Together in Christ: 'Love's Dimensions' — Ephesians 3:18

What are the dimensions God's love for us? I don’t know the exact dimensions of God’s love (and that love is limitless), but I do know God’s love is cross-shaped! The cross and Paul's assurances tell us that God's love can't be measured, that it is not only unbounded but also unconditional: ^[1]

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ^[2]

Notice that our "résumé" — the words in bold in the above scripture — is NOT to deserve God's love. You see, our ability to understand "how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is" is a Spirit-discerned and emotionally felt capability. This is why Paul prays for the Holy Spirit to help the Ephesians gain this understanding. It is also why we need someone to be praying for us to have this understanding. And, dear friend in Jesus, it is why you and I need to be praying for ourselves and for people we love, especially those teetering on giving up their faith, to understand "how wide, how long, how high, and how deep" God's love for them is. Feeling the love of someone important to us counts for much more than any intellectual reasons they can give for liking us. While the latter is significant, and I am not discounting that, knowing how deeply we are loved and seeing that love proven in actions toward us and for us is far greater.

We are loved by the Creator of our vast, wonderful, and mysterious universe. He proved that love by coming to us and living as one of us. What He did for people then is a glimpse of how much He loves us now. What He did on the cross overwhelms any definition or description of love. And, our love for others grows spiritually and emotionally from our beginning to grasp God's great love for us! ^[3] Let's pray for each other to get a better grasp intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually on how much God loves us!