To know the Love of God that surpasses knowledge

"to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." Eph 3:19 

Sometimes I think there is superlative language in the Bible to catch us when we get into a rut or a routine. Eph 3 is a great example, at least for me. How easily and quickly and unaffectedly I read it today. There was barely a speed bump at verse 8, which is one of my main "mission statement" verses. So as I prayed and reflected on the sections of Scripture I read this morning, this thought rose up: "how huge a prayer is it to ask to know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge and to be filled with all the fullness of God?"

In other words, to know the unknowable and to experience the unexperiencable.

And yet, as we sit at our coffee tables or couches, we need to remember Paul is praying a serious prayer for one of the foundational churches in the NT. He seriously believed that God could deliver on this promise. So can we know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge? Can we be filled with all the fullness of God? In one sense the answers have to be no, God must always, even in the new heavens and the new earth, be beyond us. God must always be God. We will be worshiping before the throne in Rev 4, but only the lamb slain from the foundation of the world can approach the throne, take the scroll and open its seals.

But, there is another, very real sense in which we can know the love of Christ and be filled with all the fullness of God.  Think about it. What is the Bible, if not a love story. The love of a Father for his Son. The love of a Man for his Bride. The love of a true Friend and Brother that would give his life for his lost and estranged friend. As we are gripped by the gospel, as we are transformed by the Spirit, as we grow in grace, we see more and more the height and the depth and the length and the breadth of the love of Christ.

And as we "get" this love, as it moves from our heads to our hearts, we really do begin to be filled with all the fullness of God. We understand that all things (even evil things and depressing things and tragic things) work together for the ultimate good of those who love God. We understand that this world (as beautiful and seductive as it is) is not our ultimate home. This body is a tent, a jar of clay. This life is a vapor, a moment. This nation, any nation, every nation, is simply dust of the scales.

And there is one message that must be proclaimed: outside of Christ people are dying without hope and that only the blood of Christ can cover their sin and debt and rebellion. But that God through Jesus, in His mercy continues to welcome lost children (no matter what their age) back to the family. By grace we are saved.

Finally, all of this is just the hem of God's garment, the outskirts of His holy city. (Job 26:14)

To God Alone be the Glory