Paul continued in 3:19, “And to know the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ,” the result of which is “that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God.” Paul was entirely captivated by this matter, and it became his spirit and attitude. When Christ has made His home in our hearts, we can apprehend His immeasurableness, and the result is that we are filled unto all the fullness of God. We who serve in the church should have this attitude, and our thoughts and prayers should be for this.
In administrating the church, all the responsible brothers must take this as their spirit, their attitude, and their hope. They should not hope merely that all the saints will come to the meetings, be zealous, preach the gospel, and bring people to salvation. The responsible brothers should be clear as to what they take as their goal: is it an increase in numbers or an increase in Christ? They should be like Paul, who was totally “obsessed” with this matter. We need to receive mercy not to think that it is sufficient for the brothers and sisters only to be zealous and come to the meetings. Even if all the people in Taiwan came to the meetings and were zealous, it would mean nothing if they did not know Christ inwardly.
We should hope that Christ will make His home in the believers through faith, that they will be rooted and grounded in the Lord’s love, and that they will come out of their small and finite beings and see the immeasurableness of the Lord. Our hope also is that the believers will know the Lord as the breadth, the length, the height, and the depth so that they may be filled unto all the fullness of God. Then they will reach the glorious and rich goal of God to be glorified and expressed in the church. This is the apostle’s prayer, which represents his spirit and attitude.
We should focus on this matter to the extent that we do not know what to pray other than this. We cannot pray in a habitual way, saying, “O Lord, Brother So-and-so is cold. Please make him fervent. O Lord, Sister So-and-so is backslidden; please restore her to the meetings. Sister So-and-so has a poor temper; please cause her to change.” Paul did not pray this way; instead, he prayed, “God, grant the believers, according to the riches of Your glory, to be strengthened into their inner man, that they may know and experience Christ inwardly, that Christ may make His home in their hearts, that they may be rooted and grounded in His love, that they may see the immeasurable Christ living in them, and that they may be filled unto all the fullness of God.” This should be the attitude, spirit, and prayer of one who serves God.
Perhaps some may say, “It is not easy to pray that the brothers and sisters would be fervent and rise up to meet. How much harder will it be to pray for them to be filled unto all the fullness of God? This is too ideal, too difficult.” Hence, verse 20 shows Paul’s faith. He spoke of “Him who is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power which operates in us.” Power is a great word in the Bible. This power is not objective, far from us and vague; this power is subjective. When we are saved, the power in us is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think.
This verse is not concerned with outward material blessings. For example, if I ask God to prepare a three hundred square feet house for me, and He gives me a four hundred square feet house, this is seemingly above what I ask or think. A sister, who does not have any children, may pray, “O God, have mercy on me. I do not have any children. You are the God who answers prayer; please give me a son.” When God answers her prayer and she not only has a son but twin boys, this is seemingly above what she asked or thought. If a brother needs $400 and the Lord gives him $600, this also is seemingly above what he asked or thought. But this is not the meaning of this verse.
Because Paul was concerned that the Ephesian saints might think that the prayer in verses 16 through 19 was too difficult, he immediately followed with verse 20, saying, God is “able” and “above all that we ask or think.” In the end, he praised God for being glorified in the church and in Christ Jesus. Glory in verse 21 means that God is greatly released and expressed in the church; this is glory. God being glorified in the church means that He is fully expressed in the church. No matter what our present condition is, we should have the faith that the New Jerusalem will eventually be manifested. At that time, we will see that the glory of God illumines the city, and the lamp of the city is the Lamb; light shines forth from the lamp to illumine the entire city (Rev. 21:23).
The full meaning of the phrase to Him be the glory in the church is seen in the New Jerusalem. On that day, God will shine forth all of His fullness. In the New Jerusalem, nothing is opaque; even the gold is like clear glass (v. 18). Christ is the lamp of the city, and God in Christ shines forth from the New Jerusalem to all the nations. The New Jerusalem is the complete expression of God’s glory; the church today should be a miniature of the New Jerusalem. This is the spirit, attitude, prayer, and faith with which we should serve the Lord. We should have such a prayer and faith. Our spirit and attitude should be that the brothers and sisters will have Christ inwardly, that Christ will make His home in their hearts, and that they will be filled unto all the fullness of God. At the same time, based on this spirit and attitude, we should pray, bow our knees, and have faith before God.
In this way, our service in the church will be great and glorious. Although this service is great and glorious, we still need to keep in mind that it depends on the God who is able, and it is God who works day after day. Galatians 4:19 says, “Until Christ is formed in you.” The word until does not mean that God is not working but that God has been working and is working continually until the work is done—until Christ is fully formed in us. If we have such a strong seeing, it will become our spirit, attitude, prayer, and faith. If all of our spirit, attitude, prayer, and faith are for this one thing, the brothers and sisters will be filled unto all the fullness of God.