THE FOUNDATION OF VICTORIOUS LIVING
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:14-19
Paul writes some powerful prayers throughout the book of Ephesians. I like to call them the New Testament prayers. It means that we stand under the New Covenant of Jesus Christ and pray with confidence to our Savior.
The prayer that we read in the above passage is one of those. Paul writes about the dimensions of God’s love. Last week, we learned about the inseparable love of God. Today, let’s analyze another aspect.
DIMENSIONS OF GOD’S LOVE
Paul’s description of God’s love in the above passage indicates its vastness and inscrutability. It’s like an ocean that cannot be contained in our minds that are like tiny pots.
Nevertheless let’s attempt to decipher it.
- BREADTH
And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation
And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands
Revelations 5:9-11
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Revelations 7:9-10
- L. Osborne once preached about how to give an altar call. He said that the preacher or pastor must stretch out his arms and invite everybody who is willing to follow to Jesus to the front.
Jesus’ love is an arms-stretched-wide-open and all-inclusive one.
In the above passage, John saw in his vision people from every tribe, tongue, people and nation. That’s the breadth and width of God’s love. It is so inclusive that it reaches out to gather people from every corner of the world.
Many tribes have their own gods. But the Christian faith uniquely testifies that there is one God for every tribe, language, nation and people in this world. It means that we must stop our clannish and exclusive attitude in the Church. Or else we will risk becoming like the Jews and Gentiles of the early Church. The Jews particularly found worshipping the same God in the same place pretty difficult. Somehow the Jews assumed that Yahweh was their prerogative and they alone were His beloved children. They couldn’t fathom that God would extend His love to the Gentiles. But God wanted His love for Israel to be a witness to the world around. We see in Isaiah 60:1 God telling the Jews, ‘Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you’. Somehow they lost sight of that great commission!
Similarly, many of us Christians also have a selfish tendency. We live in a religious box assuming that we are the only bride of Christ. But the reality is that God is preparing a large community of people to be His bride. If we faithfully preach the Gospel, God will make the harvest grow in plenty. In fact we will be so surprised to see hosts of believers in Heaven from every far-flung place of this world.
So let’s rid ourselves of our Christian elitist supremacies. Let us remember that there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. Like Paul reminds us, Christ has broken down the middle wall of partition between the Jews and the Gentiles. Let us reflect on that profound truth and let our churches be places of children of God different in color, creed and size but united by the love of Jesus. Let us live out a multi racial, multi cultural, multi linguistic and multi ethnic community of Jesus followers on earth. After all, the song of our hearts is the same – of the love of our Redeemer!
- LENGTH
The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with loving kindness I have drawn you.
Jeremiah 31:3
Length implies the endless character of God’s love.
ETERNITY PAST
God’s love originated way back before anything was created in this world. The Trinity made the Covenant of Redemption amongst themselves. God the Father planned it. He knew that man would sin and need a Savior. So He prepared His Son Jesus Christ to come to this world as the Savior. The Son would die on the Cross and redeem mankind. The Holy Spirit was to win people to Christ when the Gospel was preached.
This assures us that God’s love for us will never change. Nothing we do or do not do can change God’s love for us. The story of the Prodigal Son testifies this love. The wayward younger son of a Father took his share and left the house. But when he was completely spent and ruined, he crept back to his father hoping to be taken back at least as a servant. But the Father was awaiting his return. He not only welcomed him back as his son but also held a feast in his son’s honor. The Father loved him before he left home, while he was away and even after he returned home. His love hadn’t changed at all. Our Heavenly Father loves us in the same way. Jesus came not because God suddenly decided to shower love on us, but because He always loved us.
ETERNITY FUTURE
Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Hebrews 7:25
In the olden times, the High Priest went into the Temple to offer sacrifices once a year. But today Jesus is our High Priest. He is interceding for us constantly. He will continue to shower us with that love until the end of ages.
- DEPTH
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Philippians 2:5-8
Despite being equal with God, Jesus came down to the earth as a tiny and helpless baby. He lived as an ordinary person, was arrested by human authorities, condemned to death, stripped, beaten and nailed on the Cross like a common criminal. That’s the depth that Jesus went to, to demonstrate His love for us.
And who were we that He went to such extents?
As it is written:
“There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”; “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Romans 3:10-18
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6-8
We were the scum of the earth. Totally, unlovable, sinful people who didn’t deserve His love. It is for people like us that Jesus went to such depths of pain and suffering!
- HEIGHT
Jesus’ death and resurrection did not just guarantee forgiveness of our sins. But it lifted us to Heavenly heights. Today we are meant to be above and not beneath. We are now co-heirs with Jesus having the Holy Spirit in us. We are made one with Jesus, are seated with Him in Heavenly places and are members of His body.
CONCLUSION
that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish
Ephesians 5:26, 27
This loving God is constantly working on us even after our Salvation. He is preparing us to be a spotless and blemishless Church for God’s glory. As we continue to lead our lives in obedience to this awesome God, let us join with the songwriter and sing a beautiful melody of our God’s love for us.
Wide, wide as the ocean, high as the heaven above; Deep, deep as the deepest sea is my Savior’s love. I, though so unworthy, still am a child of His care; For His Word teaches me that His love reaches me everywhere.
SEEMON MINISTRIES 