I confess that I just skimmed over it the first time I read it. Unbelievable. A reminder of how easy it is for familiarity to lead to density . . . to the ability to encounter jaw-dropping truths with barely a first thought, much less a second thought. But as I went back and re-read it . . . and read it in a few different versions . . . and looked up a couple of words in the original . . . and skimmed over what a couple of commentators had to say about it . . . the awe-o-meter started to register . . . the needle started moving from left to right . . . as the denseness gave way to a measure of Spirit sourced clarity . . . as amazement started to set in . . . as wonder started to form . . .

” . . . that you may be filled with the fullness of God . . . (Ephesians 3:19b ESV)

It’s the last petition in Paul’s second prayer for the Ephesians. And it’s big . . . way big. Think about it . . . Paul asks the Father to strengthen the believers’ “inner being” with power through His Spirit . . . that He would do so according to the riches of His glory . . . that He would do so, so that, among other outcomes, believers would be filled with the fullness of God (3:14-19). What does it mean to be filled with the fullness of God? And whatever it means . . . how big is that? Even not getting what it fully means, I get that it is “over the top!”

And maybe that’s all I need to take in at this point. Instead of scratching my head and trying to figure out what exactly it means to be filled with the fullness of God, maybe I just need to know that, whatever it is, it will be His fullness. I’m guessing it’s not measurable . . . not something you can put on a scale and say, “Yup, your full!” I’m thinking it’s probably multi-dimensional in nature . . . a combination of attributes, wisdom, heaven-infused power, and other stuff. But, regardless, isn’t there enough to chew on just with the thought of God, in His grace, and by His power, granting such a petition that sinners-saved-by-grace would be jam-packed with the all that God sets forth to let dwell within them? I’m thinkin’ . . .

And you can ask the question, “Really? Filled with the fullness of God? Sounds impossible to me.” Yeah . . . it does . . . but Paul covers that . . .

“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV)

Ask it? And God’s able to do more than what we ask . . . way more! Think it? Not thinking big enough, God can do more abundantly than anything our brains can come up with. And it’s all according to the power at work within us . . . yes, within us . . . even to filling us with His fullness! (Awe-o-meter just hit 10!)

And, His fullness in me isn’t so much about me as it is about His glory. What He does in me, whatever filling with the fullness practically looks like, it is ultimately about the appreciation and praise and worship it produces within me. It’s about the “credit” God gets from those who witness His work in and through me. To God be the glory!

And so, rather than noodling on what it exactly means to be filled with the fullness of God this morning, I’m content to know that it’s His desire for me. And it causes me to renew my desire to have His will done in my life . . . and determine afresh to walk in a manner which, by His grace, allows His work to be accomplished in me so that His power might rest on me.

It’s kind of over the top . . . may it be so . . . for His glory . . . amen?