What do I manifest more--Christ in me shining forth to everyone?; or Me in me where I am full of myself in dimming the light of Christ?

Being full of Christ, as the fullness of Christ, I still need to be filled up with all the fulness of God

Ephesians 3:14-19

Pastor Kerry Kinchen, Bridgeway Bible Church

Please turn to Ephesians 3:14-19. We will be learning from Ephesians 3:14-19 this morning. Paul has been teaching us some wonderful truths in the first three chapters of Ephesians. As you turn to 3:14, I want to tell you about another teacher. He was the premiere Jewish Rabbi of Paul's day. Gamaliel used to give lectures on the Messiah that was promised to come in the ancient prophecy given by God to David. Gamaliel would also speak about the Messiah's coming as was foretold in the Book of Isaiah. Gamaliel had his presuppositions in place. He had all his detailed theories about what the Messiah would look like, what he would act like, and what he would do when he came to set up His kingdom. Then, one day Jesus came. People looked at Jesus, and people described Jesus, and when they compared Him to what Gamaliel was teaching, they said, this is not the same guy we are expecting. The great scripture was fulfilled in John 1:26, where John the baptist said to the Jews,

"26 ... "I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know." John 1:26

Later, when unsaved Paul, as Saul, was persecuting Christ, by persecuting the body of Christ, His church, Paul was blinded, and there appeared to him One whom he did not know. Then Paul received the revelation of the great mystery, where God expressed His plan that He has elected people to be made into the one new man of the body of Christ. Those people are you, me, and all Christians everywhere. It is the body of Christ, and it is here. But, for many people, though the body of Christ is here, and it is real, and it is God's central focus in His redemptive plan, it stands in this world as that which many do not know. Paul comes into our passage with this type of thought in mind, saying, as we read, starting in verse 14,

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the set apart ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:14-19

This morning we are going to look at something, in on our midst, from the vantage point of where we are. We are in that very thing in our midst which many do not know. We are there in the body of Christ, and so we are going to look at an aspect that has to do with this fact that is laid out before us here by Paul. Please prepare your hearts this morning for the sacred preaching of God's word in this sermon titled,

Being full of Christ, as the fullness of Christ, I still need to be filled up with all the fulness of God [pray]

There are three things that Paul makes very clear that he is thankful for in the first three chapters of his Ephesian letter. Paul states them succinctly in chapter 3, starting around verse 7.

/1/
First of all, Paul is exceedingly thankful that he was made a servant of God. Paul says that this was according to the gift of God's grace. What Paul says in verse 6, is that God made Him a servant to preach in a special respect.

/2/
This leads to the second thing that Paul is thankful for. The special respect was for Paul to be a minister of the special message that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Messiah Jesus through the gospel. This is the core of the ancient hidden mystery that God revealed to Paul.

/3/
This leads to the third thing that Paul is thankful for, and that is what he says in 3:13; namely that He is counted worthy to suffer for Christ as Christ's servant. Paul is thankful for this because He knows, that in His suffering, Christ is glorified, and the church is glorified. All these things are the things that Paul says coming into 3:14-19, where Paul says,

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father," Ephesians 3:14

Immediately we wonder about what Paul is doing? Again, Paul says, for this reason I bow my knees before the Father. Certainly we know that whatever Paul is doing, it is because of those immediate reasons that he just mentioned; of being thankful for being manufactured by God into a servant, and then secondly, to be a minister, preacher, and apostle to the Gentiles of the mystery of the gospel of Christ, and, then finally, to suffer for these things--but what about what Paul says he is doing? Paul says for this reason, he bows his knees before the Father. Is Paul making a statement about bowing down his knees in reverence, like so many people did in that time and culture before kings, and masters, and even like so many in the scriptures did when confronted with the glory of God? Is Paul in awe and humble reverence, and so he wants to get the point across that he drops to his knees like a gracious tool of a man who realizes his smallness before the grace giving God? Is Paul dropping down low in honor of God who gave Paul, a previous Christian killer, His grace in rescuing Paul from his course he was taking according to his nature, which was a nature that was previously bound to sin, and in that past hideous state, was once dropped low in honor of sin? Isn't dropping down low, in honor, what Paul did that glorious day that the risen Lord blinded Paul on the Damascus Road? Paul bowed down all right--he fell to the ground, and called Christ, "Lord," which means Master. Why would it be surprising for us to find out that this is exactly what Paul means that he does here in this passage? Actually, this is exactly what Paul is doing, and he does it as He talks to the Father. The question we need to ask ourselves is whether this type of approach to the creator of the universe is what we are operating in when talking about Him, or considering our own salvation and service, or approaching Him in prayer to talk to Him. I'm talking about the awe and reverence given to the only one in the universe who truly deserves it. We Americans are, culturally, not used to seeing someone who humbles themselves before men in great respect like Paul is doing before God. If the president of the United States visited us this morning, most of of us would walk up to him and shake his hand. You might even be inclined to give him a big hug. Hugging is the practice of many of us here in Bridgeway when we greet someone who visits our fellowship. Of course, as soon as you hug the president, about four body guards are going to hug you too--and they are all going to do it at the same time. You know, I was completely stunned when I first arrived in Northern India to do missionary work. I remember getting to a remote area, and as I was approaching a man's hut, he was introduced to me by my missionary friend who spoke the native dialect. The man we approached, ran up to me and bowed down to my feet. He was on his knees; head to the ground, and touching my feet with his hands--palms together. I don't know if you have ever had anything like that happen to you, but it is extremely disarming if you are not ready for it. I bent down and grabbed the man and raised him up. I felt unworthy. I felt like I was getting the kind of attention that I do not deserve. This happened to me, at least a half dozen times, throughout various regions of India. But Paul says,

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,"

When Dietrich Bonhoeffer spoke of cheap grace, he was primarily speaking of the fact that God's grace is given freely, but God's grace is not free. The grace of Christ in election in the New Covenant was not cheap. It was not cheap in that it cost the life of Christ in a torturous execution. It was an execution that was also a sacrifice. It was a sacrifice that was also a payment price. The price was expensive. The grace of God was not cheap. If I understand Bonhoeffer correctly, he took this to exhorting us to not consider the grace of God cheaply--meaning that since grace is not cheap, let us not cheapen it, by taking it for granted. Let's not stand up so tall and straight before it, that we cast our own familiar, spoiled, selfish shadow over it. For, this reason, let us bow the knee of our soul before the Father each and every day.

I certainly realize that it is a great privilege to be able to say, "I am saved." It is a great privilege to be known by the God of the universe, and have an endearing, and enduring relationship with Him as our Father. It is from Him, that every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. But, people say that familiarity breeds contempt. What they mean is that we can become so familiar with someone, that we take them for granted. We don't respect them anymore. This reminds me of something that I read a while back where a famous contemporary music artist was commenting on the fact that he always seemed to be with a different fashion model, as his, so called, latest girl friend. Interestingly enough, he had relationships with women that the media touted as the most beautiful women in the world. When asked about this, he made a candid comment that really sums up this certain natural inclination of the human mind in bondage to this temporal world. He said that whenever he is with the so-called most beautiful woman in the world, there always seems to be someone else who is more beautiful. Familiarity breeds contempt. It happens with Jobs. Unfortunately, it happens with marriages. Unfortunately, it happens with church fellowship relationships. With God, though, the more, and more familiar we become with Him, we should become more, and more blown away; we should become more, and more humbled, and awe struck, by just how sovereign, and pure, and huge, and intelligent He is. Familiarity with God, should not breed contempt, but rather, familiarity with God should breed contemplation, contriteness, and concern, for ourselves for ever taking God for granted. What I am getting at, is that we need to get that sense of reverence before God where we bow our knees before Him every single day in both the way we think in this world, and in the things we do in this world. Your prayer life should be that way. When you approach God in conversation, you are approaching someone who completely deserves that pronated position of complete reverence, and gratefulness. This, by the way, is what Paul is doing, and so Paul says he bows down low, in reverence before the God Who cares enough to use Paul as a tool in His mighty hands; and Paul identifies God in accordance with the context of what all he has been saying. Notice how Paul describes our God who he bows before. Paul says He is the Father,

"15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,"

There are many different interpretations of what Paul means in this verse. Some, say that this is a declaration of the type of thing that Paul declared in the Aereopagus when he said that God made from one blood every nation of man, and so all people are God's offspring. The sense is that God is the Father of all, because God has made all. Though plausible, I disagree with this type of application to what Paul says here in this Ephesians context. Another interpretation is that God, in His sovereign providential hand, has named every family in heaven and on earth. I was reading one commentator, of whom I respect, who said that this even included the various angels. Interesting interpretations, but I disagree. I'll tell you why I disagree. You see, we must recognize that contextually, all through this letter, Paul, the Hebrew out of Hebrews; the Benjamite; the man who was once a Pharisee among Pharisees--Paul an Israelite, has been preaching the revelation of the mystery of the unfathomable riches of His Messiah-king to the Gentiles, and folks, it is blowing Paul away. Paul can not get over it. He gets so overwhelmed by His all consuming passion for this amazing thing that has happened, that he drops to his knees before God, "the Father." Paul is not saying that God is the Father of everyone everywhere. Paul is speaking in respect to his whole point that he has been making. Remember, Paul starts out the epistle saying,

"2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 1:2

When Paul says our Father, he is talking about the Father of Christians. Paul is not talking about God being the Father of non-Christians in the uniquely endearing and enduring relationship of salvation. Paul goes on, and says,

"5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His determination," Ephesians 1:5

As Christians, God is our Father; we are His sons. Paul says that back in the days when you were unsaved you were by nature, children of wrath, according to 2:3. Later Paul says, you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, so you need to walk as children of light, Ephesians 5:8. You are not children of wrath. You are children of light. Finally, Paul says plainly in 5:1, to be imitators of your Father God, as His beloved children. So, we see that the amazing fact that Paul is overwhelmed with, is that all this gospel is the brand-new revelation of that generation. Paul knows, and his audience knows, that Messiah originally said that he came to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He came to those genetic descendants of Abraham, through Isaac, and through Jacob. It was their national heritage. They said,

"We have Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as our fathers. We derive our name through them."

But, the good news, "the gospel," is the mystery that both Jews and Gentiles are brought together in Christ; into the one new man, Eph. 2:15 of the body of Christ, where there is neither Jew or Gentile, Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11. Now, listen, when you go through the first three chapters of Ephesians, and you recognize that Paul has the Gentile Asian Christians in mind, and you recognize that Paul has been going on and on about what a great privilege it is to be saved, and that all of a sudden, in history, God has sent His Son, who is Messiah, and the mystery plan was that His Son was to be rejected and crucified by the lost sheep of the house of Israel, then resurrected, and seated at the right hand of the Father, where now, people whom God has elected since before the foundation of the world are seated there to; in Christ, then you realize a big wow. The big wow is that Jews are not the big picture anymore. You, who were once not a people, are now a people of God. You are now part of the big picture yourself. You are the showcase of God's redemptive plan of His grace on you.

To be a Gentile, means your ancient forefathers could have been anyone coming from the ancient past outside of Israel. You realize that you did not derive your family name from the forefather's of promise, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel). But now, you have been adopted according to God's predestination. You are adopted in the Son, just as any remnant Jew must be adopted in the Son, and so now you are part of the family of God. In fact, you, as all Gentiles who were out of covenant with God for thousands of years--should be exuberantly glad that you are a part of the family of God; you've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His blood. You are joint heirs with Jesus as you travel this sod, because you are part of, and privileged to be, the very family of your Father God. You are the "fullness" of Messiah, as the body of Messiah, Ephesians 1:23. Okay, now stay with me, because what this means is that Christ is in you as your hope of glory, Colossians 1:27, meaning, that you derive your name from the Father through His Son. This is your positional identification, and for the most part, this lost dying world looks at us, and does not realize, like John pointed out concerning our Head, that among them stands One whom they do not know.

So, Paul says these things about the mystery, and he wants to go on to more. Paul wants to go on to the practical, doing aspect. Paul goes on to the understanding, and manifestation of Christ that comes from your position in Christ. Listen to what Paul prays to the Father from whom every family, whether Gentile Christians, or Israelite Christians, in heaven and on earth, derives its name. Paul prays the power prayer,

"16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the set apart ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:16-19

To understand what Paul is praying for, we must understand that he is not talking about a Pentecostal, or Charismatic experience. Certainly, the whole request seems rather mystical. Things like,

"to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,"

and

"so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;"

and

"that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.";

they all seem like ultra spiritual--almost mystical type expressions. This passage is really much more down to earth, and simple to grasp, when we recognize certain things about it. First of all, those Asians Christians, that Paul is making his prayer request for here, are already saved. They already have Christ in them as their hope of glory. If they do not, then they are not saved, as Paul states so plainly in 2 Corinthians,

"5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?" 2 Corinthians 13:5

So, when it comes to the positional-identification aspect of the believer, Christ already dwells in all Christian's hearts. When it comes to the indwelling Spirit aspect of the believer, the Holy Spirit has already been given to saved people as a seal, Ephesians 1:13. If you don't have the indwelling Spirit, then He is outside of you, which means that Christ is outside of you, which means, among you stands One whom you do not know. In other words, there is an indwelling of Christ, which is paramount to New Covenant salvation in Him, but there is also another sense. The other sense is the dwelling of Christ that has to do with comprehensive theological knowledge of Him, and of His personhood being manifested out of your life from His place of central residence in you as a maturing Christian. This particular dwelling of Christ, that Paul is talking about, refers to the practical understanding, and manifestation, of the Christlike life. Additionally, we must understand that when Paul prays that they would be strengthened by power through the Father's Spirit in the inner man, so that Messiah may dwell in their hearts through faith; and they be rooted and grounded in love, that there are six terms of vital importance that we must properly interpret for getting to Paul's essential point.

{1 and 2}
The first term is the "inner man" that Paul wants the Father to grant strength with power. The second is "the heart" so that Christ may dwell there through faith. Scripturally, the inner man, and the heart are synonymous, so Paul is talking about the same thing when he mentions both. There is a spiritual aspect to your "inner man," which is your "heart," but there is also an intellectual aspect to your inner man, heart. Paul is concerned with both the spiritual and the intellectual, but Paul already assumes that the spiritual aspect of the inner man, heart, of the Asian Christians in this context, is regenerated in Christ. So, Paul is speaking, here, of things he is praying for that have to do with the intellectual aspect of the inner man, heart. Notice that Paul wants comprehension, and to know. He says;

"16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the set apart ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:16-19

So, the first two terms are inner man, and heart.

{3 and 4}
The next two terms are "dwell", and "love. To get at what Paul means by this, we must go to the parallel epistle, which is the one that Paul sent out with this one while in prison. That parallel epistle is the one Paul sent to the area of Colosae. The passage is Colossians 3:12-17. As I read it, I want you to notice the heart connection, and the love connection language. By noticing the heart connection, and the love connection language, you will see how this same urging to the Colossians is along the same lines of the fullness that Paul prays for the Asian Christians in Ephesians. Paul says,

"12 So, as those who have been elect of God, set apart ones, and loved ones," Colossians 3

Notice that Paul specifically points out that they are loved ones here. "Beloved," means loved ones. They are beloved of God, and are experiencing the love of Christ, and so with that, Paul goes on to make the point that they need to,

"put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone;" Colossians 3

All of these things that Paul is saying are manifestations of love. But, what Paul says next is really important, because it has to do with what Paul means in Ephesians about wanting Christ to dwell in the Asian Christian's hearts. Paul goes on here in Colossians, in the next half of verse 13, saying,

"just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity." Colossians 3

Paul defers to the Lord as the example. Paul is talking about the theology of the love of Christ. Whenever you put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, then, in your theological practice of your position in Christ, Christ is dwelling in you in this respect--being made manifest to everyone in this respect, where among them stands one whom they, who are unsaved, may not know in salvation, but they certainly know in the experience of your witness. Your inner man is clothed with these shining things, which are the the things of the Spirit that is already in you. Putting on, means the clothing of your inner man gets shown to the world.

Now notice that Paul says that beyond all these things that manifest the forgiveness, compassion, kindness, humility in respect to one another, to put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Again, this is where you put on, like clothes, what you already have in you, in Christ. It is where our inner man is expressed outwardly. We are clothed with the great law of Christ, which is love for The Father in obedience of faith, and love for others. The point is that just as you can know what love is as your theology, (though it surpasses knowledge, as Paul says, in that it is so huge) you can, and must, put on manifestations of love. What Paul means is that putting on love itself, as the great Christian creed, is the overarching clothing that covers the inner man. When you put on love, you put on the perfect bond--the perfect glue--of Christian unity, and so, in this respect, Christ is dwelling in you. Everyone can see Him there in you, through your windows (so to speak)--filling you, and reflecting His inner life to the world. It is in your believing. It is in your teaching, and it is in your actions. Further, when it is according to the power of the Holy Spirit, it is God's power that is indwelling you, and not your own.

Continuing and finishing our side step in Colossians, we also read about the heart. (We remember that term in Ephesians--"the heart"). Over in Colossians, we also read about that word, "dwell" again. Paul is making a similar kind of point, so listen to both usages of those terms, "the heart," and "dwell" in this parallel passage as Paul goes on,

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." Colossians 3:12-17

To have the peace of God rule in your heart is to have it dwell there as the governor. To have the word of Christ richly dwell within you, is to have the word of Christ become effectually manifest in you, and out of you, in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing. Additionally, doing all in the name of the Lord Jesus is exactly the point of what it means to have Christ dwell in your hearts. These are great examples of the usage of love, heart, and dwell in Colossians that help us to get a little better picture of what Paul is talking about in Ephesians.

I want us to look at another instance where Paul uses the term "dwell. Paul realized something about himself. Paul realized that he was getting such amazing revelations from God, that there was a danger that he would not only be dropping to His knees before the Father because of his calling, and because of all the things the Father showed him, but, that he would also focus upon himself in pride, because the Father had elected him, and had blessed him, with all these things. The Father realized this too, so He humbled Paul. God did not want the power of Paul to be dwelling in Paul, and to be manifest out of Paul's inner man, heart. God wanted the power of Christ to be manifest, as we read Paul saying in 2 Corinthians,

"And He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness' Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." 2 Corinthians 12:9

God had to weaken Paul, so that the power of Christ would dwell in Paul, so that Christ is the only source to recognize as the One Who chose Paul, enabled Paul, and used Paul as a tool in the Father's hand. The result is that when Paul ministered among people, he stood among them as one whom they knew as Paul the man, but the power in ministry that Paul manifested was according to the One that Paul was making known. Folks, this is what it means to be strengthened with the Father's power in the inner man, Ephesians 3:14, so that Christ in all of His doctrinal fullness would dwell in your hearts through faith, verse 17, where you completely see yourself as having Christ in you as your hope of glory, Colossians 1:27 and that you, (who already have your roots in love), and are already planted (grounded) in love, will be totally consumed with God's love that He graciously bestowed upon you in rescuing you from lostness.

{5 and 6}
This leads us to the last two terms. The last terms are comprehend, and know. You see, Paul's prayer has to do with realization, because Paul knows that through the power of God, what we know through revelation concerning the deep doctrinal riches of Christ, and the theology of God's love toward His elect, is what we do in our daily practice with our deep riches in Christ, and God's love. Your theology will drive your actions, but you must know what your theology is first, before you even get into the car. Paul prays that there would be comprehension of the vast deeps, heights, and lengths of the love of Christ that you are rooted and grounded in, that, amazingly enough, even surpasses knowledge in love's infiniteness. Paul is saying that we should know the love of Christ, which means that Christ's love is knowable, and yet we can only know the infinite greatness of Christ's love as we would know a river with no bottom, and no end. It is full beyond measure, and it is constantly flowing. In this sense, then, what we should know about the love of Christ, as Paul says, is that the love is so huge that it surpasses even what we do know about it. The point is that you are already rooted and grounded in love, now you must comprehend just how big it is, which is immeasurable. There is a reason for all of this, and that is so,

"19... that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God."

Again, Paul is speaking of the same sense that he has been speaking of all along. Paul is not saying that he is praying that every Christian be filled up with God, like for example How Jesus' body was filled up with God; explained as Christ as God manifested in the flesh, where Paul says of Him,

"For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form," Colossians 2:9

Paul is saying something different concerning us. What Paul is saying is that he prays that the Christians will be filled up even more than they already are, to all the fullness of God, in respect to spiritual, and doctrinal maturity. There is no more priesthood of the Old Covenant. There is no more keeping of the Mosaic Law, and no more special reference to endless genaoligies of men descended down from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The church, in all her glory, is reflecting Christ's glory, and so now you, the church, are the ones who are the representatives of God's plan. You are the ambassadors of Christ. You and I, then, do this best when we are filled to all the fullness of God in respect to doctrine, and practice, based upon what you already are. So, what this means for you practically, is that in being full of Christ, as the fullness of Christ, you still need to be filled up with all the fulness of God as you go about your daily life that wakes up as soon as the alarm clock goes off in the morning. Let me ask you a question;

Being rooted and grounded in love, and to know the love that surpasses knowledge, are you being loving?

This is the big one. To be loving like God, is to be self sacrificing like God. It is not an easy task to be loving to the fullness. It means you are going to have to be committed to the body of Christ beyond your own personal feelings. Whenever a brother or sister offends you, then you need to put aside yourself, and put on someone else that is greater than you are. You are going to have to say,

I am committed to that person like God is committed to that person.

I will not leave that person like God never leaves me nor forsakes me.

This is what it means to be more full of God than being full of yourself. I can not begin to tell you how many Christians I know who hold grudges with other Christians that they think they have properly dealt with by breaking fellowship. Next time you run into someone like that and they start in on giving you their personal preference reasons for breaking fellowship, or they're personal offense reasons for breaking fellowship, where they tell you they just got tired of it, ask them,

A) Do you love that person the way Christ does?

B) Do you love that person the way Christ does by the way you are acting right now?

In other words, we are Christians and we know Christ, so we should stand among one another as if we know Christ in one another. You see, God wants you to love the body of Christ, as the body of Christ, in the body of Christ, in the same way as the fulness of Christ. Way too many Christians refuse to show the fullness of the love of God, which means they have not dealt with the real underlying issue. They always want to blame the other person. They have all their so called facts together. But, the problem is really their own self. They are more of the fullness of carnal worldly made up doctrines of what they justify their actions by, than being full of the real uncomfortable doctrine that requires self sacrifice.

I urge you to bow low before your Father. Seek His power through His Spirit in your inner man. Believe that Christ is in you, and believe that He empowers you in dwelling in your heart to love, and express the very fullness of God. You can do it. God wants you to do it. Believe in Him, and through faith you will manifest Christ, in you, out to everyone else, as one who ministers among people whom they know as the person you are, with all your faults, and all your human qualities. In doing so, the power in ministry that you manifest will be according to the One that you are making known.