Ephesians 3:19
“And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”
We often hear about the importance being filled with the Spirit of God, but rarely, if ever, do we hear about the importance of being filled with the “fullness of God.” If a Christian is filled with God, they would be totally influenced by God-like qualities. The word “fullness” means to be so filled that there is no place vacant.
In other words, if a person is filled with God, there would be no place for personal agendas, worldly influences or sinful habits to inhabit them. In reality, the answer to living a successful Christian life is to be filled with God. If it is this important, how do we get filled with God? Ephesians 3:14-19 shows us four controlling attributes needed to be filled with God.
First, you must surrender yourself to God. Verse 14 says, “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” In everything you do, you must surrender your will to God’s. You will never be filled with God as long as you continue to live by your agenda. A total surrender to God and His will and desires in your life is a must to be filled with God. You will never be filled with God until you say to God, “I am willing to do and be whatever you want me to do and be.” Every Christian must be this surrendered to God. You must be willing to lay down your life, dreams and ambitions so that God can fill you with His will. This is only the first step in being filled with God.
Second, you must be influenced by the Spirit of God. Verse 16 says, “…to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man…” Once you surrender yourself to God, you must yield yourself to His Holy Spirit. Christian, being surrendered to God is wonderful, but have you yielded to the strength of the Holy Spirit to enable you to do His will for your life? God cannot fill the Christian who is constantly trying to do everything on their own. With everything you do, you must yield yourself to the Holy Spirit leading to allow Him to strengthen you for the task at hand. Don’t do God’s work alone because you will fail without the strength of the Holy Spirit.
Third, you must live by faith. If you want God to fill you, you are going to have to stop living by sight and start living by faith. Verse 17 says, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith…” There are many sincere Christians who want to see everything laid out in life, but God honors the Christian who trusts Him enough to live by faith in Him. The Book of Hebrews makes it clear that you cannot please God without living by faith. Living by faith comes down to immediate obedience to what God commands you to do. You don’t have to understand the “why” of God’s command; you just have to obey by faith that He knows what He is doing in your life.
Fourth, every action must be “rooted and grounded in love…” Love doesn’t mean that you don’t fight sin, because if you are “rooted and grounded in love,” your love for God will cause you to fight sin. However, the Christian can only be filled with God when their every motive is rooted and grounded in love. In other words, your motives can’t be rooted and grounded in what others think of you, but in a love for God and people. You can have no ulterior motives other than helping people in God’s love. My friend, you will never be filled with God until these four things are the controlling factors in your life.