How Great Thou Art

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3 is nothing short of and nothing less than a desperate plea for the unimaginable, the unthinkable, the impossible. It is a cry for God to empower the believer with strength to meet EVERY challenge. It is a petition for God to engage the follower of Christ in an intimacy with Himself that fills EVERY longing and to provide a revelation of His love that is so deep that he is able to love EVERYONE, even those who have opposed or even hated Him. It is asking God to offer a limitless supply of His divine presence, glory, and power so that the seeker is filled with all the fullness of God. It is for all practical purposes, a prayer that would be impossible to answer.

But Paul clarifies his intention and nullifies the impossibility when he describes the divine recipient of this prayer as “Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” and as the One to whom belongs “all glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.” It is a prayer that points us squarely in the direction of a GREAT GOD!

He is great because He can do the impossible, produce the unimaginable, and cause the unthinkable to emerge. His greatness was displayed in the act of creation when He made something out of nothing. That greatness was further displayed as the seemingly impenetrable foes of God’s people were destroyed repeatedly. The waters of the Red Sea and the mighty walls of Jericho were no match for His greatness. His greatness found its fullest revelation in the manifestation of the never-before-known and unfathomable love of God which was declared by Himself becoming flesh, bearing our sin, submitting to the cruelty of Calvary’s cross, and thwarting the plan of the devil by bursting forth victorious from the tomb. He is great because He can do the impossible.

He is great because He channels that unthinkable power through frail and incompetent humanity. That’s why Paul said in his prayer of He who is able to “do exceedingly abundantly above all we think or ask” that He does this “according to the power that works in us.” That’s right. He does the impossible through us. It was 300 weak and cowardly men with only trumpets and pitchers that sent the vast Midianite army packing when HIS power worked through them. Five loaves and two fish fed 5,000 when a little boy let the Master work through him.
Three thousand people were saved when a rugged and often crude fisherman yielded to the power of the life-giving Spirit. He is great because His power works through us.

And, He is great, as Paul says, because His glory is housed and apparent in this thing we call the church. “To Him be glory in the church” is the prayer of the apostle. How amazing! A bunch of imperfect, off-key, grumpy, and often cantankerous church folk can get together and lift their voices, and HE SHOWS UP! A struggling preacher, with limited vocabulary and trembling hands, can open his mouth and read words of Scripture and the binding shackles of sin fall off and people’s hearts are set free. Untrained, but sincere believers, kneel beside a wounded and broken soul, share their pain, join in their tears, and the unexplainable peace of God that passes understanding fills that broken heart. This is the greatness of God and this is His glory manifest in the church.

Paul adds one last thing in his prayer. One last reminder. That greatness revealed in His power to do the impossible, use the incapable, and fill the unacceptable is not limited to some time in the past or some historically fixed point of days gone by. “His glory in the church, and in Christ Jesus to ALL GENERATIONS!” It hasn’t stopped. His greatness marches on. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He will keep demonstrating the impossible, keep using the incapable, and keep filling the unacceptable. We have a rich heritage but an even greater destiny because of the greatness of our God!

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.