Daily Bible Verses for 5/22/2017
Daily Verse(s)
That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Reading Notes
Paul concludes this prayer as he speaks of the fullness of God. The fullness of God refers to all that God has given to us in Christ, all of the spiritual treasures which are obtained by faith along with the kingdom of God that awaits us. In other words, the fulness of God, is who and what we are in Christ Jesus our Lord. We are dearly beloved children of God, adopted into the family of God, by our faith in Christ. And one of the many gifts we receive from God, which is mediated to us by the Holy Spirit, is the understanding of the things of God and the illumination of the word of God. And without these gifts the believer cannot understand the fullness of God’s love for us. Without a genuine spirit empowered love in our own lives, given to us by the Holy Spirit, it’s impossible for us to fully understand what Jesus’ sacrifice at the Cross of Calvary, truly means to us and the lives we live. Without a relationship with Jesus, we cannot truly understand the sacrifices made for us and the gifts given to us, from the moment of our salvation forward into eternity. Through Jesus sacrifice for us and our faith in Him, we have been reconciled back to God through Christ and the Cross of Calvary. And because of this we, the redeemed in Him, escape the death of estrangement from God. And through the Holy Spirit’s power, we begin the appropriation of the fullness of life.
A fullness created and planned for us, from before the foundations of the world were laid in place and continuing on into eternity. Because of the free gift of grace, given to us, we have a love that is of Christ, A love that comes from Jesus himself, freely given to all who have placed their faith in Him. This love is placed directly into our hearts by the Holy Spirit as part of His work of sanctification. Prior to our salvation, we were dead in our trespasses and sins, our hearts were dead stone, where no life could be found. Then, the Holy Spirit touched our hearts, helping us to hear and understand the gospel message of salvation through faith alone, in Christ alone. And with our salvation, we received life, our spirit which was dead in trespasses and sins, was replaced by a new spirit. We received a new spirit, and a new heart of flesh, which is alive to God and the things of God. And it’s from this love given to us that we can truly love Jesus and others. This love which is far beyond the capability of human reasoning, is freely given to us by God and by faith alone. And it’s this love and knowledge that can only be experienced and understood by God’s children. Those adopted into the family of God through our faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. And it’s the fullness of this love and the understanding of it, which Paul is praying for us to receive and experience in our lives. And not by our own power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, who indwells all followers of Christ.