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THAT YOU MAY KNOW...

Paul shifts to a prayer of thanksgiving for what God has done in pouring out blessings upon blessings in the Church, and Paul prays that all of those blessings will be fully realized in every single believer’s life. “That you may know…” are Paul’s words in verse 18. Follow Paul’s thought (another long sentence!) and identify the three blessings that he longs for them to know and understand (2 in verse 18 and 1 in verse 19).

In verses 22-23, Paul emphasizes Christ’s supremacy over everything, including the church. And he makes an interesting statement- that Christ fills all, but that the church is also His fullness. Christ is the head of the church. The Church is his body. Each individual son and daughter make up the larger whole. Altogether, we fill the whole world with His presence and His light. The Church reflects Christ’s work and His image to the world. In other letters, Paul calls the church the “ambassadors” of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). Jesus commissioned his followers in Matthew 28:18-20,

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

He fills us. We are His fullness, His body. And we fill the world with His presence.

Ask Yourself:

-What has Paul taught me about Christ in Ephesians 1?

-What am I learning about my identity and purpose?

Pause to Pray: Ask God to fill you with knowledge and understanding so “that you may know” who you are called to be and what you are called to do.

Take a Next Step: In his book, The Vertical Self, Mark Sayers describes the horizontal self as formed by looking outside and within yourself. The vertical self is formed by looking to God the Father, your Creator, and His thoughts about you. The vertical self is who you want to be! Return to your journal and reflect on your identity markers. Are you defining yourself by the horizontal or the vertical?