Day 109: How Are We Transformed by Love?
Today, we complete our readings in Phase 2: Walking in the Truth. We are Father God’s beloved children NOW! This incredible truth is at the heart of all that we have been discussing. It is also the truth that will transform us as we think on it – meditate on it – day by day.
Ephesians 3:14-21
I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on the earth is named. 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, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love, 18 you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 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. 20 Now to him who by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think, 21 to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
We began this study by focusing on one core truth: In Christ, we are Father God’s beloved children NOW! There is no greater truth for us to understand and accept other than this one. In the passage above, Paul says that this love—which is also the love of Christ for us—“surpasses knowledge.” But this is the very truth and reality that Paul prays for the Ephesians and for us to know: The love of Father God in Christ which is really beyond comprehension.
Notice in this prayer the other themes that we have developed in this study: the strengthening that comes from the glory of the Father through the power of His Spirit in our “inner person” (verse 16), Christ dwelling in our hearts through faith (verse 17), our being rooted and grounded in love (verse 18). Our new identity in Christ as Father God’s beloved children should captivate our thoughts, our desires, our emotions. As we come to realize who we are in Christ, we will be transformed degree by degree, day by day to be people who overflow with the goodness and beauty of our Father Creator.
In this study, our desire is that you have become AWARE of how God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit all work in and through you to save you. You should also be AWAKE to the reality that we are living in a Great Spiritual War. Yet in the midst of this, Christ through the power of the Spirit has set us FREE to follow Him as He leads us in victory. In light of these realities, to Walk in the Truth is to live in such a way that gives expression of who you are in Christ. To Walk in the Truth is to live your life in way that is defined by your Father’s love for you.
In our next study unit—Phase 3: Living the Life—we are going to pick up talking about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives and how He empowers us to live in the reality of “the new self.” We will discuss His leading us to spiritual maturity, gifting us for service to the Body of Christ and to the World, and empowering us to live a life of self-sacrificial love which transforms everyone who experiences this great power.
As we close out this session and this study unit we want to go back to some of the “big picture” ideas that MilktoMeat started with and contrast our old life, dead in Adam to our new life, alive in Christ. As you look over these charts, hopefully you will now have a much clearer picture by the reality of who you are in Christ—completely loved, completely secure, and eternally significant.
Congratulations!
You have finished the 4th Section of MilktoMeat.
You are ready to continue in Phase 3 – Living The Life Part 1: Empowered In The Spirit
*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.
