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, (Ephesians 3:14-16)
For what reason did Paul bow his knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. (Ephesians 3:13) Paul was writing the church in Ephesus from prison in Rome, but the last time he saw them years earlier, he knelt down and prayed with them all. Then they all wept freely, and fell on Paul’s neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more. (Acts 20:36-38)
It's was one thing to know that they wouldn't see him anymore, but to know that he would suffer what he was currently going through for doing no more than preaching the gospel of Christ Jesus had to have given them reason to doubt whether they should continue. When we lose heart or get weak in our faith because we come to the realization that just because we're Christians doesn't mean life will be easier, let's take comfort in the Truth that Paul shared with the church in Ephesus. ...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. (Ephesians 3:17-19)
We have to learn to understand how much Christ loved us, so that we too can start to love Him, and be rooted and grounded in love. Like a tree that is rooted and grounded, no matter what kind of wind or storm comes, it does not move. Our love for Christ has to be that same way. No matter what happens in our lives, we have to be rooted and grounded in love before the storms of life come, so that we too will not be moved. 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 3:20-21)
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Ephesians 4:1-6)
Once we truly believe that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) Then we will be able to do as Jesus commanded, "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ [Deuteronomy 6:4-5] This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ [Leviticus 19:18] There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31)
When we love God and Christ, then we can love one another and keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. How? Because we understand that we who are Christians are united, because there is one body and one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all. There is only one way to God, the Lord, Christ Jesus. There is only one faith, ...faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. (Romans 3:22) There is one baptism, as Jesus said, "...baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,... (Matthew 28:19)
There is only one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.” [Psalm 68:18] (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) (Ephesians 4:7-10)
Remember we've studied previously that God has made sure ALL people who have ever lived, are living, and will live knows that He exists; and from the beginning of the church after Christ ascended back to the Father, He made sure the gospel message spread throughout the world up to today. But what about everyone who died before Jesus was born then died and resurrected? When He died, He also first descended.
Remember when some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish [Jonah 1:17], so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Matthew 12:38-40) When Jesus dies and was laid in the tomb, He rose on the third day; but just as Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly. (John 2:1) Jesus answered the prayers of all who believed through faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all... (Romans 4:16)
He descended and led captivity captive. All those who died of the faith before the promise was manifested in Jesus, Christ Jesus revealed Himself to them on that third day, just as He revealed Himself to the disciples and the women who came to the tomb and the multitude of others, before He ascended. He went to Paradise (Luke 23:43), Abraham's Bosom (Luke 16:23), and ushered all of them who were of the faith into the presence of God. But He didn't ascend without first giviing gifts to men. And He still gives gifts to men, because the gift are given through being "...baptized with the Holy Spirit ... you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me [Christ]..." (Acts 1:5-8)
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; (Ephesians 4:11-13) Paul explained these gifts to the church in Corinth in more detail. (I Corinthians 12) But the important lesson to learn is that There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: (I Corinthians 12:4-7)
But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. (I Corinthians 12:11-12) If we profess and call ourselves Christians, we must keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ...that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:1-16) AMEN!
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