Ephesians 3:16-17
16that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
Just how rich is God’s glory? How can we comprehend limitless riches and glory? Even with all his wealth, Bill Gates cannot but the world, let alone the universe.
Scene one: A man, let’s call him Joe, comes before the king. He owes the king billions of dollars, so the king sends him and his family to prison. Now the king will never recover his debt from this person, but justice demands imprisonment. The man pleads and the king relents.
Scene two: Joe runs into someone, let’s call him Stan, who owes him $50, and has him thrown in jail until the debt is paid. Perhaps Joe feels that Stan is a part of the reason he almost went to jail. Rather than be overcome by goodness that he (Joe) has been set free, he is overcome by anger.
Scene three: Friends of Stan report Joe’s actions to the king. The king is angry because his mercy was not shared by Joe. Back Joe goes to prison, and I would not be surprised if the king did not give Stan the $50 to get out.
To be strengthened in our inner being means to see not only the depth of the riches of the king, but also the depth of our debt and his mercy to us. Faith means not just receiving God’s grace, but living in it, sharing it.
How did Joe get into that mess in the first place? I don’t know. Or do I?
1 comment:
Love the imagery of our inner man being strong. I sometimes think that the point of our regenerated life is to feed and exercise our inner man so that it is stronger than our outer man and able to subdue it.
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