Love First Love: The Riches of His Love Toward Us / Ephesians 3:14-21

The Threshold of Transformation

Covenant transitions mark moments where identity shifts irreversibly before responsibility begins. When entering into a profound covenant, the weight of the future rests heavily upon the individual. The realization dawns that one’s former state of being is no longer sufficient; a greater maturity, strength, and stewardship are required. In the Christian life, believers often stand at a similar threshold when confronted with the immense scope of God’s redemptive calling. Faced with the demands of kingdom stewardship and holy living, the natural human response is often hesitation, feeling entirely ill-equipped for the task.

The Apostle Paul understood this tension intimately. Across the opening half of his epistle to the Ephesians, he articulates the staggering riches of the believer’s identity in Christ. He reminds the church that they have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms, chosen before the foundation of the world, and adopted as sons and daughters.

Ephesians 1:3-5 (NASB)

Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly [places] in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,

Furthermore, when humanity was spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, incapable of contributing anything to its own rescue, God acted decisively. In His great mercy and rich love, He made believers alive together with Christ, sealing them with the Holy Spirit and entrusting them with the sacred mystery of the gospel.

Ephesians 2:4-5 (NASB)

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

Ephesians 1:13 (NASB)

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation– having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,

As Paul concludes this doctrinal foundation, he recognizes that believers are on the brink of receiving the practical commands that govern Christian conduct. Before he charges them to walk in a manner worthy of their calling, he falls to his knees in prayer, knowing that divine duty can never be fulfilled by human strength.

The Posture of Prayer and Inner Power

Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3 begins with an attitude of reverent submission before the sovereign Creator and Sustainer of all things. He bows his knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, underscoring the universal scope of God’s redemptive plan that unites diverse peoples under one Lord.

Ephesians 3:14-15 (NASB)

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,

Rather than urging believers to muster self-generated resolve, Paul petitions God to supply what human willpower cannot produce. He asks that they be strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit in the inner being. The Christian life does not advance through sheer grit or moral striving. Human adequacy is entirely insufficient for the supernatural demands of the kingdom. The power required to live faithfully comes solely from the divine presence working within the believer’s inner person.

Ephesians 3:16 (NASB)

that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,

This empowerment is intimately linked with the indwelling presence of Christ. Paul prays that Christ may dwell in the hearts of believers through faith. When an individual trusts in the gospel, the Spirit takes up permanent residence. This indwelling is not a passive tenancy; it is the active, reigning presence of Jesus Christ shaping the desires, affections, and direction of the soul. As Jesus promised, the Father and the Son make their home with the one who loves Him and keeps His word.

John 14:23 (NASB)

Jesus answered and said to him, ’If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.

Ephesians 3:17 (NASB)

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; [and] that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

Rooted and Grounded in Divine Love

To illustrate the stability necessary for Christian endurance, Paul employs two distinct metaphors: the agricultural and the architectural. He prays that believers would be both “rooted” and “grounded” in love.

In the agricultural realm, a plant’s vitality is determined by its root system. Roots must burrow deep into rich soil, seeking external nutrients and water that the plant does not inherently possess. The plant lives not by its own self-sustenance, but by drawing life from the ground in which it is anchored. Similarly, believers must draw their spiritual sustenance from the infinite reservoir of divine love.

Architecturally, a structure must be grounded upon an unyielding foundation if it is to withstand storms and stress. Divine love serves as the bedrock upon which the entirety of the Christian life is constructed. When believers are securely anchored in the love of God, they are protected from the shifting sands of circumstance, fear, and inadequacy.

From this rooted and grounded posture, Paul invites the church into a communal pursuit: to comprehend what surpasses mere intellectual apprehension. He prays that the saints may have the strength to grasp the breadth, length, height, and depth of the love of Christ.

Ephesians 3:18 (NASB)

may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

This multidimensional love reaches across every human boundary, extends throughout all eternity, descends into the deepest pits of human depravity, and ascends to the heights of heavenly glory. To “know the love that surpasses knowledge” is a deliberate paradox. The love of Christ cannot be fully quantified by human intellect, yet it can be truly experienced and known by faith. As believers are immersed in this love, they are filled to all the fullness of God, reflecting His character and glory to a watching world.

Ephesians 3:19 (NASB)

and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Compelled to Mission by Love

Experiencing the fullness of divine love never leads to passive contemplation; it is the catalyst for active mission. Love is the great engine of gospel proclamation. When the love of Christ grips a person, it exerts a compelling, governing influence over their entire life. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, the realization that Christ died for all reorients human existence so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (NASB)

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

Human hesitation often arises from feelings of inadequacy. When called to witness, serve, or endure suffering for the gospel, believers are frequently paralyzed by their own lack of eloquence, holiness, or capability. Yet the gospel has never depended on human sufficiency. God does not commission the qualified; He qualifies the called by the power of His indwelling presence.

Paul seals his prayer with a magnificent doxology that shatters human limitation. He directs the eyes of the church away from their perceived weakness and onto the omnipotence of God, who is able to do far more abundantly than all that can be asked or imagined, according to the power at work within us.

Ephesians 3:20 (NASB)

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,

God’s capacity to work through earthen vessels far exceeds human calculation. When believers step out in obedience, anchored in His love, God works through their ordinary words and imperfect efforts to achieve extraordinary eternal outcomes. The ultimate aim of this supernatural working is not the elevation of human instruments, but the renown of God alone. To Him belongs the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.

Ephesians 3:21 (NASB)

to Him [be] the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

The Necessary Order: Indicative Before Imperative

The structure of Ephesians provides an essential theological principle: the indicative always precedes the imperative. Chapters 1 through 3 declare who the believer is in Christ, while chapters 4 through 6 command how the believer must walk.

Paul calls believers to walk in a manner worthy of their calling, to walk no longer as the world walks, to walk in love, to walk as children of light, to walk in wisdom, and to stand firm in the armor of God.

Ephesians 4:1 (NASB)

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

Ephesians 4:17 (NASB)

So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,

Ephesians 5:2 (NASB)

and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

Ephesians 5:8 (NASB)

for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light

Ephesians 5:15 (NASB)

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise,

Ephesians 6:10 (NASB)

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.

Attempting to fulfill these heavy ethical and spiritual imperatives apart from the spiritual reality of the first three chapters results in legalism, burnout, and failure. Believers cannot walk in love until they are rooted and grounded in love. They cannot stand strong in the Lord until they know the power of His Spirit within their inner being.

By anchoring the church in the unfathomable riches of God’s love, Paul prepares them for every command that follows. The Christian life is not an anxious effort to earn God’s favor, but the joyful overflow of an identity securely established in Christ. Grounded in this incomprehensible love, the church is freed from fear and empowered to live on mission, confident that the God who indwells them will display His glory through them to all generations.