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No.66.
The Central Tower (3: 14 - 21).
"What is the breadth, length, depth and height."
pp. 141 - 144
The habitation of Eph. 2: 19-22 supplies the figure already considered, the dwelling
of Christ in the heart by faith. It will be remembered that the Apostle had no hesitation in
blending the figure of building and growing in the earlier section "In Whom all the
building fitly framed together groweth" (Eph. 2: 21), which growth is seen in the parallel
to be the growth of the `Body'. "May grow up unto Him . . . . . the whole body fitly
joined together . . . . . unto the edifying (upbuilding) of itself in love" (Eph. 4: 15, 16).
So, in the prayer before us, the Apostle blends together the two figures `That ye being
rooted and grounded in love'. The same double figure meets us in Col. 2: 7 "Rooted
and built up in Him". Rhiza `root' is well known as an English equivalent of `root', there
being at least forty-five words, mostly scientific, which use the word rhiza. Gardeners
are familiar with roots called rhizome, such as those of the `flag' or iris. In the N.T. the
`root' is closely related to growth and fruit, `Because they had no root they withered
away' (Matt. 13: 6), and of cause or origin "The love of money is (a) root of all evil"
(I Tim. 6: 10). Before speaking of the soil in which the believer is considered to be
`rooted', the Apostle adds the word `grounded', the Greek themelioo. Just as the figure
of growth is borrowed from Eph. 2: 19-22, so is the word `grounded' for the word
`foundation' in Eph. 2: 20 is the Greek themelion. There are but six occurrences of
themelioo `to be grounded' or `founded' namely (Matt. 7: 25; Luke 6: 48; Eph. 3: 17;
Col. 1: 23; Heb. 1: 10 and I Pet. 5: 10). The usage ranges from laying the foundation of
the earth to the settling and stablishing of the believer. In passing we observe that the
word `foundation' does not occur in Eph. 1: 4. The parallel to Eph. 3: 17 in Col. 2: 7
should be compared with Col. 1: 23. According to these passages, to be grounded is to
continue in the faith, and not to be moved away from the hope of the gospel.
The reader will probably have recognized `these three' so often brought together in
the witness of Paul. `Faith' and `love' are found in Eph. 3: 17, `faith' and `hope' in
Col. 1: 23. In the prayer before us, Paul does not speak of being rooted or grounded in
either faith or hope; these form a subject of the prayer of the first chapter. Here love is
uppermost, `rooted and grounded in love', and this leads on to the comprehension of the
love of Christ, which in reality passeth knowledge. Before reference is made to the love
of Christ, the Apostle introduces `breadth, length, depth and height'. Many and varied
have been the explanations offered by writers of all periods of these words. Some saw in
them the outspread arms of the cross, combined with the humiliation and exaltation
connected with it. Others see a reference to the temple of Diana at Ephesus, which was
one of the seven wonders of the world, and combined with this a reference back to the
temple already mentioned in Eph. 2: 21. Yet again we may see in these four dimensions
the peculiar character of the dispensation of the Mystery, stretching back as it does to
before the foundation of the world, ascending up far above all, embracing the far off
Gentile, and looking forward to the ages to come. Yet when all these explanations have