The Love of Christ: How High!

3/25/12 “The Love of Christ: How High!” Ephesians 3:14-19
I. Introduction
A. What a delicious feast we’ve had studying the subject of the dimensions of the love of Christ together over the month of March!
B. Ephesians 3:14-19 “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
C. Review
1. Breadth/width: We saw that the love of Christ is as broad as the human race. The tent of Christ is wide enough to encompass every person from every people group, every tribe, every tongue. We saw how Jesus demonstrated this by reaching out in love to people no one else was loving: the poor, the deformed, the contagious, the criminal, the sinner, the traitor, the lost, the immoral, the public enemy, the rebel, and most surprising of all, it extends even to us, who lived in darkness, alienated from God, separated from Christ, alienated from God’s people, hard of heart, full of sensuality, greed, and every kind of impurity, having no hope and without God in the world, living at the uttermost parts of the earth.. (Eph.2, 4)
2. Length: We talked about how the love of Christ was not only all-inclusive, but also everlasting and unwavering, that it is “the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Heb.13:8) His love “bears all things ...(and) endures all things. [It] never ends.” 1Cor.13:7-8. We said that sometimes there is a perception that Christ’s love for us has ceased, and God allows it to seem that way, but asks us to trust His word that with Him there is no shadow of turning and that He will never forsake us. The length of His love is measured from before the foundation of the world and into all eternity.
3. Depth: We saw that in order to measure the depth of Christ’s love we must begin with the throne of God where He enjoyed equal glory with the Father. And we must extend the measuring tape all the way down to the manger of Bethlehem and then to the cross itself and the hell He experienced there, that the distance from the exalted radiance of divine glory to the lowliness of His humanity and His servitude, and His sorrows, weaknesses, rejections, pains and death is the depth of His love for you and me.
II. Explanation
A. Enormity
1. “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him.” (Psalm 103:11)
2. “Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.” (Psalm 36:5)
B. Glorification
1. This dimension also expresses the Lord’s final and ultimate purpose for us, the height to which God intends to raise us, the exalted destiny of those who put their hope in Him.
2. Not only how far He came to save us, but how far He takes in our salvation.
3. He did not remain in His place of humiliation. He was raised up and glorified. From having a name that was mocked and degraded, He was given a name which is above every name.
a. “He worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church.” (Ephesians 1:20-22)
4. And just as we are united with Him in suffering, so we will be united with Him in glory:
a. “If we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Romans 6:5)
5. Being united with Christ doesn’t just mean Him being united with us in our humanity and taking our guilt upon Himself. It also means that we are united with Him in His glorification.
6. Our salvation is more than forgiveness. He didn’t just restore us to innocence or give us a blank slate. He took the penalty for our sins, but then He also gave us the reward for His righteousness!
a. “Those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” (Romans 8:30)
(1) This is the ultimate end of our salvation: glorification.
7. “After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (1Peter 5:10)
a. Right now we are here, suffering. But we are destined for glory.
b. And in a little while the One who destined us will intervene in our shaky existence,
8. We are not just going to be observers of His glory, but participants in His glory.
a. “...when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints” (2Thessalonians 1:10)
(1) Not just TO His saints, but IN His saints.
b. It’s something we don’t just observe but obtain. “To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2Thessalonians 2:14)
c. “...God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.” (1Thessalonians 2:12)
(1) He has called us not only into His kingdom, but into His glory.
d. “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Col.3:4)
(1) We will be a part of His glory on that day.
9. How wonderful is it?
a. “This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” (2Corinthians 4:17)
b. “I do not cease ...remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ...may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation...having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe.” (Ephesians 1:16-19)
(1) Something so wonderful that we need God’s help to grasp the wonder of it.
10. “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am.” (Jn17:24)
a. The exalted place Christ now dwells is where we are one day headed.
b. Why? Because Christ loves us so much that He desires this for us.
11. The height of the love of Christ is measured from where we were in our guilt and corruption and unto the glorious heights to which He has destined us in the new heavens and new earth, where we will dwell in glory with Christ as His precious bride.
III. Conclusion
A. Spending time in an assisted living unit and watching March Madness. Quite a contrast in the bodies.
B. But the height of the love of Christ is seen in an even greater distance. The distance between the body at death and the new resurrected body, far more beautiful, far more powerful, far more coordinated, far more glorious than the world’s top athlete.
C. “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” (1John 3:1-2)
1. We don’t know how high we’re going, only that we’re going to the heights with Him.
2. “what we will be has not yet appeared”
a. The present hiddenness of our glorious status
b. “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:3-4)
3. Hidden not only from the world, but from ourselves.
a. We don’t know who we are. We don’t think about where we’re going. We’re not conscious of our destiny.
b. We don’t realize the intensity of Christ’s zeal for us and ambition for us.
D. We’re told a lot in the Bible about what Christ did for us. But there’s not much about what Christ is doing for us right now in this age. This is the age of the Spirit when the Spirit is doing His work in us and through us.
1. Is Jesus just sitting at the Father’s right hand watching and maybe directing?
2. “I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:3)
E. This is the height of Christ’s love. He is preparing for us a place, an existence beyond our present ability to comprehend.