17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
These verses are a continuation of the prayer started in verse 16, above. (If I had been smarter, I would have made the verses 14-19 as one discussion paragraph... Oh, well.)
Vs. 17-“so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,”
“So that...” - As a result of the strengthening of the inner man (verses 15-16, above)...
“Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” - The word “dwell” is a key word. It means to house permanently. Christ is not to be in your life as a transient, or a tenant (say: perhaps room in an apartment complex of the heart). He makes a permanent home there, takes root. (See: John 14:23; Rom 8:9ff)
“And that you” - Also a result of the strengthening of the inner man. You are not a spectator, taking part vicariously. I have gone to many Oregon State football games. Never once did I jump into the game, make a tackle, catch a pass, run for a touchdown. I was at the game, but not in it. As believers in Jesus Christ our Lord, we are to get in shape, work out, be prepared to enter the 'game'. Get stronger in the faith to be able to tell others how much the Lord has blessed you.
“Being rooted and grounded in love” - See notes on Col 2:7. (See Bible Study Notes, Nov. 2017) We understand “rooted” is to sink down roots into the soil, (thereby taking nourishment and water from the earth), that is in God’s love.
And “grounded” has the idea of laying a foundation, settling in. I get the idea of forming a permanent place, becoming comfortable there. And from that foundation of faith, venturing out into the world, sharing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
With this prayer, Paul wants us to have Christ in our hearts, and become comfortable in, and drawing nourishment from, God’s love for the purpose of: (See verses 18, 19 below).
Vs. 18 - “may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,”
That along with all the other believers we might begin to realize (comprehend) just how big Christ’s love is: It is more than three-dimensional, but let's start there.
breadth - How wide it is; from the northern border to the southern. Oh, wait, God's love has no borders.
length - As far as you can possibly imagine... There is no end, God's love goes on forever.
height - Farther up than you can conceive. I just saw an image of a nebula about 2500 light-years away. It is called the 'Christmas Tree Nebula' - because the light passing through the gases in the universe fluoresce a green color, roughly in the shape of a Christmas tree. Truly astounding: light from stars about 15 pentillion miles from earth (i.e., 15,000,000,000,000,000 miles - that's a number bigger than our national deficit.) God's love is beyond that!
depth - The deepest part of the ocean is thousands of feet down. The pressure at that depth is so great almost no life exists there. We cannot plumb the depths of God's love - the ocean's depth is merely mud puddle depth compared to God's love. There is no 'bottom' where we get beyond or below God's love.
Vs. 19 - “and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.”
That we might personally experience Christ’s love (i.e., to “know” it). As mentioned in other notes, 'knowing' involves more than collecting information. It means spending time with the Lord in reading scripture, pondering on what you've read, and putting that into action and seeing the results in your life and in other's also. You see what the love of Christ can do and follow that path wherever it leads. Seeing Christ work in your life strengthens your commitment to Him
“Which surpasses knowledge” - Literally meaning knowledge or science. Christ’s love is so great it cannot be measured, calculated, or determined by logic. Yet we can begin to see how much He loves us by experiencing day-to-day the wondrous working in our lives. As we are nourished in Christ we begin to perceive His love.
"That you may be filled up... God” - What can this mean but that as we continue to have Christ dwell in us; as we become settled and draw life from Christ’s love that He begins to fully control every facet and area of our lives. - He fills us.
If Christ completely fills us, then the fullness of God fills us. (See: Eph 1:23; Col 2:9)
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