pearls of wisdom have you gained to pass on to others?”
And she thought for a moment, and I kid you not she said, “Think before you get married. Don’t go on emotions.”
So, I asked her another question, “What is your favorite milestone in life?” She thought again for a minute, and she said, “graduating college.”
I thought certainly there was more coming so I waited. We looked at each other. And finally I said, “Anything else?”
**What is the point of this? Simply to illustrate that life can be full. It can be full of good things and, apparently it can be full of regrets.
What I want to talk about today is Fullness. Think about this. For some people it seems that their lives are full of joy. For others they seem only full of bitterness. Some are full of baloney, and some are full of themselves. But, are we full of God? This is where Paul is going in Ephesians 3:14-21.
Are we filled full with God as a Church? Are you filled full? Jesus said in John 10:10, “I come that they might have life and have it to the full.” That life He came to give is His own Full and abundant life. It is interesting though that in Scripture we learn that Fullness is both Complete, and Continuing. Colossians 2:10 says, “and you have been given fullness in Christ.” This seems to be speaking of our standing or position before God. However, in other passages it speaks of fullness as a process.
In our passage today we see that. Everything Paul says in verses 14-21 leads up to the believers being filled full. The passage climaxes in verse 19 when he says, “and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” I love that!
Fullness is a theme Paul is weaving throughout Ephesians. He said in 1:23, that “Christ fills everything [for the Church] in every way.” Then in 4:10 he said, “….” Then in verse 13, “…..attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” And then look over at 5:18, “..be filled with the Spirit.”
This idea of the Church growing in fullness is a fundamental objective and goal for local church ministry. This is why Paul labored so hard. Listen to how he speaks in Galatians 4:19, “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.” This is something we should all be aiming for individually and corporately. This is what we should have in mind whenever we decide how we’re going to act, talk or respond. The greater goal of the fullness of Christ, fully formed, in the Church should be the drive in each of our lives. And in 2 Corinthians 3:18 we see that it is also the objective of God; Paul says we “are being transformed into His likeness, with ever-increasing glory...”
This passage is being born out of the previous chapter. Verse 14 picks up where chapter 2 ended. Paul was going to start chapter 3 off with his comments here in verse 14. You can tell because notice that in verse 1 and verse 14 both start with the phrase “For this reason..” Everything in verses 2—13 are parenthetical. These verses are another one of Paul’s great digressions. But the important thing to realize is that what Paul’s prayer is in verse 14 is actually directly related to his teaching in chapter 2. He said that there is a new community called the Church, and it is composed of Jews and Gentiles. In the Church they both have access to God, they both have peace with God, they both are members in God’s household, and together they are being built into a holy temple that “rises up” (v21) and, notice verse 22, “to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.” Chapter 3’s prayer was a response to chapter 2’s teaching. The Holy Temple is being built, it is rising up, and it is to be full of all the redeemed who are all full of Christ
How is this passage important to what comes after it in the rest of the book?
In the following chapters Paul is going to give detailed instruction for the believers on how to live filled lives.
What does filled full mean? Let us first say that this concept is incomprehensible. It is truly impossible to talk adequately about the infinite God being “full” in we who are finite. But let us attempt an understanding anyway.
Let us first say what it is not. “It is not that we could be filled as God Himself is full. Nor is it the fullness of God Himself in us…Instead it is the fullness that God requires of us. The fulfillment God intends for man is the maturity that is measured by the full stature of Christ.” EBC, p52
Our salvation is called a new birth. And just like babies develop and grow and fill out from the day they are born, so too do we as those who are born again.
Filled = Total Domination. This word pleroo means to be filled, to make full, and it carries the sense of being “totally dominated”. When someone is full of rage they are totally dominated by hate. When someone is full of happiness they are totally dominated by joy. When someone is full of greed they are dominated by a love of money. To be filled with all the full measure of God means that we are totally dominated by God.
Full of God, Empty of Self. To be full of God means we are not full of “Self”. The controlling influence in my life is not Self, but God. This is why self-denial is integral to growing as a Christian. “If any man would come after Me he must deny himself, take up his cross and then follow me.” This idea of fullness, being totally dominated by God, also carries the idea of submission. I am submitted to the Lord. It is the picture of the servant, the bond-slave of Christ. Here we have the portrait of a person who has divested themselves of any self-ambition, and has committed themselves as servants to the purposes of the Lord. Every want, word, action is brought into submission to the Lord. To be filled with God means to be empty of self. [MacArthur, p 111]
Fullness is a Choice. To be full is a choice. To be filled full of God is something we choose. It is not the feeling that comes from a song. Fullness does not come if everything is turning out how we want it to and things are going right in my life. Actually, God may allow things to go badly in order to bring about your reliance on Him.
Let me suggest Several Facts related to being Filled Full:
First, notice that Prayer is required. Paul says 3 times in this passage that he prays for them. In verse 14 he kneels before the Father in heaven. In verse 16 he says, “I pray…” And in verse 17 he says again, “I pray that you…” Paul is praying for them to be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Prayer is how things get done. The fact of a church’s prayer life or lack of one is a revelation of that church’s faith. It is a church that trusts in other things than in God for the accomplishments of ministry. Paul did not fail to pray for them. We should not fail to pray for one another.
Secondly, I would notice that we must be Planted in Love. Notice how much Paul is talking about love here. In verse 17 he says “rooted and established in love”. Then notice in verse 18 when he says, “so you may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” and then he keeps going in verse 19 “and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.”
What Paul is saying here, and what he prays for, is that the believers would comprehend the love of Christ for them as it truly is. This means learning more about His love. We do not yet know His love as we ought to. The irony is that we can never exhaust it, yet, we are called to know it. So let me say that practically, this means that we are continually called to know this love more than we already do. There is no complacency. It is so high, so wide, so long, and so deep that we cannot possibly contain it in our brains.
Turn with me to Romans 8:35-39, and read….
The love of God has joined you to Christ and there is nothing that can ever separate you from Him. Love unites. Love binds. Love joins together.
So Paul mentions also that in order to comprehend God’s love we need God’s power. His power is what makes us able to understand. Notice how he says it…
God’s power enables us to know His love for us. Strength in the Christian life is characterized by knowing the power and fullness of God’s love for us. Weakness is characterized by a low view, or ignorance of His love.
Conclusion:
Make being filled and being full the aim of your life. Make it the aim of your prayers for others.
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