By Rev Dr Edward Goh
Have you ever wondered how much God loves us? Paul repeatedly reminded us of the Father’s love for us in Ephesians. He said, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us . . . so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:4-7). God loves us “according to the riches of His glory” (Eph. 3:16). He did not hold back anything from us. He gave us His Son. He gave us the best. He gave us everything.
Paul tells us in Ephesians 1 that God the Father has blessed us, chosen us, predestined us, adopted us, redeemed us, forgiven us, lavished His love on us, made known to us the mystery of His will, prepared an inheritance for us, worked all things together for us according to His will, brought us His word, sealed us in the Holy Spirit, and guaranteed our inheritance. For this reason, Paul prayed that our hearts will be enlightened to know God’s power at work within us. It is as the Psalmist cried out in Psalm 139:17, “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!” God has so fixed his attention on us to bring about the good He has planned for us! Why did God do all these for us?
Paul explains in Ephesians again, “that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:20). The way the Father fills us with His fullness is to fill us with Christ’s fullness. “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all (Eph. 1:22-23).” The way He fills us with Christ’s fullness is to fill us with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18), so that in the end, when He sums up all things in Christ Jesus, God may be all in all (Eph. 1:10, 1 Cor. 15:28). This is God’s plan to fill us with His fullness—the fullness of the Son and the Holy Spirit—so that as Christ is so full of the Father, so will we be. This is our Christian hope. Shall we, instead of filling our hearts with the things of this world, fill them with the Father’s love, by setting them on the blessings of God’s salvation for us in Christ?