THE LOVE OF CHRIST (PART 1)

Text:  Ephesians 3:14-21

No greater love exists in the world than the love of Christ. Do you possess the love of Christ? I know and I meet people daily who say they are Christians, but yet I do not see the love of Christ in their life. How can you be a true born-again follower of the Lord Jesus and not possess the great love that He has in His own heart? This is the great prayer of Paul for the church and the believer. It is probably the 2^nd most important prayer in all of the Bible, ranking second only to the Lord’s model prayer in Matt. 6:9-13. Because of its importance, it should be prayed by believers every day. Paul prayed for knowledge on a scale too great for human words. He asked that they know that love which surpasses knowledge. The result of that knowledge will be the experience of the fullness of God. Prayer knows no limits in the spiritual blessings desired for others. Such blessings come through the Trinitarian God – the Holy Spirit in your inner being, Christ in your heart filled with God’s fullness. The Holy Spirit provides the dynamic power we need for living victoriously. Jesus loves us more than we can ever know and wants us to progress in understanding His love and in loving as He loved. The human mind cannot grasp all that God can do. It is immeasurable, yet He works in and through us. The Holy Spirit gives revelation so we may have power to understand and act. Paul prayed that the Ephesians would be given power. Not power to act, but power to understand the extent of God’s love. Only the Holy Spirit could reveal this: that limitless and gracious love is revealed ultimately in Jesus and His sacrifice. The Holy Spirit always works to help the church remember Jesus and His gospel, appreciate the love of God demonstrated at the CROSS (Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”), and understand the purpose of God being carried out there. When we begin to comprehend this love, the Holy Spirit gives us power to act in this love. Do you know and do you have in your heart the love of Christ which passes knowledge? (1) The Love of Christ Comes from Christ. (2) The Love of Christ Comes from a Transformed Heart. (3) The Love of Christ Comes from a Transformed Heart Full of Love.