Ephesians 3:14-19
Verse 18 ...may have the power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
Yesterday we talked about how the love of God can’t be earned. Today we discuss how this love is not something we can comprehend.
We are used to love being qualified as something which is to be exchanged in equal amounts. We give in the level we are receiving. Yet this isn’t the way it is with our relationship with God as we could never love Him in the amazing way He loves us. We are mere humans after all. If we can’t love Him in any way near the level He can love us, how can we even begin to understand His love for us?
In our passage today Paul is telling the Ephesians that he is praying for them. One of the things he is praying for them is that they will be strengthened by the Holy Spirit in their innermost being. He wanted them to have an intimate relationship with Christ that was initiated through the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul knew living a life of faith was not made from personal effort and that human effort could never be enough. Just as our love could never be enough to love Him as He deserves.
We say that we love Him but that love is not a love which is wholly devoted. We find ourselves struggling to surrender everything to Him. We don’t like the idea of how we need to submit to Him as we think it will cause us to lose ourselves. The truth is, unless we submit fully to Him, we are not truly loving Him. We can’t love Him but want our own way. He is our superior and we need to remember that. But we shouldn’t submit just because He is superior but rather out of love for Him. Yet His love isn’t based on us and our response.
Romans 5:8 tells us, "But God demonstrated His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" This love isn’t about how much we can give back to Him because we could never love Him enough to equal His love. And in verses 17 and 18 Paul talks about how our love for God brings us to love one another. As Christians our loving of each other, and of God as a body of believers, should bring us “to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” This is the love we can’t begin to understand. A love which gives, even to the point of giving His own Son for the sins of those who were as of yet, His enemies (Romans 5:10).
Making It Personal
How big have you viewed the love of God in the past? Does the knowledge of the vastness of His love bring you a sense of awe? How does your love reflect His love?
Making It Personal Kids
How big do you think God’s love is? Should you be loving others because He loves you? What can you do today to show God’s love to those around you?
Closing Prayer
Father, Your love is too much for us to comprehend. We kneel in awe of You. Father, we give You our love, as meager as it is. Please help us love You to our fullest. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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