Ephesians 3:14-21

Knowing the Love of Christ

I. Pass out two name badges to each kid. Have kids think of one thing that they use to identify themselves (i.e. football player, computer nerd, boyfriend to such-and-such, a certain hobby, personality type, class clown, introvert, etc.). Leave the second name badge blank.

II. Read Ephesians 3:14-21.

a. Vv. 14-15. In the Greek, the word “name” is actually a verb, and not a noun. Literally, it would read “naming”. As members of God’s family, we get our identity, who we are-our names-from that relationship with Him. We like to identify ourselves by what we’re good at, or what group of friends we have, or what sports we play. The problem with this is that none of those things have any lasting value. None of those things will last. Someday, you’ll either get injured or get too old to play soccer, your boyfriend will break up with you, or something else will happen, and the one thing you’ve used to identify who you are is suddenly gone. Even if we could find something lasting, it can never completely satisfy our desire to belong. What God offers us is something that can never be taken away from us, that is, a place in His family, as one of His children. His love for us should be the one defining characteristic of our lives.

b. Vv. 16-17. There are two words here I want to take a closer look at. Rooted is like a tree being rooted in a ground. The tree gets water and minerals that it needs to survive from the ground that it is rooted in. When we are rooted, like a tree, in love, we don’t need to look to other people or things to love us anymore-God loves us and that is enough. In another version of the Bible, the word “established” is translated “grounded”. The picture we get is that of a house that is built on a foundation. When we are grounded in love, that means that it is our foundation, the reason for doing everything we do. Only when we are centered in God’s love for us are we truly able to love others. When we need others to love us, we can not love them, because we are only fulfilling our own needs. Jesus’ love sets us free to truly love others, because He loved us first, and His love fills our need.

c. Vv. 18-19. Knowing something mentally is very different from knowing it by experience. To know that Mt. Everest is 29,035 feet above sea level is very different from climbing those 29,035 feet and experiencing it. You can know that breaking your arm hurts, but until you’ve broken your arm, you’ll never know how much it hurts. In the same way, you can know that God loves you, and proved that love by sending His Son Jesus to earth to die on the cross for you, but until you’ve accepted that gift and experienced His love, it will only be head knowledge. The purpose of our knowing and experiencing the love of Christ is so that we will be completely filled with the fullness of God. All this means is that like a glass that used to be empty and is now filled to the brim, we will be completely filled with God’s fullness. 2 Peter 1:3 “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.”

III. Have kids write down a new name on their second nametag that reflects our identity as a member of God’s family, as one of His much-loved children. Close with prayer thanking God for His love for us through Christ.