An excerpt from a young woman’s journal of her Faith journey:
“I came home from my small group tonight and kneeled by my bed to pray – the first time I have ever kneeled to pray – and I prayed for the people in my group, that God would become real to us through our studies and through each other. I prayed that God would speak to my heart, so that all this learning about him and his Son would somehow make sense to my soul, not just my brain. As I finished my prayer, still kneeling, hands on my bible, a soft whisper of Ephesians 3:14 was heard. I turned open the Bible, and not having yet studied Ephesians, located it in the table of contents and flipped to the appropriate page. I was so amazed at what I found – the passage begins with ‘For this reason, I kneel before the Father’.
God was acknowledging me at this very moment! God sees me! He hears me! I read on into the next several passages and felt such tremendous joy as I started to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. It was in this very moment I understood that phrase ‘Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship’. After years of worshiping an obscure Father, I have finally met him here in the living words of Ephesians 3.”
{End of journal excerpt}
If this had happened to you, wouldn’t Ephesians 3 become a passage that stirred your heart every time you heard, read, or meditated on it?
For this reason, I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19
I have a confession to make – the excerpt is taken from my own personal journal. This is MY STORY. This is MY WITNESS. A moment in my life when the words in the bible became alive for me. A moment of a personal experience with the Holy Spirit. A moment of overwhelming joy and tangible sense of His love for me.
And since that moment so many years ago, this passage has become what I refer to as my “Love Verse”. You may have heard other Christians reference a “Life Verse” – which is more typically a scripture that offers guidance to our lives, a type of rudder that can direct our course for our day or our life. But a “love verse” (have no idea if this is technically a real thing) is a scripture that represents a personal experience of God’s love through his Living Word. A “Love verse” represents the relationship you have with Christ.
My love verse is alive and active in my life. I use this passage in Ephesians any time I pray for a new believer or someone struggling in their faith journey – I may pray privately, or I may text the reference to the person, or write it in a personal note to this person.
Every time I gaze upon the cross, my heart fills with these words from Ephesians, as the cross reminds me of the height, width, depth, and length of his love. The cross isn’t a one-time thing, it’s a forever thing. Just as grasping the magnitude of Christ’s love isn’t a one-time thing, it’s a constant, repeatable action.
Because I’ve had a personal experience with Ephesians 3:14-19, I have an insatiable desire to regularly study it and meditate on it. Looking at other Bible texts and translations is one way I like to approach the scripture to gain new perspectives. The Message, puts it this way: “…take in with all the followers of Jesus the EXTRAVAGANT DIMENSIONS of Christ’s Love.” Extravagant means
– Exceeding the limits of reason
– Lacking moderation or restraint
– Extremely or excessively elaborate
Do you hear that?
Isn’t that WONDERFUL NEWS?
This passage reminds us about the INFINITE REACH of his Love. Christ’s love is all around us, in every direction, and in all dimensions of SPACE and TIME. When you are striving towards God, or ignoring Him from all the busyness of life, or have your back turned to Him in anger – His Love awaits in each of those directions and situations. There’s no sin too big, no past too shameful, no heart too broken, where His love does not exist and awaits and embraces you. It’s Love in all directions of space and time!
Grasping the multi-dimensional magnitude of his love is challenging. I came across the “Parable of the Flatlanders” that helps explain this concept with an illustration. This story was written by Edwin Abbott, a 19th century schoolmaster. His allegory can be helpful in recognizing the limitations of our understanding of God’s Love for us.
Imagine a Two-Dimensional world – where length and width exist, but no height exists. It would be like living on a sheet of paper – we could move across it, but not above or below, nor see above or below – only sideways.
Now imagine God poking three fingers into this world – all we would see is three separate circles, with no perception that they belonged to a multi-dimensional hand. Imagine that God put His face close to the surface – without touching it, but just millimeter away from the surface – He would be closer to us than two of us existing a centimeter apart, yet we would not know He is there.
We exist in a 3-dimensional world, but God exists in so many more dimensions! The Love of Christ surrounds us on so many more levels that we can even comprehend!
It may be easiest to think of height, depth, width and length in physical and time dimensions – in other words, Christ’s love is all around us and for eternity. But you can also see this text as a metaphor to describe the wonders of a multi-dimensional God:
– A God of Power
– Rich in Mercy
– Lavish in Grace
– Great in Wisdom
This multi-dimensional characteristic of God and His love is also expressed in Job 11: 7-9
Can you fathom the mysteries of God?
Can you probe the limits of the almighty?
They are HIGHER than the heavens above – what can you do?
They are DEEPER than the depths below – what can you know?
Their measure is LONGER than the earth and WIDER than the sea.
What does it really mean to “know a love that surpasses knowledge”?
Think of a newborn in his mother’s arms. He is loved, but he couldn’t begin to describe that love. He doesn’t even have thoughts about that love. All he has is the EXPERIENCE of that love.
The fact that love cannot be comprehended or explained does NOT make that love any less real. His Love for me is real. His Love for you is real too. An extravagant, infinite love.
Join with me in this Ephesians prayer:
Oh God, the creator of heaven and earth,
I pray that out of your glorious riches you may strengthen me with power through your Spirit in my inner being, so that Christ may dwell in my heart through faith. And I pray that I would be rooted and established in love, and that you would grant me the power to grasp the extravagant dimensions of your love. Help me to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that I may be filled to the measure of all your fullness.
Amen.
About the Author:
Jamie Boettcher is a married Midwesterner and mother of two teenage boys. As the founder and creator of One Word Faith, she uses her passion for writing to encourage her readers through journal excerpts, poems and fictional short stories. Find her on Facebook here.
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September 17, 2018