Immeasurably More

“For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—

“Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

“I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
--Ephesians 3


I have been looking for a new job since July. Some of the time has been tough to make ends meet. At one point, I was working seven days a week to get the work done at two different jobs. At another point, I was working at three different places.

It’s hard to work at multiple places. Sometimes I felt like my attention was divided and I didn’t know where to focus.

Taking the time to keep up with people was almost non-existent. One night I walked into church for a potluck and meeting and it seemed like it had been so long since I spent time with people that I didn’t even know what to do. I felt like my social skills had regressed. It wasn’t true. But I was out of touch.

The last two weeks I have had a lot of time with people. And now, I am beginning to remember what life is all about. Not that I don’t need to take care of the financial side of things; but I do need to remember that God sent His Son for people. Things are important. But people are more important.

Today I had lunch with someone who said that I need to trust that God will not only take care of the financial needs but that He will also go above and beyond. It reminded me of the last part of Ephesians 3. How great that God is able to do immeasurable more than I could ever ask or imagine.

The human race at some point offended God. We disobeyed Him first in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit. Prior to that point, humans had a perfect relationship with the Creator. As in any relationship, we have the ability to determine our own actions and in the instant our forefathers partook of the fruit, we violated the trust in the relationship.

There are relationships in my life in which people have violated my trust. It is a lot of hard work to mend the relationship and the relationship can never completely go back to its pre-violation state. Certainly my first reaction is not one that seeks to repair the damage. I’m usually angry. Sometimes I act on the anger and it’s not usually nice.

Prior to the “original” human sin (Adam & Eve eating the fruit), God warned that doing so would bring consequences. It did. Pain, death, shame, and a broken relationship with God came into being. And then God did something that is not necessarily intuitive for us… at least not for me. In the middle of meting out justice, He handed down grace. In the middle of handing out the sentence for disobedience, He promised a way to repair the broken relationship.

The descendents of a man named Jacob, who name was later changed to Israel, are the Jews. They are the people through whom God would later fulfill this promise. Throughout the Old Testament, those who were not of Jewish origin but who believed that God would keep His promise were welcomed.

As humans we often have a tendency to look for a structured process by which we can get from where we are to where we want to go. In work there are things one must learn and rules to follow in order to gain a promotion. It feels safe to know that I am in control of where I go in the process. At some point in time, the laws and structure that God handed down for the guidance, safety, and health of the folks in the Old Testament who believed, people began to substitute following rules for following God. Sight of the promised gracious way of restoration was lost in the day to day rules of living.

Then Jesus Christ, whose death on the cross and resurrection from the dead are the fulfillment of God’s promise, came on the scene. His arrival still invokes controversy of all sorts. People speculate that there must be more to who Jesus was than what He claimed. Why would God send His Son into the world to pay the penalty for the sin of all humanity? Because He promised. Because He loves the crazy, willful people He created. Because though He is just, He is also merciful. Because He wants to have the relationship with us that existed before sin entered the human race.

This promise was not just for the Jews, it was for all the rest of us (the Gentiles), too.

This grace, this fulfillment of His promise, is the “gospel” Paul references in Ephesians 3.

Despite the fact that I have willfully believed this grace is for me and that I have a restored relationship with God, I find it hard to grasp “how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ”; it is hard to fathom that someone would love me enough to give up His very life that the relationship I have with God can continue for all eternity. This certainly is “love that surpasses knowledge”.

God has showed Himself faithful to His promises through time. He has never failed to show himself faithful to me. Indeed He has provided more than I need. He has provided time to spend with people and the resources to do so. So I am grateful for the person who, possibly without realizing it, has reminded me that God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!”