The Surpassing Love of God
I pray that you would be able to comprehend, along with all the saints, how wide and long and high and deep his love is, and that you would be able to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled to all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:18–19)
Imagine you were Paul,sitting in Rome under house arrest. As you thought about the people you had been privileged to teach about Jesus, you thought a lot about the people at Ephesus. Their love for you had been overwhelming, along with their support. And as you thought about them, you worried about what would happen to them when you departed this mortal life. And so you wrote to encourage them.
One of the things that Paul wanted for the Ephesians was that they would be strengthened and know the love of Christ. That would lead to them being rooted and grounded in love. From that, Paul prayed that they would grasp just how expansive God’s love is.
Paul’s prayer is the prayer of every pastor. The goal of every pastor is that the people of God, know how vast his love is. Understanding how immeasurable God’s love is in turn leads us to show that love to others. When we understand that God gave up his only son, sentenced him to take our place in hell, and bear the punishment that we deserved, then we are motivated to want to share that love with others. And that starts with show love tour brothers and sisters in the faith, the saints of God. Being filled with the fullness of God means that we show God’s love to all people. It means that we are his ambassadors because his love overflows in us.
So my prayer for you is the same as the prayer that Paul prayed for the Ephesians. I pray that you would truly know how much God loves you, and that his love would overflow in you. Amen.
The song for today is “Jesus Loves Me” by Chris Tomlin