Love Within

Text Ephesians 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,  READ 1 Corinthians 13.

We come to Ephesians, chapter 3, verse 17, And I think the key words in understanding what Paul is saying in verse 17 are the words HEART and LOVE.  The heart is the seat of our emotions, where the deep emotion of love is seated.…

1 Christ in the HEART. 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;,

As Paul’s prayer progresses, we discover that the end purpose, the goal of our being mightily strengthened by the work of the Holy Spirit in the inner man, is that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith. Yet these Ephesians were already saved, they were believers, Christ is already in their hearts! Why pray now that Christ would dwell in their hearts?  Martyn Lloyd Jones said, “This indwelling should be thought of differently from the sealing of the Holy Spirit that all believers experience when they are saved and regenerated. This experience of the indwelling of Christ is one that comes when Christians seek to cultivate deep and abiding love for Christ and his word. It is not a one-time experience or action, but it should continue throughout the life of all believers.”   

Now, just think about that for a moment. It needs some consideration. The Almighty God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of ancient Israel, the God of Heaven and Earth, the Creator God, the God who is thrice holy, indwells the heart of a sinful, frail, mortal man or woman. That in itself is beyond our comprehension. READ Ephesians 1:18  God is so good to us, granting us new life, and he did that entirely out of love for us. John 3:16,  

2. The Meaning of LOVE. rooted and grounded in love

What do I we mean here by ‘love?’ We know that God loves us, (his people). And we know that because God loved us, with unconditional love, we must love others also. 1 John 4:7  We love HIM, because he FIRST loved us. In this passage, the word LOVE refers to that love that we have for God and neighbour, rather than God’s love for us. ML Jones notes that Paul does not write here, “Rooted and grounded in GOD’s love.” The love that is being discussed here is the love that WE have, the love that grows in our hearts, our emotions, our inner man, as a RESPONSE to God’s love. It is love for God and for others. Luke 10:27 . This love is to be a replica of God’s love for us. The word for love here is agape, unconditional love, just exactly like the free, unconditional love that took Jesus to the cross for me and you. 

This is not a temporary love. The Greek word for ‘dwell’ κατοικέω (katoikeō) indicates a permanent dwelling, not a temporary one. The continued indwelling by God, of the believer. If we don’t have this Christ-like love in our hearts, our Christian experience is defective. Because God is Love, Christ is Love, and Christ within is love within, – no love? No indwelling Christ! Look at 1st Corinthians 13:1 So:

• You can know all the right words, to sound like a Christian. Without this love, for Christ, and for our neighbour, it’s all hypocrisy!
• You may be a preacher, or a mighty faith-filled pastor or believer, but without love? 2 … I am nothing.
• You may have extensive knowledge, even theological knowledge, but without love? 2 … I am nothing.
• You may give away all you money to some worthy cause, – you may be a martyr for you cause, 3 … it profiteth me nothing.

The true believer has experienced Christ’s love in forgiveness and that love dwells in their heart, for God is love, and this growing love for Christ will have an effect on our lives, which will be outworked in our love for others…

3 The Result of  Indwelling Love. that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

Now Paul loves metaphors, and he uses two here, from horticulture and architecture. 

• Love makes us like a tree! Paul tells us that we are ROOTED in LOVE. Trees have roots. It’s not the first time that believers have been likened to trees. Psalm 1:3  
  • Trees are immovable! These roots are deep. Think of a great oak tree. Roots that spread out as wide as the branches.   Those who have God’s love indwelling them, and who are experiencing that love, will be those who endure to the end, and will be in heaven with their Lord.  We shall not be moved!
  • Trees draw up water through their roots. That is what keeps them alive. We too, rooted in love, will thrive, drawing upon the wells of salvation, quenching our thirst for right-ness with God – remember that there is another tree, – the tree of life!
  • Trees are a blessing to us! Well of course we know that we need more trees. Trees suck up carbon dioxide, the gas that we breathe out, and they convert it into oxygen, that we breathe in. If you want to help the planet, the answer is not to pay more taxes, it is to plant more trees. We need trees, because trees are a blessing, and according to the psalmist, trees produce fruit. The heart that is rooted in love, for God and for neighbours, will be a fruitful Christian life, living for God, and bearing fruit.
• Love makes us like a building! Paul tells us that we are GROUNDED in LOVE. The word translated grounded, could equally be translated ‘founded’ without violating the text. Paul is alluding to a foundation, upon which a building is erected. Paul has already used this metaphor. Look back at 2:20-22  The foundation determines the shape of the building, just as being grounded in love, having our foundations laid in love; shapes the whole life of the Christian believer, and fashions us into a building for for God to dwell in, – a holy temple of worship.

So, we are continually growing, becoming fruitful, blessing others, being built up, becoming more Christlike, as we are rooted and grounded in love, responding to the love of Christ for us, worked out in our love and compassion for others. The evidence of the reality of our Christian experience is love.

© Bob McEvoy