Love in 3D

Get your 3D glasses out.

Ephesians 3:17-19 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Who knew that the study of these verses would lead to geometry? Certainly not me. I’m an artsy person and have little use for math in any form. Yes, I can do the basic mathematical equations to live by but higher calculating, not so much.

Ephesians 3:17-19 is a geometrical study of the love of Christ. As I said, “Who knew?” OK, brainiacs visualize with me. We’re talking geometrical dimensions here. 

Uses of dimensions:

The understanding of dimensions is very important in day to day life. Basically, dimensions are required for measuring anything.

Length refers to the size of a line segment. A figure having only length is called a one dimensional figure.

A closed figure of 4 sides would have two dimensions length and width. 

And such a figure is called a two dimensional figure.

.

An object that has length, width and height is called a three dimensional object.

A three dimensional space is a geometric model of the physical universe in which we live. It is labeled with the terms: breadth, length, height, and depth.  (Thank you Wikipedia.)

The love Christ Jesus has for us is three dimensional. It has breadth, length, height, and depth. It is complete and filling. For God the Father so loved the people of this world that He gave His Son Christ Jesus to be a ransom for our sin. God the Son, Jesus Christ, loved us so much He came to earth to dwell among us and give His earthly life so that we could be justified and be a part of His family. How great is God's love for you and me? Infinite. How long will He love us? Forever. How deeply will He love us? Through the depth of our sin. How high will He love us? Higher than any love we can fathom. And what is the breadth of His love for us? Eternity to eternity.  Can we fully understand this love?

Yes, and No.

Yes

We can know that God loves us beyond anything we can know. That sounds contradictory but that is what Paul says(to comprehend the love that surpasses knowledge.). One commentary says understanding this leads to enlarging your faith, expanding your expectations, increasing your trust, and amplifying your own love for God in return. Even children sing, “Jesus loves me this I know.” He loves us. He loves you. He loves me.

No 

We are limited in our understanding of His love for us by our humanity. One commentary says that it takes an eternity to understand the love of God. Thankfully we have been given that as His child. Every day we can experience more of the love Jesus Christ has for us and it will lead us to a better understanding of the dimensions and nuances of His great love.

I like how the great theologian, Spurgeon, explains it: “The apostle Paul desires that when the love of Christ becomes to us a solid reality we may have close communion with it. You may measure the breadth and length of a thing at a great distance, but you cannot very well measure its depth without drawing near to it. What a holy familiarity with Jesus do the words imply when we come to measurements of these kinds!” He calls it, “Measuring the immeasurable.”

I like the love-dimensions of Romans 8:39.

Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sing the kiddie song with me (plus my addition:)

Yes, Jesus loves me.

Yes, Jesus loves me.

Yes, Jesus loves me.

He loves in 3D love.

Anything Is Everything

I Bow My Knee (song)

Writer/Composer: Bonnie Beuschle - Ron Kenoly sings this. YouTube this. It’s great.

I bow my knee before Your throne

I know my life is not my own

I offer up this song of praise

To bring You pleasure Lord

I seek the Giver not the gift

My heart's desire is to lift Him

High above all earthly kings

To bring You pleasure, Lord

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Glory to the King

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father. Ephesians 3:1

Philippians 2:5-11 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Bowing to show submission and respect for one of higher authority is not a new concept. Some animals, like dogs, do this instinctively. It is built into cultures. It’s natural and a custom that has been around for thousands of years. Why is it then so hard for humans to bow the knee before Father God?

I think that if we go back to the beginning we see that the first sin was an act of not bowing, not showing submission, disrespecting the authority of God. Satan convinced Eve that she could be god herself, an equal, so why should she submit to (in her mind) an equal authority? Since then people have stiffened their legs and wills.

I heard a self-professing prostitute when asked on a TV talk show if she thought God approved of her lifestyle say, “I created my own god and she doesn't have a problem with my life choices.” Some in the audience clapped. I thought that this was a rather silly answer because why would anyone create a god that would be opposed to them? I mean if we are creating gods we will create them to justify our sin not to condemn us. If we create our god we are superior to him. Why even have one if you adopt this philosophy?  I told her and the TV so. I know she couldn't hear me but I have a tendency to fuss at the TV when I disagree.

Since we were two years old we've been saying, “I do it,” and we thought we were large and in charge of our own destiny.

I am reading a book entitled, “Anything” by Jennie Allen. It is about her spiritual journey to submit totally to God – the “anything” submission. She says, “The very thought of doing anything demands everything.” She prays, “Anything, God,” and then is willing to be used by God for anything. Well, even she admits it’s not as easy as it seems. Yes, fear to relinquish control gets in the way.

But to be like Christ we must not try to grasp equality with God. We must make ourselves nothing. We must take the form of His servant. We must humble ourselves in obedience to God to be willing to do and be anything. We must bow our heart and will. This is the kind of submission He modeled when He gave everything at the cross for our salvation. And this the mind set He wants us to adopt. (Check back in Philippians 2:5-11) 

Let us bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Let us do this “anything” submission daily. 

    

“I bow my knee before Your throne.

I know my life is not my own.

I offer up this song of praise to bring You pleasure Lord.

Glory to the King.”

Anything

The Mystery is Solved

I like a good mystery TV show. If you’re at my house when one is one the air, I will make you watch it with me. (Just ask My Friend Patti.) I've lately been watching the BBC series “Rosemary and Thyme.” So if I suddenly start speaking with a British accent you'll know why.

I like cozy murder mystery books. Don’t give me blood and gore just let the person nobody likes be dead and give me clues so I can try to solve the “who done it” before the main character does.

And I like a treasure hunt too. Finding wonderful stuff at estate sales or antique malls is right up my alley. And don't get me started on auctions.

So when I got to chapter 3 of Ephesians I was delightfully intrigued. There is a mystery there that had been unsolved for years. And Paul got to be the one to solve it for the people in Ephesus.

For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you,  how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.  When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.  (Verses 1-6)

1. Paul pulled the cover off of the mysterious treasure and said, “Ta da!” (Not really but in my mind he did.) vs. 3

2. When the Ephesians heard the letter, they understood the secret unknown for generations. (Does this intrigue you? I'll just bet they were fascinated and yelled, “Tell us, tell us!”)    vs. 4

3. And the mystery is ….. Wait for it ….. YOU! (We are the mystery. God lets the Gentiles be partakers of His Salvation through Christ.)  Vs. 6

Wow, you are God’s treasure. You, who are not one of his previously chosen, are accepted into His wonderful family. You, and me, all of us who were not physically born as one of God’s selected now have the chance to be included.  It was God’s plan all along.

God gave clues in the Old Testament by including gentiles in the human family of the Christ. Jesus gave clues as He interacted with Gentiles during His life on earth. And the mystery was finally solved when the early Christians, following one of the last commands of Jesus, started taking the Gospel beyond the Jewish realm into the uttermost parts of the earth. Anyone, everyone is able to be an approved follower of Jesus and His salvation.

The Gospel was given to us.

We have the opportunity to accept the salvation of Jesus Christ.

God’s previously inexplicable plan has been revealed.

The wonderful mystery is solved.

Ta da!

Built Together

You are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in which the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22

My friend Stacey and her husband  are building a house. She had a whole catalog of just front doors. I hated to say anything but after a while they all looked alike to me. And a faucet is just a faucet I thought. But, no. There are several catalogs for faucets. Building a house is serious business. One wrong selection can ruin the aesthetics of the total project and wreck the budget.

Paul thought that this building of a dwelling place for God was so important that he used a word that is used only one time in the whole New Testament – sunoikodome’o. Yes, it’s a word I wouldn't throw around either. It means specifically constructed with one piece dependent on the other piece to construct the whole.

We have been specifically put together to make up this body of Christ.We have been selected by God to be joined together to make His perfect dwelling place. We can’t go off on our own and do our little thing for God all by ourselves. We are eternally linked to make a complete structure.

If we don't get along with each other it’s like having a faucet in a beautiful house that doesn't work or having a craftsman style door on a Victorian house. It’s noticed by the rest of the dwellers that something is off and certainly noticed by those that are not a part of the building but just passer by’s. 

And it’s noticed by God, Himself. The foundation has been laid. Jesus is the cornerstone that keeps everything in line. We are the front doors, faucets, walls, and other parts of this Holy building that our Creator/Contractor is putting together for His glory.

We each are one piece totally dependent on each other and totally dependent on God to make this perfect dwelling place.

We are building this holy dwelling place for His glory.

We are being built together.

An Alien and a Stranger

I remember when I first moved to Alabama deep, deep in the south. Now I’m from North Carolina and always presumed that I was a southerner. But I found out quickly that you're not really a southerner if you move to Alabama. Suddenly I was exposed to a new culture and my lack of college football team allegiance was under suspicion.  (North Carolina is a collegiate basketball state.) I thought I could talk “southern” with the best of them but I was asked about my accent a lot. I couldn't understand a child who innocently asked me, “Kin I bora korder?”  Now if I was really into the accent I would have gotten out my wallet.  Yes, I was an alien and a stranger. I remember how it felt.

Ephesians 2:12-21

Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in Whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

We need to remember how it felt to be an alien and stranger to God. Christ broke down the dividing wall that separated us from a relationship and fellowship with the Father God and the family of God. But now we are all in the family together with the purpose of growing into the loved ones of Christ together.

   

I think we need to remember this because it helps us to reach outside the family. It helps us to love the estranged and to reach out to people with the Gospel that will reconcile them to God and include them into this wonderful clan. We don't need to form cliques. We need to reach out (“Get out, “as My Pastor Wade says). We need welcome in the “newbies” to be joined together and built up together as a dwelling place. Sometimes we get so comfortable with our little group that we forget what it was like to be on the outside.

I feel like I've been an Alabamian long enough to hang with the best of them. I’m even following football teams now. And I know what a “korder” is. (It’s 25 cents.)

I feel like I've been in the family of God long enough to hang with the best of them too. The best of this family will automatically welcome one in.  But I don't ever want to forget what it was like to be an alien and stranger to God and His family.

No longer an alien and stranger,

Not forgetting what it was like,

Inviting others in.