“…being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height.” And to know the love of Christ.” Ephesians 3:17,18
Dear Ones:
The Apostle Paul’s concept of the love of God was great for two reasons. The first had to do with the power of the Spirit to REVEAL it to him. In the first of two great prayers to God for the Ephesians, he writes: “…that the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.” (Eph. 1:17) The Love of God is only known, first and foremost, because God chooses to reveal it to us, in His mercy and according to the truth. Only the master Painter can paint such a portrait of “love beyond compare.” Man’s efforts and talents, have fallen so very short of the objective. How can mortal man, sinful man, capture that which is Divine, unless it be revealed to him by God? It will take God Himself, by the Holy Spirit, to unveil the dimensions of the love of God, as the Father gave the Son to save us all. The question then becomes, “Are we persuaded that God the Father WILL reveal to us this love of God, so that we can be dominated by it, it filling us, in all wisdom and knowledge?
Secondly, the love of God, by the Spirit and according to the truth, can only be known in its “breadth, length, depth and height,” according to faith. God gives to man faith to believe, born out of a vision of the truth. In seeking God, He strengths the believer to believe that which he sees in truth, in Christ. By the same power, the believer is strengthened in his heart to believe God for it. The possibilities of knowing God then become enormous, beyond what we can ask or think. Paul writes to the Philippian believers: “And this I pray, that your love may ABOUND yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgement.” (1:9) It is by prayer and faith that one comes to know the love of Christ, in its different dimensions. It is a love which reveals the power of God, the essence of which is selflessness, and the total commitment to provide and give abundantly, i.e. to save, sanctify, lead, and guide. Paul, with regard to the giving of Christ on the Cross, writes: “…and how shall He not with Him (Christ) freely give us all things.” Jesus even spoke of the abundance of LIFE, and the “much more” of His blessing and the working of the Holy Spirit. If the love of God is the greatest, and highest knowledge and corresponding expression of the nature of God, greater than all faith, and our everlasting hope, then we must see that He alone can reveal it to our spirits through His word, by the Spirit. The measure that we will grasp, know, and live this love, will depend upon our desire and willingness to trust Him for it.
How then are we to practically know this love of God? As was Peter’s experience, God has to bring us to the place of being convinced that, in and of ourselves, we do NOT possess this love. It must be received. Secondly, we have to be convinced, as the Apostle Paul came to be, in writing: “…He loved me, and gave Himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20). God GIVES this love to the one who is willing to trust Him for it, walking by the Spirit. God alone can “shed this love abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto u.s” (Romans 5:5) It is as the believer has a true vision of his or her oneness with Christ, having all IN CHRIST, that knowing the love of God becomes possible. The dimensions are enlarged, and the experience deepens, so that we sing: “O the deep, deep, love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free.”
Dear Father, Give us a true vision of the limitless expressions of Thy love. Make us to be those who are filled with this love of Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad