“And now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all we can ask or even imagine according to the power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus now and forevermore.” Ephesians 3:20-21.
Whenever I give a benediction in a church service or wedding, I always use this verse because I think it poses an inspiring question: what would it look like if God were to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all we could ask or even imagine?
That is the question the Apostle Paul asks in the book of Ephesians. This summer we will be preaching from Ephesians, and asking the question: what would it look like if God were to do “beyond all we could imagine” in our personal lives, in our relationships with others, in our church, in our marriages, families, in our world?
Ephesus was one of the most influential cities at the time of Jesus and Paul. It was located on a major trade route, was the premier city in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey), and boasted the famous temple of the goddess, Artemis (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world). When Paul first preached the good news of Jesus there he started a riot because the silver makers who made their living selling silver figurines of Artemis felt economically threatened by a God who did not demand anything, but instead offered the free gift of eternal life.
Ephesians is unique in that in it Paul does not need to address some major doctrinal or behavioral error on the part of his readers. Rather, he invites them to dream. Affluent, self-sufficient, well educated, and feeling no need for God in their lives, many Ephesians nonetheless flocked to Jesus who not only forgives their sins, but offered them a life that was “exceedingly abundantly” beyond what they could imagine. In a culture where marriage meant little more than indentured servitude for women, Paul said Jesus calls men and women to mutually love and respect one another and to seek each other’s best. In a culture where gaining money and possessions was considered the highest good, Paul said that Jesus connects us to the God of the universe in intimate ways, and that through him we can experience “how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ…and be filled to the measure of all fullness of God” (3:18-19). What would it be like to be filled to the measure of all fullness of God? Surely that would be better than anything you could buy. In a culture where Jews and Gentiles hated each other, Paul said Jesus had “torn down the dividing wall of hostility” (2:14) and so now joyful relationship with one another is possible. In a culture that was fatalistic and accepted hardship as punishment or somehow fated to be, Paul said Jesus gives us spiritual power to overcome evil and prevail over our circumstances. Hard times may come, but Jesus gives us the power to have joy in spite of them.
In short, in the book of Ephesians Paul tells us that Jesus offers more than our culture ever can. There’s more joy, more adventure, more power, there’s just plain more than “we could ask or ever imagine.” Ephesians dares us to dream of a life so abundant that it goes beyond what we could dream up on our own – a life filled with the fullness of God; a life of more than enough with plenty leftover. And what makes that life possible, Paul makes clear, is one thing and one thing only: Jesus.
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