As an example of the above, let us consider Ephesians 3:8. Here Paul says that he will preach to us the unsearchable riches of Christ. Literally, this word seems to be very simple. But it is not that easy to understand what are the unsearchable riches of Christ. This phrase means that the riches of Christ are immeasurable. Because it is too mysterious and too inexhaustible to be described in human words, Paul could only use the four dimensions—breadth, length, height, and depth—to describe what Christ is. Christ is the breadth; He is the length, the height, and the depth. The breadth, length, height, and depth of the universe are all unlimited. These are the dimensions of Christ.
In verse 17 Paul said, “That Christ may make His home in your hearts.” When Christ makes His home in our hearts and fills and saturates our whole being, we will be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ. The word “make home” here is a compound word in Greek. It is the verbal form of the noun oikos, which means house, with the prefix kata added to it. Kata has the sense of establishing in a firm way. The word is therefore aptly translated as “make home.” It is not just an abiding but a making home. I am often invited to different places to conduct conferences. Everywhere I go, the brothers and sisters warmly welcome me. They invite me to stay in their homes and ask me to make myself at home in their homes. I try my best to settle down according to their good wishes. But never have I been able to do so. I can never feel at home in those places. Only when I go back to my own home and put down my luggage can I feel truly at home. Not only do we have to let Christ abide in our hearts, but we also have to let Him make His home deeply in our hearts.
How does Christ make His home in our hearts? For this Paul prayed to the Father. He said that he bowed his knees unto the Father, that He would, according to the riches of His glory and through His Spirit, have Christ make home in our hearts. The meaning of this prayer is very deep. First, it mentions the Father. Second, it mentions the Spirit. Third, it mentions Christ. Lastly, it mentions our heart. We do not have time to go into them in detail one by one. We can only mention in brief the matter of Christ making home in our hearts.
Our heart is composed of four parts: the mind, the emotion, the will, and the conscience. For Christ to make home in our heart is for Him to make home in these four parts. A home has many rooms, such as the living room and the bedroom. Our heart is the home of Christ. This home has a mind-room, an emotion-room, a will-room, and a conscience-room. We have received Christ into our heart. But is He in our mind, emotion, will, and conscience? Actually, we have often allowed Him to stay only in the living room, not giving Him the liberty to go into the other rooms. The brothers like to exercise their minds. They often remain in their minds. Also they are usually strong in their will. If they say yes, they mean yes. Whether they are right or wrong, they would insist to the end. The sisters are more apt to exercise their emotions. They are often swayed by their joy, their anger, their sorrow, and their elation. All this means that Christ has no place and is not making home in our mind, emotion, and will. We really should have given to Him every room of our heart. Only then will He be able to make home in our heart. All the other tenants in the rooms of our heart have to be chased away. First Corinthians 3:16 says that we are the temple of God. But this temple is occupied by many illegal tenants. We need the Lord Jesus to chase them away with a whip that this temple may be cleansed, just as He cleansed the temple twice while He was on earth (John 2:14-15; Matt. 21:12), chasing away all the oxen, sheep, doves, buyers and sellers, and money changers. Only then can Christ make His home in our hearts.
Some dissenting ones have said, since we are so small, how can such a great Christ be contained in us? Has not the Bible said that Christ has ascended on high and is seated at the right hand of God with glory as His crown? How then can we say that He lives in our heart? These words seem logical at first hearing. But they are void of the central revelation of the Bible. Romans 8:34 says that Christ has been raised from among the dead and is now at the right hand of God, interceding for us. However, verse 10 of the same chapter says that Christ is also in us. Paul told us that, on the one hand, Christ is in heaven and that, on the other hand, He is in us. This is just like the electricity which is in this meeting hall and is at the same time in the power station. Christ is in us; at the same time, He is in heaven. We should not try to understand Christ with our limited mentality. He is too profound and too unlimited. We can only receive this revelation according to the pure word of the Bible.