Day 33: How Does Humanity Fit in the Master Story?
Today we consider how we human beings fit into the larger, Master Story. As we have heard so far, we were created to BE the One True God’s image and likeness in Creation. But He also created us to have a relationship with Him.
WORDwork:
Ephesians 3:14–19
… I kneel before the Father, 3:15 from whom every family in heaven and on the earth is named. 3:16 I pray that according to the wealth of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner person, 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love, 3:18 you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 3:19 and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. {NET}
How does Paul address God in Ephesians 3:14 above—what does He call Him?
What is Paul’s first request to Father-God in 3:16?
What is the reason for Paul’s first request given in 3:17?
According to what Paul says in 3:18-19, what does he want the people he is praying for to be able to do?
In the passage above, Paul prays for all the Christians at Ephesus, many of whom had come to know Christ through Paul’s teaching. But this prayer is not just for those people; the letter to the Ephesians was meant to be passed around in all the house churches in that area. Paul’s prayer can be applied to and prayed for “all the saints”—everyone who has been set apart for the One True God and trust in Him.
Let’s chart this out so we can see it a little more clearly. The major statements are on the left; the modifiers on the right:
God the Father
First, notice how Paul addresses God: “The Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.” This simply means that every living being has its origin and beginning in the creative, “fatherly” work of the Lord-God. Notice also, this is every family in heaven and on earth which means everywhere. One of the oldest descriptions of the angels and heavenly beings is “the sons of God” (see Job 1:6. 2:1). As human beings, we were also created to be part of Father-God’s great family. Even though we are now “a little lower than the heavenly beings/angels” (Psalm 8:5), in the Age to Come all of us who belong to Father-God through faith in Christ will rule with Him (see Revelation 20:6, 22:5).
In our times, “father” is a word and concept that doesn’t immediately stir up feelings of love and mercy for many. Our Adversary, the Devil, has done a great job stealing and destroying the very idea of “father” in our culture. This is not by accident. Our view of our Heavenly Father is largely shaped by our relationship with our earthly fathers. The Bible teaches us that our Heavenly Father is far more than any of our earthly fathers could have ever been. For some, coming to know God as a loving, merciful, and gracious Father is a difficult process. We have to hear what He has said to us in His Word, but we also have to be open to the ways He moves in our lives so that we can truly experience His love and care.
To Know Jesus Christ’s Love
Now take note of what Paul prays. If I could sum up this prayer in a short statement, I would say that Paul is praying that Father-God would empower us through the Spirit and through our deep relationship with Jesus Christ to be able to know the boundless and limitless way in which Christ loves us! His love for us “surpasses knowledge.” This means that you will never be able to “get your mind around” how much Father-God and Christ loves you. This is something we have to get inside of us and only the power of the Holy Spirit is able to do this for us.
At the end, Paul prays all of this so that we could be “filled up to all the fullness of God.” This does not mean that Father-God is going to pour all of Himself into us so that we become “gods.” It does mean that Father-God wants to pour His love into us through our relationship with Him in Christ so that we can be filled by love just as they are filled by love. God has lived as a Father who loves a Son through His Spirit forever. God has lived as a Son who knows what it is to be loved by a Father and love that Father in return forever. God has lived as The Spirit who has limitless power and chooses to love, forever.
You may want to go back a review the section “Who is the True Father God of Genuine Love” from our earlier readings in Recovering the Master Story. There we discuss the three types of love and how Father-God’s love is unique.
Scan back over or reflect on this week’s reading and ask yourself:
1. What have I learned that gave me new ideas and images?
2. How do these truths call me to change the way I am thinking?
3. How do these truths call me to trust Father-God more?
*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.
