Proverbs 2:6 says the Lord gives wisdom out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. Throughout the Scriptures we find that these three key words are often linked together.
In our Believer’s Prayer series that we are looking at, the fifth request is to know the love of Christ and that we find in verse 19.
Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:19
Here we are to experience the breath the length and the height and the width of God’s amazing love. We are told it surpasses all knowledge is the love of God.
F. B. Meyer expresses it well: The dimensions are generally taken to refer to the love of Christ, although the text does not say this. In fact, the love of Christ is mentioned separately in the following clause.
If the love of Christ is intended, then the connection might be shown as follows:
- Width — The world (John 3:16)
- Length — Forever (1 Cor. 13:8)
- Depth — Even the death of the cross (Phil. 2:8)
- Height — Heaven (1 John 3:1–2)
- The width is described in 2:11–18. It refers to the wideness of God’s grace in saving Jews and Gentiles, and then incorporating them into the church. The mystery embraces both these segments of humanity.
- The length extends from eternity to eternity. As to the past, believers were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (1:4). As to the future, eternity will be a perpetual unfolding of the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus (2:7).
- The depth is vividly portrayed in Ephesians 2:1–3. We were sunk in a pit of unspeakable sin and degradation. Christ came to this jungle of filth and corruption in order to die in our behalf.
- The height is seen in 2:6, where we have not only been raised up with Christ, but enthroned in Him in the heaven-lies to share His glory.
As we said last week, you may say it is impossible to grasp and experience the love of Christ anywhere close to full measure, but we should not stop trying. Therefore we need to pray for God to help us learn more and more of his love and we should make that request every day. We need to experience more and more the depth and the love of Jesus Christ. We do it by spending time.