…to know the love the surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:19 NIV
In that wonderful prayer in Ephesians 3:14-19, Paul exceeds even himself as he prays for the church in which both Jews and Gentiles have been brought together to become the temple of the living God (Eph 2:19-22).
Overflowing with interlocking dependent clauses: that…that…that… the prayer eventually comes to the heart of what he is asking God for us. What about this household of God, this temple of love, what should its dimensions be? Well, it should be wide enough to include anybody; it should be high enough to cover every sin; it should be deep enough to cover the worst of sins; it should be long enough to continue even when it is taken advantage of.
And what love is it? Oh, it is the love of God given to us in Jesus. We can only love a lost world, full of broken, arrogant, grasping people if we, some of those people (!), have experienced – known – the love of Jesus for ourselves. We hear “you have to forgive because you have been forgiven.” But let’s take it beyond that! “You can love the unlovely because Jesus has loved you.”
But here comes the oxymoron: Explain that, please. Why has he loved us; how can he love us; how can Creator become creature; how can God die, etc.? Paul says, “I am praying that they will know what can’t be known.” “Yes, I want them to experience what cannot be explained.” Don’t try to figure out God’s love, just fall into it. And having “known” it, you will have bundles of it to give away.
Called To Be Transformed 