“And that, my friend, is you and me with God our Father, our Originator. You pushing into him. Getting enveloped in your love for him; pushing through to a love that can finally say to others, ‘I will die for you’ as a reflection of the beautiful love you’ve discovered as you fall endlessly into him.”- Timothy D. Willard
“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.”- Ephesians 3:14-17 (NLT)
In his closing reflection (“A New Beginning: Recapturing Our Wonder”) of The Beauty Chasers, Timothy Willard offers his thoughts on Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3. First, Tim notes, Paul uses the Greek word patera for ‘Father.’ Certainly, the author notes, we think of God as our Father in the paternal sense. However, the word can also be used to me ‘originator.’
Hence, all families of heaven and earth originate with God. Therefore, Paul pleads for the Ephesus Christians to comprehend God’s four-dimensional love. Breadth, length, height, and depth.
In conclusion, Timothy underscores that when God says He loves you, He speaks as one from whom love itself comes. Thus, God’s the Fountainhead and Originator of love. God’s love makes you lovely to Him. Above all, His love possesses the power to change you. And God speaks from experiences outside of time that reach to infinity.
Reflecting on his opening quote in this blog, Tim exhorts:
“This love I find to be at the heart of beauty, the cosmic Lover of the universe. It is the reason I long to push further up and further in, to let go of distractions, to throw myself off the cliff of his love, diving deep into the four dimensions of God.”
Today’s question: What spurs your pushing into him, your Father and Originator? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: the Annotated Bibliography of The Beauty Chasers