Paul never neglected the need to work Christ into man. He was worried that even though the Ephesian believers had received Christ, they did not have a deep sense of Christ dwelling in their hearts, as far as their feelings and emotions were concerned. Hence, Paul prayed that God would grant them, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man so that Christ could make His home in their hearts through faith.
It seemed that Paul was “obsessed” with the matter of Christ in us, and this became his spirit and attitude. Paul knew that Christ was not in the hearts of the Ephesian believers, even though He was in them. If someone asks us if we have Christ in us, we will answer yes. But do we truly love Him with our heart? Consider the matter of marriage. If we could see inside a couple who are about to be married, we would find that their emotions and feelings are altogether filled with marriage. Paul’s prayer is not for anything other than the glory of God to work in the believers so that they, by believing into Christ and confessing Christ, will sense Christ, love Christ, and be filled with Christ, and thus Christ would make His home in their hearts.
Paul’s central concern was related to Christ’s being in the believers. In our work and service of administrating the church, we should have this kind of spirit, expecting that the believers will have Christ in them and that Christ will enter into them. For example, a brother may always murmur and lose his temper in the fellowship meeting. What kind of spirit and attitude should we have toward this brother? If we desire that this brother control his temper, this desire will be our spirit and attitude toward him.
In the church where we serve, there may be a brother who likes to speak and who has a bad temper, and the brothers and sisters may hardly be able to tolerate him. As a responsible brother, you may hope that he will control his temper, but if he has not changed after a few years, you may hope that he will not come to the meetings anymore lest he affect others. If he keeps coming, you may even begin to dislike him. Even though you dare not admit it, this may become your inward spirit and attitude. If a brother loses his temper in the church and you can only hope that he will control his temper, you have not seen what it is to serve in the church. Instead of hoping that he will control his temper, you should hope that he will sense Christ within. This means that he will sense Christ within and respond to Christ dwelling within him. If all the serving ones in the church are like Paul, being “obsessed” with this matter, they will not hope that such a brother would control his temper but rather that Christ would increase in him.
The purpose of God granting us, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened into our inner man is for Christ to be expressed in the feeling of our heart, that is, for Him to appear to us inwardly. This requires prayer like Paul’s. In our service in the church, we should not hope that people will improve or change; we should hope only that Christ in them will become so precious, sweet, and lovely and that they will sense Christ in their hearts so that Christ may make His home in their hearts through faith. The believers’ being strengthened according to God’s glory enables Christ to make His home in their hearts.
Christ’s making His home in our hearts has a result—we are rooted and grounded in love (v. 17). When Christ is touched by us we can sense His love inwardly. We can be rooted and grounded in God’s love. To be rooted and grounded in love is to hold to truth in love (4:15). Being rooted and grounded in love refers to Christ’s love, not our love, because He lives in us and causes us to be rooted and grounded in His love. Being rooted and grounded enables us to apprehend with all the saints what are the breadth, the length, the height, and the depth. When we are rooted and grounded in Christ, we will know the breadth, the length, the height, and the depth.
Some people say that when Paul came to this point in his writing, he was so motivated and touched by the Lord’s love that his speaking was not complete. This is the view of some Bible expositors, but this is not the case. When he was writing this, Paul transcended even the universe. If we have seen how great Christ is, we will not quarrel with the brothers and sisters, much less with our wives and husbands. When Christ is in our feeling and is real in our heart, we will be rooted and grounded in His love. In such a condition, Paul said that we would know the breadth, the length, the height, and the depth. We will realize that just as God is immeasurable, the glory expressed through Him is immeasurable, and just as Christ is immeasurable, the love of Christ is also immeasurable.
What are the breadth, the length, the height, and the depth? These four words added together equal immeasurableness. Paul said that when we know Christ inwardly and when Christ is sensed in us, we will be rooted and grounded in His love, and we will know the breadth, which is Christ. On that day, we will also know the length, which is Christ; the height, which is Christ; and the depth, which is Christ. The breadth, the length, the height, and the depth are Christ Himself. If we know Christ inwardly, live in Him, and are rooted and grounded in His love, we will see that the One who dwells in us is the breadth, the length, the height, and the depth. On that day we will apprehend with all the saints the breadth, the length, the height, and the depth. The breadth, the length, the height, and the depth are simply Christ.