The Church has such an important role in today’s culture and in the age to come that the Son of God became a man to redeem it and be it’s head. The Church is and will forever be the means to which Jesus establishes the Kingdom of God. There is not one thing in the universe that God doesn’t fill through Jesus and soon, the Church (with Jesus as its head), will be His chosen mediator for His presence, power and governance.

Ephesians 1:15-23, “15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

PAUL’S PRAYER

  1. Faith & Love (v. 15)
  2. Giving Thanks in Prayer (v. 16)
  3. Praying for the Spirit of Wisdom & Revelation to Know God Better (v. 17)
  4. Praying to be Enlightened to Know God’s Hope (v. 18)
  5. Praying to be Enlightened to Know God’s Glorious Inheritance (v. 18)
  6. Praying to be Enlightened to Know God’s Power (vs. 19-20)
  7. Jesus, the Name Above Every Name (vs. 21)
  8. Jesus, the Head of the Church (v. 22)
  9. Jesus, the One Who Fills Everything in Every Way (v. 23)

GOD FILLING EVERYTHING IN EVERY WAY

PANENTHEISM: The belief that God pervades and interpenetrates every part of the universe and also extends beyond matter and spacetime.

Helpful Thoughts:

  1. As the rays of the sun are separate from the sun itself, yet they exist as emanations from the sun; so the universe and all that is in it is separate from God’s actual nature (essence), but are His very emanations (energies).
  2. By God’s energy does He sustain all that is in the universe- yet the universe is not all that He is (Colossians 1:17 & Hebrews 1:3).
  3. Our reality in matter and spacetime is a virtual world produced by God from His greater and more “real” spiritual reality; which is like us creating a computer-based virtual reality from our greater physical reality.

Helpful Thoughts:

  1. The glorified sons and daughter of God will be the power source God uses to make right everything in the universe (See Jesus calming the storm in Mark 4:39)
  2. Though the essence of God is separate from His energies in the universe, it is His essence that goes through the church to make His presence known in the universe.
  3. Romans 8:19-21, “19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.”
  4. The church will reign on thrones and will serve as God’s source of power and wisdom through Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29 & Revelation 20:4-6).

PRESENT DAY APPLICATIONS

  1. God is always with you, so let Him fill everything in your life in every way (Hebrews 13:5).
  2. Nothing can separate you from His love (Romans 8:39).
  3. Remember when you gather with two or more disciples, Jesus is there (Matthew 18:20).
  4. Keep the eyes of your heart open to God’s hope, inheritance and incomparably great power in your life (Ephesians 1:18-19).
  5. Believe with Jesus you can achieve great things to establish God’s Kingdom (2 Thessalonians 1:11).

Today, let God fill every part of you in every way so that in the age to come you may be used by Jesus to fill everything in every way!