“…and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19 ESV).
Paul prayed that the Ephesian believers might know the love of Christ, even though this love surpassed mere human knowledge. He had already prayed that they be strengthened with power through the Spirit and rooted and grounded in love, so that they might comprehend the dimensions of Christ’s love (vv. 16–18). Yet here he concluded with the paradox that Christ’s love was both knowable and beyond full comprehension. The apostle desired that they continually grow in experiential knowledge of Christ’s love, not just intellectual awareness. His ultimate aim was that they be filled with all the fullness of God, meaning that God’s own presence, character, and power would increasingly permeate their lives. This prayer revealed Paul’s longing that believers experience deep, Spirit-empowered transformation, becoming like Jesus in character and conduct.
We can never say that we fully grasp Christ’s love. Yet we are invited to experience it more deeply every day. His love is broad enough to include us, long enough to endure forever, deep enough to meet us in our lowest moments, and high enough to lift us to glory. As we dwell in the surpassing knowledge of Christ’s love, we are filled with the fullness of God. His Spirit fills and transforms us. Let us seek not only to understand Christ’s love with our minds, but to know it in our hearts and display it with our words and actions. As we walk in His love, we are gradually being formed into His likeness.
PRAYER: Dear Father, we thank You for revealing the love of Christ to us. We confess that we cannot fully comprehend its unlimited expanse, yet we desire to know it more and more. Fill us with Your fullness so that Your presence, power, and character shine through us. Root us deeply in Christ’s love, that we may grow in maturity and reflect Jesus in all we do. In His name we pray, amen.