2. For this reason…
Ephesians 3:14

3. For this reason…
Ephesians 3:1

4. Therefore…
Ephesians 2:11

5. As for you…
Ephesians 2:1
“used when you are starting to talk about someone or something new that is connected with what you were talking about before”

6. For this reason…
Ephesians 1:15

7. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.…
Ephesians 1:2-3

8. 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.4 For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.
In love 5 He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One he loves.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that He lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfilment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

9. 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.4 For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.
In love 5 He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that He lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfilment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

10. 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.4 For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.
In love 5 He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One he loves.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that He lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfilment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

11. 11 In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory.
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1

12. 11 In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory.
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1

13. For this reason…
Ephesians 1:15

14. As for you…
Ephesians 2:1

15. Therefore…
Ephesians 2:11

16. For this reason…
Ephesians 3:1

17. In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence… 2:12
For this reason…
Ephesians 3:14
This verse is like SO many verses in Ephesians and Scripture generally. It is dripping with content and meaning but so short, so concise you can read over it and only catch a fraction.
In Him.
For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. v4
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood
11 In Him we were also chosen
And through faith in Him.
The impossible is done!
To actually be chosen – redeemed – Holy and blameless!
We access the utterly impossible, unimaginable gift by FAITH in the One who has already done it. And by having faith – real faith, not just a vague nominal belief – I was chatting with someone yesterday about how we ‘hand over the keys to our life” – we actually say ‘This is my life but You now have control of my life. What happens to me is on a need to know basis. And I don’t need to know. Because You do.’ It’s called ‘Dying.’
Go back just 2 verses
Through faith in Jesus and His stupendous sacrifice for us we can actually approach GOD with Freedom and Confidence!
Those words are a scaffold for everything we are about to hear from God

18. 14 For this reason…
I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
Paul approaches the Father in freedom and confidence on their behalf!
Paul KNOWS this freedom and confidence and salvation cos he’s SEEN it.
He’s seen heaven.
Encountered the risen Lord.
Been filled with Spirit.
And he’s praying. Yes he’s praying for the Christians in his letter to the church at Ephesus but through the Lord’s great wisdom those same Words are God’s letter to us!
The Father from whom EVERY Family derives its name.
Every family, every son and daughter, every person who ever drew breath derives its name and existence from the one Father.
But His adopted, chosen, redeemed, Holy and Blameless children bear the Family name in an entirely different way.

19. His Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that
16 I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through
His Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that
Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
‘I pray’ – again this is Paul ‘In Christ’ and ‘through faith in Him’ approaching God the Father in freedom and confidence.
‘that out of His glorious riches’
How rich is God? Roughly speaking. There’s a Forbes 500 list of richest people. I think Jeff Bazos of Amazon fame is #1 at the moment. Most people with $50 Billion are considered mega wealthy.
Mr Bazos is believed to be $50 Billion RICHER than #2.
If we put a dollar value on the planet – then the solar system cos without the solar system we don’t really exist. Then the Galaxy 100 billion stars. Then the known universe 100 billion galaxies….And as God is the current and founding CEO of the known universe with copyright and property rights on every molecule in it…..His net worth after tax (not sure who’s going to tax God – good luck with that) – allowing for currency fluctuations would be somewhere in the order of Infinity.
Jeff Bazos’ fortune is literally an obsolete penny in an old tin in the shed.
Out of God’s glorious riches…. Of love and power and glory – will strengthen you with power… How? Through His Spirit Where? In your inner being. Why? So that Christ may dwell in your heart. Again how? Through faith.

20. His Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that
16 I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through
His Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that
Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
Why the seeming repetition? Spirit in our inner being. Christ in our hearts. Doesn’t it mean the same thing?
Yes it does.
To have the Spirit is to have Christ. To have Christ is to have the Spirit.
They are NOT the same person but they are the same God.
And they DWELL in His children.
So why is Paul praying for something that in essence is already a reality.
‘I pray that you will have what you already have.’
No – Paul is praying fervently that we will have MORE and MORE of what the Lord longs to give us.
Salvation and adoption and new birth and redemption are beautiful but THEY ARE JUST THE START.
Paul KNOWS the great spectrum the range of difference between believers. He KNOWS what He has and He longs for everyone to have what He has and more! He has so much of Christ in Him He can’t stop praying for others to have the same.

21. to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people,
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
Rooted – plant life, agriculture – established (grounded) foundation, architecture. Both mean the same but one is organic one is permanent and unmoving. Without roots and foundations both can’t last.
Look at the beginning and the end. Established IN Love to grasp Christ’s love. The roots are embedded in Love – the fruit that will emerge is more love. A Love Tree in a Love Orchard.
Paul prays that if our foundation is Love – we will be able to grasp what we CANNOT grasp without it! How wide and long and high and deep is Christ’s love.
How wide is Christ’s love? Does it stop at Jews? People born into Christian culture? Anyone of any culture, any nation, any situation, any ability, any disability. How long is Christ’s love? Eternal.
How deep? Certain sinners are out of reach?
How high? To the very throne of the Father.
Who for? All of the Lord’s Holy people.
THE WHOLE FAMILY!

22. 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Paul has just said that if we are grounded in God’s love we will have power available to us GRASP (comprehend) how great Christ’s love is.
And THEN the great pay off of that is that we get to KNOW that Love!
Because Grasping it is just the start. We learn to know something that is beyond us. It surpasses knowledge.
Let’s sit on that for a sec. It is amazing and transformational but what does it really mean. Do we get on this ecstatic spiral of love climbing higher and higher until we’re fit to burst?
I can’t rule that out. But can’t imagine it.
Seems weird and a bit off putting to be honest.
But I think it’s FAR more grounded than that, in fact I KNOW it is but Paul HAS to use language that reflects the stupendous reality of the PERSON he’s talking about. And he is always talking about a person!
How do we know what that sort of love-grounded, totally maxed –out, love filled life would look like? It looks like Jesus.
COMPLETELY filled with love. COMPLETELY grounded as a person.
Strong, wise, loving, humble, different, attractive, unworldly, powerful.
And most strikingly – at PEACE.
And Paul prays that we will be filled to the same measure as Jesus………

23. 20 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, 21 to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen
What a conclusion to this AMAZING prayer!
Focusing entirely on God Paul says Now to Him – the Founder and CEO and Sustainer of the known (and unknown) universe – the Creator God who knows NO LIMITS – He is the one who able to do ANYTHING we can ask for even imagine – in fact MORE than we can imagine.
And though Paul has seen and performed countless miracles he also knew what it was to be in a wretched state.
But he knew God was always in control and faithful in extraordinary ways.
And how does He do these mighty acts of answered prayer and creative genius? Bolts of brilliance from the stratosphere? Teams of Angels stepping in and taking control (not usually). Through us.
His power at work within us. You and me.
Through HIS FAMILY.
Two very quick things to finish.

24. 12 In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence…
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

25. filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
12 In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence…
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
16 I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be
filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
As we reminded ourselves at the beginning of the year
WE WORSHIP A TRINITARIAN GOD!
FATHER, SON and SPIRIT.
In all through all.
GLORIOUS

26. 12 In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence… 14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches He may
strengthen you with power through His Spirit
in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts
through faith. And I pray that
you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people,
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

27. Lord despite our many faults we know we truly
can approach You with freedom and confidence.
We are a family that derive our name from You.
Strengthen us with your Holy Spirit power in
our inner-most being. Jesus Christ dwell in
our hearts more and more through faith.
We ask that together with all Your people we may have power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is Your love.
We believe that by Your power in us, You can do immeasurably more through us than we ask or can even imagine.
Help us to Glorify You Father, Son and Holy Spirit now and forever! Amen