Paul prays the following prayer for the Ephesian church:
“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:14-19).
His final statement “that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” captures my attention. Paul links this to knowing the love the God. Yet, what else do we know fills us with the fullness of God? None other than the Holy Spirit baptism! Being baptised in His Spirit saturates us with God. It results in all of us being baptised (dipped, immersed, plunged) into all of Him. All of us goes into all of God and all of God goes into all of us. The Holy Spirit baptism results in us being filled with His fullness. My book Spirit of Fire delves into this promise in depth. Yet, in the passage quoted above, Paul does not refer to us being filled with His fullness as a result of this baptism. Rather, He refers to us being filled with His fullness as a result of knowing His love. What does this all mean? Let us consider another Scripture and then I will explain.
“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5).
His love has been poured out in our hearts. This is a stunning statement. Who is responsible for this outpouring? The Holy Spirit! Dear friend, I am eager to share with you a marvellous truth. When we are filled with the Spirit, we are filled with His love. Yes, being filled with the Spirit results in us being filled with His power (“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,” Jesus said in Acts 1:8). But, being filled with the Spirit also results in us being filled with His love: both His love towards us and His love towards others. How thrilling! This love makes it possible for us to love Him and others in return. “We love Him because He first loved us” we read in 1 John 4:19 and then in verse 11 of that same chapter: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” Walk in this love just as you walk in His power.
When Jesus walked the earth, He walked in both love and power. The power of God and the love of God perfectly mirrored each other in the person of Christ. He was love personified and power personified – simultaneously. If we are to be as He is in this world (1 John 4:17) then we must walk in the same manner. And, His Spirit enables us to do just that! Today, be assured. If you have been filled with His Spirit, both His power and love bubble and brim over within you with equal force and enthusiasm. Go for it, in His name!