"....to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:19)
There seems to be a sense here that we are called to know ('ascertain') the knowledge of that which surpasses knowledge. It seems to begin with an "acceptance" of that which is set forth, and from there to an "acquiring," yet never with full understanding or comprehension. Jesus calls us to know something we cannot know? Well, perhaps so, at least in the sense that we traditionally think of, "know."
Such a theology can be very frustrating to those who have to know everything "for sure." Most of life cannot be perceived nor walked out in "for-sured-ness." Maybe this is a basis for walking in what the Bible calls, "the faith of Jesus." Our text speaks of, "the love of Christ," as the Bible does of most of what is contained in Holy Writ. It is not so much a mental knowing as an impartation, maybe as in, "the Words of God," written "in our hearts and in our minds." I know that in my life time, while I do not fully comprehend all of this, the abiding result is, "....filled with all the fullness of God," without which I would be most helpless.
We have had a very busy week here. We had Sarah's sister's graveside ceremony last Tuesday. There has been a sense of sadness in Sarah about all of this. A week from this coming Saturday we head out for Florida to take care of "things" down there. In all of this there is this, "....love of Christ which passes knowledge." A glorious revelation in our text is that somehow when we so walk, we are, "....filled with all the fullness of God." What a glorious reality. It is, "all the fullness of God," which empowers and sustains us. Colossians tells us that in Jesus, "dwells all of the fullness of God bodily." And when Jesus dwells in us, reigns in us, we are "equipped" to live in the battles of this life.
Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank You for all of that, "which passes understanding." Amen.
There seems to be a sense here that we are called to know ('ascertain') the knowledge of that which surpasses knowledge. It seems to begin with an "acceptance" of that which is set forth, and from there to an "acquiring," yet never with full understanding or comprehension. Jesus calls us to know something we cannot know? Well, perhaps so, at least in the sense that we traditionally think of, "know."
Such a theology can be very frustrating to those who have to know everything "for sure." Most of life cannot be perceived nor walked out in "for-sured-ness." Maybe this is a basis for walking in what the Bible calls, "the faith of Jesus." Our text speaks of, "the love of Christ," as the Bible does of most of what is contained in Holy Writ. It is not so much a mental knowing as an impartation, maybe as in, "the Words of God," written "in our hearts and in our minds." I know that in my life time, while I do not fully comprehend all of this, the abiding result is, "....filled with all the fullness of God," without which I would be most helpless.
We have had a very busy week here. We had Sarah's sister's graveside ceremony last Tuesday. There has been a sense of sadness in Sarah about all of this. A week from this coming Saturday we head out for Florida to take care of "things" down there. In all of this there is this, "....love of Christ which passes knowledge." A glorious revelation in our text is that somehow when we so walk, we are, "....filled with all the fullness of God." What a glorious reality. It is, "all the fullness of God," which empowers and sustains us. Colossians tells us that in Jesus, "dwells all of the fullness of God bodily." And when Jesus dwells in us, reigns in us, we are "equipped" to live in the battles of this life.
Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank You for all of that, "which passes understanding." Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
