14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Eph. 3:14-19 ESV)
Paul begins this powerful prayer by asking that you would be “strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being.” He then prayers that “Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” This is Paul saying one thing in two ways.
- On the one hand, Paul prays that we would experience such intimacy with the Holy Spirit that his strength would be felt in the deepest part of who we are.
- On the other hand, Paul prays that we would experience such intimacy with Jesus that he dwells in our hearts. The word “dwell” that is used here means to reside permanently.
Paul is praying that we would experience the deepest intimacy possible with the Holy Spirit and with Jesus.
Paul then asks that this intimacy, this love, would be our home base, that we would be “rooted and grounded” in it. This intimacy with the Spirit, this intimacy with Jesus, this divine love, is the one thing, the best thing, to be rooted and grounded in.
Why? Because of its “breadth and length and height and depth.”Some of the earliest Christians believed Paul was talking about the cross with this language. The two posts of the cross point in four directions.
- The top of the cross has height.
- The bottom of the cross has depth.
- And the crossbeam has breadth and length.
The earliest Christians believed that Paul was saying that the cross is the supreme expression of the nature of this love that we are to be rooted and grounded in.
Other Christian writers in the ancient world took this a step further. They believed that each word stood for a characteristic of the love in which we are to be rooted and grounded.
- The word “length” stood for the duration of this love. How long can we count on this love, this intimacy with the Spirit and Jesus? It’s length is eternal. It lasts as long as eternity. That’s why Paul can say in 1st Corinthians 13:8 “love never ends.” There will never ever be a time when Jesus does not love you, when Jesus does not love all others. His love for you, his love for all others, is as long as eternity.
- The word “depth” may refer to the way in which his love reaches even the darkest and deepest moments of our lives. At that very moment where we feel so sinful, so ashamed, thinking we are beyond the reach of the love of Jesus, his love drills down to where we are and reaches us. There is no behavior that can outreach the love of Jesus. No matter how low we go, no matter how low others go, even when we believe that they’ve gone too low, Jesus’ love extends even there. It’s that deep.
- The word “breadth” refers to the way in which this love of Jesus extends to different racial and ethnic groups like Jews and Gentiles. This was Paul’s point earlier in his letter, in Eph. 2:11-22. There is no race, no nationality, no ethnicity, that makes you somehow second to others or superior to others. Jesus has a love with such breadth that it can encompass every race and every ethnicity. Jesus’ love includes those whose race or ethnicity often leaves them excluded by others.
- And the word “height” refers to the union made possible by the love of Jesus. His love is so great that it can lead you to the highest heavens, to the place of Jesus himself. His love is so great, it lifts you so high, that there is no longer any gap at all between you and Jesus. It transports you, and all others, to heavenly heights.
Paul prays that we would know this love that cannot be known. There is something about this love into which we are to be rooted and grounded that is unfathomable. Just when you feel like you’ve got a handle on how long that love is going to last or how deep down that love is going to go or how many different racial or ethnic groups it is going to extend itself to, or just how high it’s going to lift, you need to think again. It is longer and deeper and wider and higher than anything you can know. It’ll always last longer, always reach deeper, always be more inclusive, always result in greater union than we can fathom.
The prayer finally ends in the way it begins. Paul begins by praying that we would know intimacy with the Holy Spirit in our inner self and that we would know intimacy with Jesus who is dwelling within us. Paul ends by praying that we would know that same intimacy with God. That we would be filled with all the fullness of God. God would be so close to us, that we would experience his love to such a degree, that it fills every conceivable space within us. Paul is praying that there won’t be a single space in your body, your heart, your soul or your spirit where you do not sense God and his gracious love. He’s praying that there won’t be a single space in the body, soul, heart and spirit of every person you see where they do not sense God and his gracious love.
All of this is an exploration of the love in which we are to be rooted and grounded. Paul is saying that if you will root yourself in that love and if you will ground yourself in that love it does not matter how hot the sun burns or how long the storms rage. You’ll be rooted and grounded in the one thing that will enable you to survive and to thrive.
How do we do this? What does that look like? We’ll explore the answers to those questions next.
