Please take your Bible in hand; turn to Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians chapter 3, verses 14 to 21. Last week we started a new mini series looking at our 2024 and 2025 church teaching theme – “Devoted: Learning to Live for God’s Glory.” David Strain said a devotion that is not legal or formal or cold, a devotion that is not the product of a guilt trip, a devotion that is not digging our heels in or gritting our teeth or clinching our fists, just trying harder to do better, that is not our focus this year. But this year’s theme is about, David said, fanning back into flame, to fan back into flame that bright fire of devotion to Christ; to fan back into flame our devotion to Christ that has been freshly captured and gripped by the Gospel, by the good news of Jesus Christ for sinners. And so last week, David looked at God’s devotion to Himself. This week, we’ll be looking at Christ’s devotion to His people. Next week, Lord willing, Rupert Hunt-Taylor will look at our devotion to God.
And before we read, something to help orient us to our text. A number of years ago I heard a minister tell the story of a seminary student that was a friend of his; this was a decade or two ago. And this seminary student was from Africa and he had deep cuts, three deep cuts on each side of his face and they were tribal markings. And the story goes that in his tribe, a man, when he reached a certain age, had to go out with other men in the tribe on a hunt. And to earn the right to marry their wife, a man had to kill a wild hippopotamus with a spear. Now let’s just stop and think about that for a moment! Maybe a hippo to you is just kind of large and lazy and sits around all day; that’s not the right animal! I read that a hippo is recognizable for its barrel-shaped torso, enormous mouth and teeth, hairless body, stubby legs and tremendous size. It is similar in size to the white rhino, only elephants are consistently heavier. And despite its stocky shape, it can easily outrun a human. Hippos have been clocked at 30mph which is faster – get this – than an Olympic sprinter. That’s good to know! The hippo is among the most dangerous and aggressive of all animals and is regarded to be the most dangerous of all animals on the continent of Africa. And so this man, to earn the right to marry his wife, has to kill a wild hippo with only a spear. And the minister, when he was telling the story – I’ve never forgotten this – he said, “Do you think that his wife was fairly secure about his commitment level?” Do you think that she knew, “He’s all in!” And he said, of course she does, but I’m sure that there are days where she wonders, “Does he love me?” Even as he’s bearing these wounds, these tribal cuts, I’m sure that there are some days – because that’s what we’re like, that’s how our hearts work – I’m sure she wonders, “Does he really love me?”
As we look this morning at these dimensions – that’s where we are going to focus our time, if you look in verse 18 at the four dimensions of Christ. The multidimensional love of Christ for His people, His devotion to His people that Paul prays here that “our hearts would have strength to comprehend.” In other words, he’s praying that Christ’s love would be real to our hearts, that our hearts would hang onto His love. That we would draw down on His love. And so for people like us who can find the experience of Christ’s love, we can find that elusive in the living, we can find His love elusive, for people like us whose hearts are fragile and fickle and complicated, who have every reason though to be fairly sure about Jesus’ commitment level but who are so prone to wander, who are so prone to leave, who are so prone to lose our way – what does it look like for us this year, anew or afresh, or what does it look like for us for the very first time to press into the heart of Jesus Christ? And what we’re going to see today is that our devotion, our devotion to Christ will go no further than our being rooted and grounded, being rooted and grounded deep, deep, deep in Jesus’ loving devotion to us. And so before we read, let’s go to the Lord in prayer and ask for His help. Let’s pray.
Our great God and heavenly Father, we pray that You would come, that You would work through my lisping and stammering tongue, that You would give Your Word success, the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts would be pleasing and acceptable to You, O Lord our strength and our Redeemer. And we pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.
Ephesians chapter 3, beginning in verse 14. This is God’s Word:
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 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.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
This is God’s Word.
This is one of the most famous prayers in the Bible, Ephesians chapter 3, verses 14 to 21; it is one sentence in Greek from verse 14 to verse 19. And Paul is praying for the church; Paul is praying for Christians. Paul is praying for you. This is available to you. He’s praying verse 16 – that you would have strength in soul; that you would have strengthen in your inner life, in your interior life, that you would have spiritual strength. This is a beautiful prayer – that you would have spiritual strength to know how much Jesus loves you. That’s the prayer – that you would have strength, spiritual strength to hang onto that love, to draw down on that love, to experience that love; that the roots of your heart would be deep, deep, deep in these four dimensions that he lays out in verse 14. The dimensions of Christ’s love. That the roots of your heart would go deep in the dimensions of Christ’s love for you. And so Paul is saying if you are a Christian, if you are a Christian, you are so wealthy. You are so rich in Jesus. That can never be taken away from you; that will always be true. You are wealthy and rich in Jesus Christ and His love for you. But, he’s saying it is another thing for you to experience it. It is another thing for you to draw down on it. It is another thing for you to hang onto it, which is such a difficult thing for us.
And so we are going to focus our time, we are just going to work through these four dimensions that Paul lays out in verse 18. John Stott says about verse 18, “The love of Christ is broad enough to encompass all humanity, it is long enough to last for eternity, it is deep enough to reach even the most degraded man or woman, and it is high enough to exalt him, even him to heaven.”
And so Paul invites us first to ask, “How broad is Christ’s love? How wide does it reach?” The book of Revelation says much of the wideness of Christ’s love. Revelation chapter 5 tells us that Christ’s love is wide enough for people from every corner of the earth. Revelation 5 says “ten thousands times ten thousand.” Revelation chapter 7 says, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” And so from all the corners of the earth, from all the corners – Chinese and Ukrainian and Scottish and Peruvian and Japanese and Kenyan and American – standing and singing, “Worthy, worthy is the Lamb.” The wideness – think about the wideness of the love of Christ. Christ’s love is wide.
You see, Jesus comes this morning and He is reaching out to people from every corner of this earth with His love. His love also stretches young and old, black and white, rich and poor, male and female across the boundaries, which means that His love is wide enough for you. If His love is wide enough for the world – “God so loved the world” – that means that His love is wide enough for you. His love is wide enough for the worst rebel, the worst sinner. Whatever you have done, as far as you have run, as much of a mess as you have made of your life, when He sets His love on you, you cannot get outside of His love. You can’t outrun it. You can’t get away from it. It’s wider than you. It’s wider than whatever mess you bring. The wideness of Christ’s love. And so this means that Christ’s love is wide enough for you today, that every prodigal, every prodigal is welcome to come home to the Lord today.
There was a story in a book that sounds very much like that famous parable in Luke 15. The story was published in this book a number of years ago about a teenage girl from Michigan. And she had a strained relationship with her parents. And eventually it reaches a boiling point, and in her rebellion she runs away and she ends up in Detroit. And it’s there she meets a man to take her in, not to comfort her, not to help her, but to use her and abuse her. And some months later she gets very sick and this man throws her out, puts her back on the street without a penny to her name. And as winter comes, she’s living on the streets. And finally one cold night, with empty pockets, great hunger, with deep shame and regret, she begins to long for home. And so she goes and she calls her parents three times and they don’t answer. The third time she leaves a voicemail and she says, “Dad, Mom, it’s me. I’m thinking of maybe coming home. I’m going to take the bus and I’ll be there tomorrow at midnight. If you’re not there, I understand and I’ll just keep going.” And you can imagine her anxiety building as the bus pulls into the station, but not one of the thousands of scenes that she played out in her mind could have prepared her for what she saw as she reached the terminal. And there stood a crowd of dozens of people – family and friends and neighbors – with a banner that said “Welcome Home!” And very much like that parable, Luke 15, she’s standing there and her knees weaken and her dad steps towards her and he quiets her attempts at an apology and he says, “Hush, child, hush. We’ve got no time for that. You’ll be late for the party.” Do you see the wideness? Do you see the wideness of Christ’s love today? That every prodigal is welcomed to come home to the Lord today.
No matter how far you’ve run, no matter how far you have wandered from Jesus and traveled away from His heart – and we all have – no matter how much of a mess you have made of your life, no matter how weary you are of yourself, no matter your secrets, the hiding, the games that you play with God, no matter even if you are here and your lack of theological training, your lack of Bible knowledge, and you’re here and you feel like, “I’m so behind. I don’t get it. I’ll never fit in. I just don’t know enough” – no matter if you feel yourself to be that bruised reed, no matter how much you feel fragile and weak and bent and helpless in this world, no matter how much you feel, “I’m not faithful enough. I’m not productive enough. I’m not put together enough,” we need to hear this morning, you need to hear this morning that you are Jesus’ type, that every prodigal is welcome to come home to the Lord today. The wideness of His love. Christ’s heart, His devoted love, is wide enough for you today. Every prodigal, every prodigal, every kind of prodigal is welcome. The wideness of His love. If you will come with empty hands and admit, “Too much, too much, too heavy, much afraid, I’m so tired,” this is Jesus’ heart for you. The wideness of His love. Wide enough for the world. Wide enough for you. Wide enough in your ability to run.
But second, “How long is Christ’s love for you?” That’s the second dimension that Paul gets at here. What is the length of the love of Christ? Well when did this love begin? We read that our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life from before the foundation of the world. And so before the world began; before time, in eternity past when Jesus entered into a covenant with His Father that He would come after us and that He would redeem us and that He would save us. And so you, beloved in Christ, you were known by Him. You were known by Him from eternity past. He set His heart on you; His affections rested upon you in eternity.
And when does that love end? How long does it last? Well Jesus’ commitment to you is long. It is His love that never ends. It is His love that will never let you go because He loves you, Scripture says, “with an everlasting love.” Paul writes in Philippians that He will carry that to completion. “He began a good work in you and He will carry it to completion.” John Bunyan says that “His love will live longer than your temptations, it will live longer than your sorrows, it will live longer than your persecutors.” So Christ’s love doesn’t end with the mediocrity or the failure that you bring to the table. It’s long enough to seize you and hold you and keep you and not give you up. It’s long enough to last for eternity.
Some of you are familiar with the story of Derek Redmond. I saw this clip a number of times this summer during the Olympics. It’s a story that has become one of the most memorable and moving moments in Olympic history. Derek was an incredible runner representing Great Britain in Barcelona in the 1992 Olympics. And he had a great start. He had the fastest time in the 400 meter dash prelims. He won his quarterfinal heat, and in the semifinals, almost at the 200 yard mark, Derek fell and he screamed in pain and he grabbed his right leg and he tore his hamstring. And as the rest of the runners finished and with thousands watching in the stands, and who knows, millions on television, Derek stood up and instead of getting medical attention he started to hop on that one good foot. And as he struggled, kind of barely moving forward, you see this figure emerge from the side of the track, and it’s his father. And his father kind of stubbornly pushes off, kind of elbows off and shoos away all of these Olympic officials, all of these Olympic security men and he takes his son and he puts his arm around him and he helps him, kind of step by step, he helps him to get to the end. He helps him to finish. And Jim Redmond became known as “the father who helped his son to the end.” What a great thing to be known as – “the father who helped his son to the end.”
Now you know and I know that all of us came into this room today with very real problems on our race, on our path, and this morning you may not think that you can get to the end. You may not think that you can make it. You may not think that you can finish because of a sin in your life or because of a temptation, because of doubt. Or maybe there’s an illness in your life and you’re walking through Parkinson’s, you’re walking through cancer, and you think, “I’m not going to make it. I’m not going to get to the end.” And you’re sick and the illness doesn’t stop and it doesn’t let up and it doesn’t give in. And whatever you are facing, whatever you are walking through, whatever you didn’t want, whatever you didn’t choose, whatever you never expected to happen to you, all that you’ve suffered – and you are asking, “Will the love of Jesus end? How long is it? Will it fail me?” And you think, “I’m too tired. I don’t have it in me.” But His love is long enough for you. His love is long enough to hold you and to hold whatever burden. His love will hold you and keep you and defend you from those things that harass you and hound you and threaten you. Do you not know that this Christ, Christian, do you not know that this Christ is your Christ? The length of His love. Christ’s loving devotion. It’s wide. It’s wide enough for the world; it’s wide enough for you. It is long. He loves you with an everlasting love. His love will live longer than your temptations, longer than your sorrows, longer than your persecutors.
But third, “How deep is His love?” How deep is the love of Christ? Maybe you say today, “I am so unlovely deep, deep, deep in my soul. I am so ugly deep, deep, deep in my soul. I am so cold deep, deep, deep in my soul. I am weak. Weak is the effort of my heart and cold my warmest thought.” Maybe you are here and you know something of Augustine’s prayer in his confessions when he compares his soul to a house and he writes, “God, my soul’s house is too small for you to visit; enlarge it. My soul is falling down; rebuild it. Inside my soul are things that would disgust you to see; clean it.” Are those words familiar to you today? My soul is small. My soul is too small. My soul is breaking. It is falling down. And my soul needs to be cleaned. It’s disgusting. And you see Augustine’s longing in this prayer. “Can I change? Is change in the depth of my soul possible? Can You change me, Jesus?” How deep is Jesus’ love?
Well think about the humiliation of Jesus. Think that Jesus came from heaven. He came from the height of heaven and He sunk low; and He sunk lower and lower and lower. Think about His incarnation where He assumed your nature in Mary’s womb. Think about the lowliness of His home. Think about His experience of hunger and thirst. Think about, as one commentator said, “His most holy face, slapped and spit upon.” Think about Him in the Upper Room when He kneels down and He pours water into a basin and He wipes the filth, He wipes the dirt from between His disciples’ toes and He wiped them with a towel. Think about Gethsemane – Jesus sweating blood. “Take this cup from Me.” Think about the cross of Jesus, nailed to the tree, experiencing the very depths of hell. “My God! My God! Why have You forsaken Me?” Think about Jesus buried and dead. He goes to the depths of the grave for you. That is the depth of His love. Spurgeon says, “When a believer looks at their love they say, ‘Surely I am condemned.’ When they look at their love, they say, ‘Surely I am condemned; my love is so cold.’ But if they had looked at Christ’s love they would say, ‘No, never shall I be condemned.’” And so pensive and doubting and fearful heart today, would you see the depth of His love? Would you see the depth of Jesus’ love for you today?
I love the old movie, Beauty and the Beast. There are so many just amazing themes in it, but I love it because it reminds my heart that change is possible. Because throughout the movie you are desperately wanting to see change in the beast, even in Belle and in the castle and the maids and in the servants. And the movie unfolds, doesn’t it, really into this beautiful story of redemption and this beautiful story of change because a spell has been broken. And in the closing scene they sing together, “Tale as old as time. Tune as old as song. Bitterness and strain, finding you can change and learning you were wrong. Winter turns to spring and famine turns to feast.”
And so Christian, change is possible. Change is possible, real change is possible for you because Jesus sees you all the way to the bottom. Down, down, down and His love will go far into the pit where you find yourself as you struggle with sin and you struggle with temptation and you struggle with idolatry and addiction and the weight of it all keeps you low. In your darkest and deepest and most desperate moment you wonder, “Can the light get down there? Can the light get there? Will it ever shine? Is there any way for the love of Jesus to get to me deep down there and change me?” And Jesus’ love reaches you there. Hebrews says that “He saves to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him.” So Christ’s devotion, His loving devotion is wide. It is wide enough for the world; it is wide enough for you. It’s long. He who began a good work will carry it to completion. He has loved you with an everlasting love. He will love you longer than your temptations, longer than your sorrows, longer than your persecutors. It is deep. “My soul’s house is too small for you to visit; enlarge it. It is falling down; rebuild it. It is disgusting; clean it.”
And then fourth and last and brief – the height of Christ’s love. “How high is Christ’s love?” Jesus doesn’t just love you so much that He forgives you, but He loves you so much that He rejoices over you with singing. The height of His love. He doesn’t just love you so much that He forgives you, but He clothes you in His righteous robes. Think about the height of His love. All of the benefits that are yours – that He adopts you and He makes you His own, He makes you a son or a daughter of the King. The height of His love. He throws a feast for you. He takes you into His house. He takes you to His table. The height – think about the height, all of the benefits of the love of Jesus that are yours. He sets you free. He wipes your tears. He carries your burden. He fights your battles. He gives you His Spirit. Think about the height of Jesus’ love.
And don’t you see, He has raised you to the heavenlies with Him, that right now you are united to Christ by faith. You are in Christ and Christ is in you, the hope of glory. So you are in the heavenlies right now because Jesus has joined you to Himself. He prays in John 17, “Father, I desire that they,” that His people, that you will be with Him where He is. And so you are raised with Him; you are seated with Him in the heavenly places because He wants you with Him and you are. Think about the height of His love – that nothing can be taken from you. You are with Him and He is with you. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says of this, “A lover always desires that the object of his love should share all of his privileges and blessings and enjoyments, and so our Lord desires that we should enjoy something of His eternal glory.” And so Christ’s loving devotion is wide, it is long, it is deep, and it is high.
And let me close with this. If you look in verse 18, Paul says that, “I pray that you would have strength” – he is praying that you would have spiritual strength “ to comprehend these dimensions of the love of Christ,” which means that Paul knows that you aren’t always strong, that you don’t always have this strength that he is praying for, that often you can be weak in soul. So he is praying for you to be strong in soul. And so if you are here today and you are weak in soul, you are weak in soul today and you are flat and you feel so far from the heart of Jesus, and you wake up and you think, “How did I get here? How did I get so far away?” – then what do you do? What do you do as we start this year and we are considering our devotion to God and you feel weak in soul? And we said at the beginning that knowing our devotion to God will go no further than our being rooted and grounded deep, deep, deep in Jesus’ loving devotion to us. And so what do you do if you are weak in soul today?
Many of you have seen The Crown. The Crown is a television show which explores the life and reign of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II. And there is a scene in one of the early episodes titled, “Duck Shoot” where Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, takes Prince Philip, Elizabeth’s future husband, takes him duck hunting. And King George does this to tell Philip that if he is going to marry the Queen, if he is going to fulfill that job, it will cost him. It will cost him great things. He tells him that it will cost him his naval career. He has to give devotion, full devotion and support and love to his bride. And King George says this. He looks at Philip and says, “You know the politics and the public service and the ceremonies, that’s not the job. She’s the job. She’s the job. Loving her, protecting her, her wellbeing is the job.”
And so brothers and sisters, if you are weak in soul today, what do you do? You look at Jesus Christ. You see Jesus Christ, your Groom. You see from heaven He came and sought you to be His holy bride. Don’t you see His devotion to you? His loving devotion. How wide and long and deep, how wide and long and deep and high is His love. That you would be rooted and grounded in this love. He is altogether lovely. And that is an invitation. Let me pray for us. Let’s pray.
Our great God and heavenly Father, we pray that You would strengthen us now with power, that You would give us spiritual strength in our inner being, in our hearts. Root and ground us in Your love. We do pray if we are weak today, if we are flat today, we pray that You would come after us, that You would give us a vision of Jesus Christ and His devoted love for us. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name, amen.