Exploring the Scripture

Last week’s scripture passage announced Jesus as the barrier-breaker, who destroys all that divides and separates humankind. The barriers on the Temple Mount are symbols of division between nations, and the veil of the temple symbolizes God’s inaccessibility. Destroying those barriers and setting up equality among all Christians was the critical point of conflict between Paul and the apostles in Jerusalem. But conflict and persecution couldn’t change Paul’s conviction that Christ’s salvation is for every nation. 

Paul begins chapter 3 by saying, “This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles.” Verse 14, the beginning of today’s passage, says, “For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father…” Bowing the knee was a symbol of loyalty and service to a king.

Paul’s relationship with his Gentile neighbors was directly connected to his loyalty and worship of God. Recognition of God’s love for all nations was at the heart of Paul’s devotion to God. Neither arguments by the Jewish apostles nor persecution could change his conviction that God embraces all people and includes everyone in God’s family.

Verses 14–15 uses the phrase: “…the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.” In ancient times, the father named the children. A name was not just a label. It was a complete identity, character, and will.

Here, Paul reminds the Gentile Christians that God made all people in God’s image, not just the Jews. Every person of every family and lineage reflects God’s image. Every person is created with an independent will and can live in the character of the Divine.

Christ lives in our hearts, not as a temporary guest, but as a lifelong resident who changes and transforms us with love beyond understanding. Paul’s prayer expresses his deep wish for that character to shine forth as Christ’s indwelling Spirit of love. Paul prays the Gentile disciples may come to understand the greatness (breadth, length, height, and depth) of Divine love, so they can live in the fullness of that gift. 

To know a love that is beyond knowing is a paradox. Humans “know” God’s love by experiencing it personally, not by any rational thought. Knowing occurs through the Spirit living in us, transcending our human limits and transforming our inadequate responses into offerings of life as disciples. The heart knows the love of Christ that surpasses human reasoning, and the way the heart “knows” is through the indwelling Spirit.

Public prayers rely on human words and therefore are limited. Paul closes his prayer with an acknowledgment that God’s blessing goes beyond human speech and transcends the limits of our imagination and yearnings. We express our petitions from our limited understanding of needs and possibilities. God responds from the Divine perspective to carry out fully more than we have asked for (v. 21). The church exists to point toward God, not itself, just as Christ came to point the way toward God. 

The prayer ends the first three chapters of Ephesians. Those chapters focused on the unifying act of Christ breaking down barriers to bring people into one body. The last three chapters provide instruction on how disciples respond to God’s grace by offering their lives and obedience to Christ’s teachings.

Project Zion Podcast

Co-hosts Karin Peter and Blake Smith consider how this week's scripture connects to our lives today.

LISTEN

Central Ideas

1. When we honestly recognize God’s love for all nations, we bow our knees in worship, devotion, and wonder.
2. Every person of every family and lineage reflects God’s image, and God knows each by name.
3. Humans “know” God’s love by experiencing it personally through the indwelling Spirit.  
4. God’s blessing goes beyond human speech and transcends the limits of our imagination and yearnings.

Questions to Consider

1. When have you known with your whole being that God loves you with love beyond all understanding?
2. Who would you like to exclude from the family of God? Why? How can God’s Spirit help you adjust your thinking to accept them as God’s children?
3. When have you felt your prayers were inadequate to express your yearnings? What are various ways we can try to express our deeper yearnings to God?
4. Where does your congregation need strengthening in its inner being to live God’s love?