Indwelling of Christ
The sermon emphasizes the gift of God's unmerited love, the indwelling Christ, and the power of faith to experience a deeper understanding of love and be filled with God.
F.B. Meyer emphasizes the profound truth of the indwelling of Christ, explaining that through God's mercy and grace, believers are spiritually raised with Christ and seated in heavenly places. He highlights that this union with Christ empowers us to live out the good works prepared for us, as we are created by God. Meyer stresses the importance of faith in allowing Christ to dwell in our hearts, which leads to a deeper understanding of His love and fullness. He concludes with the assurance that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond our expectations, bringing glory to Himself through the church and Christ.
Text
God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:4-7).
"In the purpose of God we have been raised from the grave of sin and are seated with the risen Lord in the place of acceptance and victory," writes, F. B. Meyer.
We are one with Christ when He lay in the grave and arose. In God's thought we have already taken our seat with the glorified Christ upon the throne; only the pity is that we do not believe this or act as if we had done so. All this is the gift of God's unmerited love. By grace are we maintained in it. We are of God's "making"; such is the Greek word for workmanship, v. 10. We have been created for good works; they have been planned for us and we have only to walk in them. . . .
The kernel of [Paul's] prayer is in the clause that Christ may make His home in the believer's heart through faith. The previous petitions lead up to this. . . . the penetration of our inmost being with the strength of the Holy Spirit. And then note the outcome: The indwelling Christ means that we shall be rooted and grounded in love. When this is the case we shall understand His love; and when we experience and know Christ's love, we shall be as completely filled in our little measure as God is in His great measure.
. . . Faith opens the door to the Spirit; the Spirit reveals Christ; Christ fills the heart; the heart begins to understand love; and love is the medium through which we become infilled with God, for God is love. It is staggering to ask all this; but the God who works in us with such power is able to do more than we ask, more than we think--abundantly more, exceedingly abundantly more (Through the Bible Day by Day, Vol. VI, p. 180, 182-3).
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen (3:20-21).
Sermon Outline
- I. The Gift of God's Unmerited Love
- A. Raised from the grave of sin and seated with the risen Lord
- B. The gift of God's love is maintained by grace
- C. We are God's workmanship, created for good works
- II. The Indwelling Christ
- A. The penetration of our inmost being with the strength of the Holy Spirit
- B. The outcome of the indwelling Christ: rooted and grounded in love
- III. The Power of Faith
- A. Faith opens the door to the Spirit
- B. The Spirit reveals Christ, and Christ fills the heart
- C. The heart begins to understand love
Key Quotes
“In the purpose of God we have been raised from the grave of sin and are seated with the risen Lord in the place of acceptance and victory.” — F.B. Meyer
“Faith opens the door to the Spirit; the Spirit reveals Christ; Christ fills the heart; the heart begins to understand love; and love is the medium through which we become infilled with God, for God is love.” — F.B. Meyer
“It is staggering to ask all this; but the God who works in us with such power is able to do more than we ask, more than we think--abundantly more, exceedingly abundantly more.” — F.B. Meyer
Application Points
- We must believe and act as if we have already taken our seat with the glorified Christ upon the throne.
- We have been created for good works, and we must walk in them.
- Faith is the key to experiencing the indwelling Christ and being rooted and grounded in love.