I Am Complete in Christ and Deeply Rooted in God’s Love.

I hope you’ve been following along with our Identified Series. We are using the book of Ephesians to help us discover our identity in Christ. (Catch up here) Today we want to let some truths from Scripture sink down like roots that keep us strong in the Lord. When I’m rooted in God’s love, I am complete in Christ! I have every single thing I need to live victoriously! Deeply rooted in Christ, we are all SO strong!

I find myself, like Paul, longing that we could truly understand these truths. I fall to my knees and pray with him that they would sink deep into our hearts. Lord, let them change us forever!

Ephesians 3:14-21 

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. 
Now, all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more that we might ask or think. Glory to Him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Deeply Rooted in Christ, I am Strong!

How often do we live as if we are defeated? Do we live as if we’re powerless? How would the people who know us react when told we have the very power of God within us?

If we’re living in our true identity, then those reactions should be ones of, “Oooooh, yeah. That makes sense.” 

People should watch our lives in awe. Not of us, but of the work of God within us. 

Yet, so many of us fail to claim that power.  

I believe that’s because so many of us fail to truly trust Him with our problems. We fail to allow our roots to grow down deep into the love of God. (The only place from which we can be empowered with the strength of the Holy Spirit.) When I am deeply rooted in Christ, I am strong!

The Power of the Holy Spirit Living in You

Perhaps it is also because we fail to understand exactly what that power is capable of!

I want to feel like I am strong in the Lord. I’m sure we all do. But when we think of being empowered by the Holy Spirit, what comes to mind? Is it a crowd of people speaking gibberish that everyone somehow understands? Or maybe some old men sitting around writing out letters which will one day become the Bible?

Those things are really cool, but how do they bear significance within the trials we face today? Perhaps, we need a quick crash course on exactly how much strength we’ve received as a result of the indwelling Holy Spirit! (Or, check out this post to learn a lot more about the Holy Spirit of God.)

The Power of the Holy Spirit Scripture

Judges 14:6 – At that moment the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him, and he ripped the lion’s jaws apart with his bare hands. 

Matthew 1:18 – But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Acts 10:38 – And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. 

2 Timothy 1:14 – Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you. 

Acts 1:8 – But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about Me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 

Job 26:13 – His Spirit made the heavens beautiful, and His power pierced the gliding serpent. 

Romans 8:2 – And because you belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. 

Hebrews 9:14 – Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. 

Romans 8:11 – The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal bodies by the same Spirit living within you. 

The Power of the Holy Spirit means I Am Complete in Christ

The power of the Holy Spirit has been responsible for giving people super-human strength, endurance, and faith. It empowers us to overcome sin, and live in victory. It was through the power of the Holy Spirit that Mary, a VIRGIN, became pregnant with God Himself. Through that same power Jesus performed miracles, set captives free, healed the sick, and carried the message of God to the people of Israel. The Bible tells us it was the Holy Spirit’s power that made the world beautiful at creation! Jesus was able to endure the cross through the power of the Holy Spirit. But most importantly, it was by that same power that He was RAISED FROM THE DEAD!!!! 

I Am Strong in the Lord

My friends, this power we’ve been given is no small thing!  Our focus passage from Ephesians today says that we have been empowered with inner strength from His glorious and UNLIMITED resources! But let’s remember it is not our own strength that empowers us.

1 Corinthians 12:8-10 – Each time He said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. FOR WHEN I AM WEAK, THEN I AM STRONG!

So whatever we face, our identity in Christ includes the power to overcome it! Our role is simply to believe it, and submit ourselves to it. God does the rest!

Romans 15:13 – I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

2 Timothy 1:7 – For God has not given us a Spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 

I Am Deeply Loved by God 

I love the way our passage says all believers should understand the love of God, but then almost immediately admits it’s too great to understand fully. If we could even begin to grasp how deeply loved by God we are, I believe it would change everything about us. 

Psalm 86:15 – But You, oh Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. 

Zephaniah 3:17 – For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty Savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With His love, He will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs. 

John 3:16 – For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 

John 15:13 – There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friend. 

Romans 5:8 – But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 

Galatians 2:20 – My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 

Ephesians 2:4-5 – But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved.) 

Rooted in God’s Love

Romans 8:37-39 – No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that NOTHING can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow – not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below – indeed, NOTHING in all creation will EVER be able to separate us from THE LOVE OF GOD that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord! 

That’s it. That’s the love of God. He delights in us! Our God sings over us! He was not willing to be separated from us, and so He gave His everything to bring us back to Him. Our Lord died for us. He has given us a brand new identity and nothing. NOTHING. AT. ALL. Can ever separate us from that deep, wonderful, fierce, everlasting, all-encompassing love! 

If we can somehow allow that truth to sink deep down into the depths of our being, it will feed us. It will be as if we have roots that have reached down into and intertwined themselves with the love of God so that it becomes the very source of our growth. Like a tree with deep roots, we’ll be strong! Immovable. So that even the fiercest storms will not be able to shake us. We will be complete in Christ! 

I Am Complete in Christ 

To be complete is to need nothing, and the reality of our identity in Christ is that if we are living in it, we will need nothing else! Not the approval of man, not the strength “within ourselves.” No ritual, or program, or system will be able to offer us something more than what we have already been given, for in Christ we will have every single thing we need! 

I am complete in Christ! You are complete in Christ! Together as a church, we are complete in Christ!!!

If you enjoyed this post, check out the rest of the Identified Series as we work our way through the whole book of Ephesians to discover everything God has to teach us about who we are in Him.