Wide, long, high, and deep.

by Dan Jones

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, (NIV)

 

Ephesians 3:16-18 is a is a very special and powerful verse for me. After my first mission trip, my wife and I were in tears in church as we sang “We Believe.” The pastor noticed and called us up front to explain and I read this verse, with tears falling on the page, to my brothers and sisters in Christ because we had indeed been granted the gift of actually touching the magnificent immensely powerful love of God in Jesus Christ. 

 

It’s a miraculous verse, and it continues to bless me and fill my heart even though its been over three years since I’ve had that experience. I pray that other Christians would be blessed in this way, and it is indeed a great blessing that those listening to Kinship Christian Radio would hear and experience that love in the music and the teaching and the ministry that is broadcast every hour of every day over Kinship Christian Radio Stations. 

 

One of the things about this verse is that it speaks of the love of Christ as if it had physical dimensions. Width and length and depth are the three dimensions of our physical universe. For all those who say they will not believe in anything they cannot reach out and touch, here is Paul the apostle speaking of something so intangible as the love of Jesus as if it were as solid and tangible as a bread box or a cinder block or a brick. 

 

It’s almost as if the Holy Spirit was directing him to specifically address the Doubting Toms of our own age.

 

Certainly, it’s just a metaphor, right?

 

I mean, does the Bible say how high is the love of God in Christ Jesus? How can love have height?

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his love for those who fear him; (Psalm 103:11 NIV)

 

In the very next verse, we learn how wide that love is:

as far as the east is from the west,

so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:12 NIV)

 

Certainly, His love for us is deep, but does the Bible quantify just how deep?

For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. (Psalm 86:13 ESV)

 

But how long is that love? Does it have a length…or maybe a duration?

But from everlasting to everlasting

the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, (Psalm 103:17 NIV)

 

As one who experienced that love first-hand, I am among the cloud of witnesses who testifies that although the dimensions of His love are infinite, it is as real and tangible as the bricks of your church.

 

Today’s Praise

“… and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:19 (NIV)