The Fullness Of The Love Of God
Yesterday, we talked about the fullness of God in us. We dwelt mainly on the Life of God, Zoe. Today, let’s talk about the fullness of God in us from the vantage point of His love. God is life. God is love. And God is light. We will talk about the fullness of His light tomorrow.
In John 17: 23 and 26, Jesus told his disciples then and us now the Father loves us as He has loved Jesus. The same love with which He loves Jesus is in us because Jesus is in us. Since Jesus is in us, God’s Love (Agape) is in us.
Once again today, we will look at scriptures in Ephesians 3. Paul gives us a prayer that he prayed for the church at Ephesus. It can also be our prayer. It is a prayer about God, about Love, because in the book of 1 John we read that God is love (v. 8 & 15). We read further in v. 12 of 1 John 4 that if we love one another, God (Who is Love) dwells in us, and His Love is perfected (matured) in us.
In Ephesians 3:14-21 (author’s paraphrase from the Amplified Bible) Paul talks to us about God, Love dwelling in us. This is a very familiar scripture to many of us. In fact, we confess it every day. Look at it through new vision today.
God has granted us out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with His mighty power, Who is the Holy Spirit, Love Himself, the anointing in our inner man, our spirits. This is accomplished by the Holy Spirit Himself dwelling in our spirits, our entire being, our entire personality. Christ, the Anointed One with His anointing, Who is the Holy Spirit of Love and power, through our faith, dwells in our hearts permanently. He takes up residence in our hearts as His home. Because of the Holy Spirit of Love dwelling in us, we can become rooted deeply in love and found securely anchored on the rock of His love, His Presence. When this happens, we have the power, the strength to grasp, understand, comprehend God’s love.
We can understand the fourth dimension of God. In this world we live in three dimensions. When we live in God, in His love, we are living in the fourth dimension. His love is described in four dimensions----breadth, length, height and depth.
It is possible for us to come to know the love of God in reality while we are here on this earth. His love far surpasses mere knowledge. It is to be experienced. So we see from these verses in Ephesians 3 that the fullness of God is not just His life; it is His Love, the essence of His being. We can be flooded with the fullness of God’s love, to overflowing.
We can read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (author’s paraphrase of the Amplified Bible), which tells us what we are full of when we are full of God’s love. It is an accomplished fact and not something we are attempting to achieve. What we must do is believe what we have when the Holy Spirit came to dwell in us as a result of what Jesus Christ had done for us.
We have Agape love. Therefore, we endure long. We are patient and kind. We are never envious or boil over with jealousy. We are not boastful or display ourselves haughtily. We are not conceited, arrogant or inflated with pride. We are not rude and unmannerly. We do not act unbecomingly. We do not insist on our own rights or our own way. We are not self-seeking. We are not touchy, fretful or resentful. We take no account of the evil done to us; we pay no attention to a suffered wrong. We do not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but we rejoice when right and truth prevail. We bear up under anything and everything that comes. We are ever ready to believe the best of every person. Our hopes never fade under any circumstances. We endure everything without weakening. We never fail. Why? Love, God never fails. Love in us never fails. He never fails or wears out or comes to an end; He is eternal, everlasting, forever, without end.
I am sure that you, like I, think this description of us with the love of God in us, is not possible to achieve. Jesus has already achieved it for us. What we must do is believe that what He achieved for us is operating in us. That is where faith comes into the picture. We must believe that we receive what Jesus has accomplished for us. Without Him, of course, it would be impossible to love. I am thinking of some people right now that I could not love without His abiding Presence. Thoughts come and go. Let them die unborn. Don’t give voice to your unlovely thoughts. They come from our enemy, satan. Speak the Word of God over those unlovely thoughts. 1 Corinthians 13 is our guidebook. We must speak it often to enforce the reality of God’s Love in our lives.
In John 17: 23 and 26, Jesus told his disciples then and us now the Father loves us as He has loved Jesus. The same love with which He loves Jesus is in us because Jesus is in us. Since Jesus is in us, God’s Love (Agape) is in us.
Once again today, we will look at scriptures in Ephesians 3. Paul gives us a prayer that he prayed for the church at Ephesus. It can also be our prayer. It is a prayer about God, about Love, because in the book of 1 John we read that God is love (v. 8 & 15). We read further in v. 12 of 1 John 4 that if we love one another, God (Who is Love) dwells in us, and His Love is perfected (matured) in us.
In Ephesians 3:14-21 (author’s paraphrase from the Amplified Bible) Paul talks to us about God, Love dwelling in us. This is a very familiar scripture to many of us. In fact, we confess it every day. Look at it through new vision today.
God has granted us out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with His mighty power, Who is the Holy Spirit, Love Himself, the anointing in our inner man, our spirits. This is accomplished by the Holy Spirit Himself dwelling in our spirits, our entire being, our entire personality. Christ, the Anointed One with His anointing, Who is the Holy Spirit of Love and power, through our faith, dwells in our hearts permanently. He takes up residence in our hearts as His home. Because of the Holy Spirit of Love dwelling in us, we can become rooted deeply in love and found securely anchored on the rock of His love, His Presence. When this happens, we have the power, the strength to grasp, understand, comprehend God’s love.
We can understand the fourth dimension of God. In this world we live in three dimensions. When we live in God, in His love, we are living in the fourth dimension. His love is described in four dimensions----breadth, length, height and depth.
It is possible for us to come to know the love of God in reality while we are here on this earth. His love far surpasses mere knowledge. It is to be experienced. So we see from these verses in Ephesians 3 that the fullness of God is not just His life; it is His Love, the essence of His being. We can be flooded with the fullness of God’s love, to overflowing.
We can read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (author’s paraphrase of the Amplified Bible), which tells us what we are full of when we are full of God’s love. It is an accomplished fact and not something we are attempting to achieve. What we must do is believe what we have when the Holy Spirit came to dwell in us as a result of what Jesus Christ had done for us.
We have Agape love. Therefore, we endure long. We are patient and kind. We are never envious or boil over with jealousy. We are not boastful or display ourselves haughtily. We are not conceited, arrogant or inflated with pride. We are not rude and unmannerly. We do not act unbecomingly. We do not insist on our own rights or our own way. We are not self-seeking. We are not touchy, fretful or resentful. We take no account of the evil done to us; we pay no attention to a suffered wrong. We do not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but we rejoice when right and truth prevail. We bear up under anything and everything that comes. We are ever ready to believe the best of every person. Our hopes never fade under any circumstances. We endure everything without weakening. We never fail. Why? Love, God never fails. Love in us never fails. He never fails or wears out or comes to an end; He is eternal, everlasting, forever, without end.
I am sure that you, like I, think this description of us with the love of God in us, is not possible to achieve. Jesus has already achieved it for us. What we must do is believe that what He achieved for us is operating in us. That is where faith comes into the picture. We must believe that we receive what Jesus has accomplished for us. Without Him, of course, it would be impossible to love. I am thinking of some people right now that I could not love without His abiding Presence. Thoughts come and go. Let them die unborn. Don’t give voice to your unlovely thoughts. They come from our enemy, satan. Speak the Word of God over those unlovely thoughts. 1 Corinthians 13 is our guidebook. We must speak it often to enforce the reality of God’s Love in our lives.
posted by Rev. Kialeen Potterton @ 3:56 PM
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