Ephesians 3:17-19
God is love!
We’ve heard these words so many times that I don’t think we comprehend how powerful they are.
God is love!
Many of us have heard this phrase over and over since childhood.
We’ve seen it on bookmarks, heard it in worship services, and sung it in Sunday School.
So, high you can’t get over it,
So deep, you can’t get under it,
So wide, you can’t get around it,
Oh! Wonderful love.
(Don’t worry, that’s not the song for the week!)
I think as Christians we sometimes take the truth that ‘God is love’ for granted.
As part of my degree, I’ve been studying other monotheistic faiths, and none of them speak of the unconditional love of God. Within many belief systems, love is earned through obedience and there is no hope that we can enter into a loving relationship with the creator of the Universe. I would never disparage another faith group and their beliefs about God and his nature, but without love, who is he?
Even if we believe that God is love, we often frame it in human terms, to make it more understandable. We place human limitations on the endless love of God, applying imaginary conditions and additional requirements trying to make it make sense.
It doesn’t make sense…that’s the point!
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul told the church that the love of God was too great for them to understand but not too distant for them to experience.
17 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. 18 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. 19 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 3:17-19 (NLT)
Our song for this week, speaks of the all-encompassing love of God, and yet strangely, its title is ‘Worst Days’.
I don’t know what you’re like on your worst days.
I can get a bit doom and gloom.
As a family, we’ve been through a lot in recent years, and if I’m not careful, then rather than spotting God’s blessings, I sit waiting for the next bad thing to happen.
It all feels a little ungrateful when I think of how faithful and loving God is.
How about you?
What are you like on your worst days?
Even on those worst days, we are deeply loved by God.
God of everything You reached out to me Made a home in my heart I just can't explain I just stand in awe Of Your wonderful love
And even on my worst days It stays the same I just don't understand
How high How wide How deep
Is Your love
Samuel Chigorzrim Nwachukwu
It’s a love so amazing that it’s beyond our comprehension.
God doesn’t just feel love, or show love, he is love!
It’s who he is.
As you listen to our song of the week, take time to give thanks and recognise the truth that God is love.
Kay Moorby
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