“And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” Ephesians 3:19
What does it mean to know God, to know Christ? What is the highest expression of that knowledge? Is that knowledge truly attainable, available, and accessible? The answer to these questions and more is basically found in one word, “love.” It is a work, finite in the English language, which is only composed of four letters. And yet, here we are, seeking to grasp something of the eternal God, that is so vast, powerful, revealing, and knowable of God, that immediately we are faced with terrible limitations. Not only are these limitations seen in man’s ability to “see,” but also to grasp the inexpressible, the incalculable, indeed, the immeasurable. The mind cannot grasp it, nor can any word express it adequately. Man does not possess the least capacity to know this love of God, in his limitations, unless the eternal God takes him by the hand, leads him to the knowledge of the truth, quickens the truth to his heart and life, then strengthens him to believe, which is the final point and condition of receiving true knowledge of God. It was T. Bimney who wrote the following stanzas of his great hymn: “Eternal Light, Eternal Light:”
“Oh, how shall I, whose native sphere is dark whose mind is dim, Before the Ineffable appear, and on my naked spirit bear, The uncreated beam?
“There is a way for man to rise, to that sublime abode; An Offering and a Sacrifice, A Holy Spirit’s energies, An Advocate with God.”
What is Bimney saying here? It is that, not only does there exist the Eternal God, so vast that He cannot be known, and grasped, by lost, sinful man, but that God has provided a certain way, His way of the Cross, and the sacrifice of Christ, not only to give the believer access to the holy presence of God, but to know the work of revelation, by the Spirit of God to his heart and mind, by which he comes to know God. What then of man’s very real limits to know God?
In Paul’s wonderful letter to the Ephesians, he writes to the believers concerning the riches that are in Christ, and the fathomless, infinite, and innumerable, blessings of God in Christ, afforded to the believer. He speaks of a prayer of revelation, by which, and in answer to, the Spirit of God opens the eyes of the believing heart to “see” God, to perceive His glory, to have right concepts of Him, His nature, and Christ’s work. But then, as we discover in the letter to the Hebrews, He brings the willing believer through a rent vail, into the very holiest of holies, into the most extraordinary close proximity to God, there to worship Him. Paul, seeks to bring the believers in Ephesus, to see, and to grasp, God’s way of making the vision of Christ, a reality, “dwelling in the heart by faith.” (Eph. 3:17) Where the vision and the “vitality” of God meet in the heart, Christ is revealed to the soul. The knowledge of the truth must first be revealed, and then the power and strengthening by the Spirit, must be given, for the believer to know this love of God.
That which is most encouraging in Paul’s writings concerning knowing this love, is the phrase, “…(that ye) may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” (Eph. 3:17,18,19) It is the will of God for man to know God the Father, and Jesus Christ, who He has sent. This is life eternal. To know God, Christ, by the Spirit and in truth, is to live. How much can we know God, this love of Christ? The answer is found in Paul’s words: “Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding, abundantly ABOVE all that we can ask or think.” (Eph. 3:20)
Dear Father, Grant us Thy power to truly, certainly know, this love of Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.