Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Francis Chan
The Breadth
The Apostle Paul prayed for the Ephesian church “that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love” (Eph 3:16-17). This was so that they would “have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth” (Eph 3:18) of God’s love. The breadth is how we measure distances from side to side and God’s love is immeasurable.
The Length
We cannot possibly measure the love of God because how can we put a value on the work of Christ on the cross? You simply cannot do it, so the length of God’s love is impossible to measure, especially considering that God separates us from our sin as far as east and west, which by the way, never meet like north and south do at the equator. The psalmist puts it this way; “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). That is a length that stretches into infinity.
The Height
How high is God’s love? It is too high to measure, as the Apostle Paul wrote, and prayed, “the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:19). It is not humanly possible to measure the love of God, but our love for others can be measured by how we love. Do we serve, love, pray for, and encourage others? That’s a great measuring stick to show how much we love, or don’t love God.
Conclusion
The Apostle Paul speaks of God’s love and the hope that is found in Christ by writing to the church at Rome, saying that “hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom 5:5). Now that God has poured His love into our hearts, it’s time to share it with others.
