The Unconditional Love of God
The love of God.
Recently, I have been deeply thinking about the love of God.
Pondering it … wading through it … contemplating its depth …enjoying its fullness.
The love of God.
The love of God is likely one of those mysteries this side of heaven that we will wrestle with until we are in the presence of Him who is Love Himself.
There is absolutely no human way to comprehend the enormous … eternal … all-encompassing … never-wavering … unconditional … love of God.
And yet … it is vital to spend our earthly existence trying to do just that.
The love of God.
Songs have been written about it … sermons have been preached upon it … books have been written exploring its facets … and hearts have been changed by it.
“The greatest honor we can give Almighty God is to live gladly because of the knowledge of His love.” – Julian of Norwich
Prior to Calvary, there was no way that a human could fully enjoy the love of God. We simply weren’t good enough to penetrate the boundaries of God’s love.
However, when Jesus died on the cross, He took God’s love for sinners outside of any constraints or boundaries.
In a single, miraculous moment, the dividing line that was between you and the love of God was obliterated.
Jesus made a way for you to access His love!
“So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.” —Ephesians 3:17–19
I have always been amazed at that scripture above. Perhaps you would like to read it again:
“So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.” —Ephesians 3:17–19
The Holy Spirit, through the pen of Paul, is asking us to know the unknowable … to research the un-understandable … to think about the incomprehensible.
“ … and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge… “ – Ephesians 3:19
The love of God!
There is no longer a boundary line that denies your entrance into the love of God.
It is a love that surpasses all depths, all heights, all lengths, and all widths.
There are no boundaries!
There is no end to His love for you!
The love of God is such a vital component of our earthly experience, that I decided to dedicate an entire section to it in my new devotional, At Home In Your Heart, that will be released on March 29, 2022.
Prior to writing about it, I considered His extraordinary love for months … rehearsed song lyrics that added melody to its meaning … studied what great theologians taught about God’s love … and researched every story that I could find about His far-reaching, never-ending, all-consuming love.
I hope that this excerpt, taken from “At Home In Your Heart,” will enlarge your heart as you endeavor to know the love of God … which … by the way … is completely unknowable!
Inexhaustible Abundance
Napoleon’s troops opened a prison that had been used during the Spanish Inquisition in the late 1400s. They discovered the remains of a prisoner who had been incarcerated for his faith nearly 350 years earlier. His body had long since decayed in the underground dungeon in which it was found.
A thick, heavy metal chain was still fastened around his anklebone that was now lifeless and devoid of skin, flesh, and blood. But this pris- oner, although he had been dead for centuries, was speaking still. This tethered man had left a witness. Although we will never know his name, his heart was still beating for Christ.
The words of Paul, in the book of Ephesians, had made a difference in this martyr’s life. On the wall of his small, dismal cell, this faithful soldier of Jesus Christ had scratched a rough cross with four words surrounding it in Spanish. Above the cross was the Spanish word for “height” and below it was the word for “depth.” The word for “length” was to the right of the chiseled cross and to the left was the word for “width.”
That you...may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God. —Ephesians 3:17–19
The only way to measure the love of Christ is by the cross of Calvary. The “width” of His love implies that it goes to the utmost corners of the earth; the “length” communicates that it is as long as it is wide. How wide is the love of Christ? It goes to the ends of the earth!
Every other time that the particular word “height” is used in the New Testament, it refers to heaven. The love of Christ is as high as heaven!
The “depth” of Christ’s love is ours in an inexhaustible abundance. We carry within us an immense amount of love to envelop our human souls while we live on Earth. We are the recipients of a love so extravagant and so immeasurable that it changes the way we talk, the way we think, the way we treat others, and the way we live.
Jesus stopped breathing so that you would be breathless at His love. His heart stopped beating so that your heartbeat would quicken at the very thought of His love. He died so that you could live in His love.
Understanding the love of Christ will bring nourishment for your entire life, and it will give you a solid foundation upon which to build a life. When you know the love of Christ, you will know something that surpasses knowledge! Paul used the word for “know” that means to experience intimately. We must go beyond understanding the love of God with our minds to experiencing it personally. We are invited to be in a love relationship with God Himself.
The Jesus who died on the cross of Calvary loves you—and there is nothing you can do about it!
Thanks for listening to my heart this week. As you know by now, my heart is truly not a perfect heart, but it is a heart that is filled to overflowing with gratitude for the life I have been given and for the people who walk with me. And, it continues to be a heart that is relentlessly chasing after God and all that He is!