The apostle Paul concludes his second, heartfelt prayer for the Ephesians with: “That you might be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:19) The idea of a church of whatever size being filled to capacity with the Spirit of God is beyond comprehension!
Which, of course, is Paul’s point. While on his knees before God in a prison in Rome, praying for the church at Ephesus, Paul knows that he cannot quantify Christ’s love for that church. So he begins with the lavish phrase, “the riches of His glory” (Ephesians 3:16).
Paul wants the reader to comprehend with the heart, not try to understand with the mind. He could have written, “His glorious riches” but instead writes “the riches of His glory”. Likewise, he could have shortened “strengthened with all might by His Spirit in the inward man”, but in so doing would not have conveyed the expansive rhythm of the ancient Greek text.
Paul could have shortened the rest of his prayer, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the length, and breadth, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God.”
But simplifying the text to make it more understandable would have weakened its wonder. So, too, would be a simplification of Paul’s lavish doxologies and rhythmic benedictions.