I’ve heard it said that God’s love is beyond description. I believe I understand what they mean.
Yet there is a way one can really grasp the greatness of that love, like they’ve never grasped it before.
Here’s a passage from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.
“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” (Ephesians 3:16-19 NLT)
Paul prayed for the Ephesians (and us) to have the power to understand how wide, long, high, and deep God’s love is. And he didn’t mean some kind of mental acknowledgement. He prayed we would experience the love of Christ, even though it’s too great to understand fully.
As I said before, I believe there’s a way for us to know and experience the love of God as never before. How?
By understanding the holiness of God, and His absolute hatred of sin.
There’s no gray area; with God things are either right or wrong, good or bad, sinful or righteous. He has never just turned His head and ignored sin. He’s not like us; sometimes we’ll ignore it because we either don’t know what to do or we would rather not be bothered.
But as I said, that’s not God’s way at all. He hates sin with such a pure hatred only He can fathom.
And His hatred is perfectly just. He is perfect in His judgments, perfect in His assessments.
There’s nothing you or I can say or do to appease His anger for our wrong doing. We deserve the full fury of His hatred of sin.
He is right, we are wrong; we are without an excuse.
Forever.
There is only one thing greater than His wrath. Only one thing more powerful than His righteous anger.
His love.
His love satisfies the demands of His righteous anger. His love makes a once and for all payment, releasing us from His wrath.
That’s how great His love is.
His Son came to take our place, standing in our stead, absorbing all of the Father’s just and holy hatred for sin. God poured out His fury on His Son.
So His love could be available to us.
To anyone and everyone who receives His Son as their Lord and Savior, God sees them as people worthy of His love.
Really? Worthy of His love? Yes. Because of our new place in Christ. The Father looks on us through the eternal work of His Son.
“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT)
How great is His love? Great enough to span the gap sin created between the righteous, holy God and people like you and I. People who could never get anywhere near God on our own merits.
How great is God’s love?
Great enough to do the impossible, change the unchangeable, and turn a rebellious and selfish heart into one that is full of grace and mercy for others.
How great is God’s love?
Great enough to change your life. My life.
Forever.
Jan Grace 