Paul describes for us the journey the Disciple makes towards being made complete in Christ. Abiding with Christ is how we get there.
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3:16-19)
The journey of the disciple starts and ends with God’s work in our lives. The entire Godhead works in us to accomplish our path to an abiding faith from beginning to end.
It becomes clear when reading the Epistle to the Ephesians that Paul has a deep love for the Ephesians’ love of Jesus Christ. His desire for their continued trajectory towards deep spiritual things comes across several times.
In today’s passage, Paul pauses to pray on the Ephesians’ behalf to see this desire come to fruition. And in so doing, Paul lays out the path the believer takes towards being made complete in Christ.
The Inner Strength of the Spirit
All who choose to follow Jesus Christ are granted the gift of the Holy Spirit to abide in their hearts (John 14:15-17). He is there to guide us “in all truth”, and to teach us, reminding us of Christ’s teachings (John 14:26).
And as today’s passage reminds us, the Holy Spirit empowers us with “inner strength”. This empowerment that comes from God is what gives us the ability to follow His commands.
The Holy Spirit, as helper, as advocate, is the first deposit on our faith journey with God. He points us towards Christ and gives us the ability to obey Him.
Growing Roots in Faith
As a result of the inner strength of the Holy Spirit, we see that Christ will then make His home in our hearts. There is a caveat here, though, that we must pay attention to.
“As you trust in him”. Yes, it is beautiful and comforting to think that the almighty God who created the universe takes an active role in our faith. However, we are not simply passive receivers of His work. It requires having faith in Christ, which requires us to surrender our lives to Him daily.
But then we see one of the promises in this passage. It says we will grow roots “into God’s love” which will keep us strong.
When we see a mighty tree, long of life and full of fruit, what we don’t see is the vast, incredibly strong root system that sustains it.
Disciples of Jesus Christ need to be strong at the root so they can produce fruit. Again, though, we see that we rely on God’s promise to see that this is accomplished.
When we abide with Christ, we are empowered and strengthened in His love. What we surrender is returned into our lives many times over.
A Love Too Great to Understand
We can look at this as a cycle – the Holy Spirit strengthens us to trust Christ, which in turn intertwines us in God’s love and further strengthens us.
Abiding with Christ daily is how we continue on this path to being made complete in Christ. Because it gives us the “power to understand” the love of God.
God’s intent is as we continue in life with Him, He will continue to reveal to us and teach us about His love for us. Even though, as Paul says, Christ’s love is “too great” to every fully grasp it.
Do you have enough love in your life? If you are willing to surrender in faith to Christ, you will get more than you can even comprehend, because He cares for you.
Being Made Complete in Christ
The end result of going on this love journey with God is that we will receive “all the fullness of life and power” that God gives.
Paul calls this being “made complete”. Although we shouldn’t think of “complete” as some sort of end game. We are never truly finished with our journey of faith in Christ until we have passed from this life to the next.
And even then, we will have only concluded a chapter, as we will have an eternity to spend with Jesus Christ in Heaven.
What Paul is describing is a state of a deep abiding with Christ, with the power of the entire Godhead at work in us. When we make ourselves fully surrendered and fully available to God’s work in this way, then we can enjoy the fruits of being made complete in Christ.
More verses about being made complete in Christ:
Isaiah 66:2; Romans 12:1; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 2:9-10; Hebrews 11:6; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 1 John 3:23-24
