GOD'S FOUR-WAY LOVE
By George W. Sinquefield
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By George W. Sinquefield
(Eph 3:17 KJV) "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
(Eph 3:18 KJV) May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
(Eph 3:19 KJV) And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God."
In these verses the Holy Spirit speaks of "the breath and length and depth and height of the love of Christ." What does He mean by the breath, length, depth and height? It is just another way of telling us what John 3:16 tells us that God's love is world-wide, that God loves everyone.
(John 3:16 KJV) "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Now look at John 3:16 in the light of Ephesians 3:17-19.
We are told that the superscription of His accusation affixed to the cross was written "in Hebrew and Greek and Latin." These three languages embrace the entire human race.
Hebrew is the language of religion. Greek is the language of culture and Latin is the language of Law. These three languages comprehended the whole of the ancient world. In the superscription we see the "breadth? of God's love. The wide flung arms on that cross welcome the whole world.
Someone has said, "Many a serious skeptic cannot bring himself to believe that the God who presides over the vastness of space should pay any particular attention to this comparatively microscopic planet on which we happen to find ourselves. Why should God care for this little speck of dust any more than a carpenter would care especially for some nail which he had driven into a great building?"
Why should God care? It is His nature to care. "God is Love."
One has put it this way: "If a lump of radium is pure radium, then it must radiate. Its radio activity is not optional; by nature it makes its self disclosure. If God is Love, He has got to love. Of His own necessity to love, He made someone to love. That someone is you and me and the whole world.
Dr. William Hull has said, "God loves us not because we are lovable objects but because He is a loving subject."
A preacher was once asked this question. "If God knew that man was going to sin, that would be lost and that he would be all of the trouble that he has been to God, why did God ever make man in the first place?" The preacher answered by saying, "You are a parent aren't you? Well, you pretty well knew before you became a parent that your children would disobey you, that they would do things that would worry you and maybe break your heart didn't you?"
"Yes, I knew that" the man said. "Then why in the world did you become a parent? I'll tell you why. Because you had a love in your heart that called for an expression, and it called for children for you to express that love"
Dr. John Macbeath, in one of his books, has a beautiful story of two little girls who are standing on the deck of a liner in mid ocean, looking out to sea. "What a wonderful day!" exclaims the elder girl. "Look at the horizon." There is a baffled expression on the face of the little companion as she replies: "What is the horizon? Where is it?" "See," answers the older one, pointing with her finger. "See, where the sea seems to meet the sky, and the sky seems to meet the sea; that is the horizon, and when you get there, there is another one and then another one, and then another one. You never really come to it. It's always farther on." <
Ah, that is the love of Christ. There is no end to it. It is always farther on. Farther than life, farther than death. It is always farther on. And yet the miracle is that it is here now for anyone who would grasp it." God's love is as wide as the whole human race.
II. Length - "That He Gave His Only Begotten Son"
Oh, the length to which the love of God has gone to provide salvation for every man, woman, and child. I like the way Dr. Hershell Hobbs puts it.
"Because God is love, His love is expressed in all of His acts. It is evident in His act of creation. When He created the heavens and the earth, He made all things good. The earth He made not only serviceable but also beautiful. He carpeted it with green grass, and garnished it with colorful flowers. He adorned it with the grandeur of the mountains and the expanse of rolling plains. Withal, He bedecked it with the refreshment of rushing streams and rolling rivers, which, like thousands of diamonds, sparkle in the sun. He washes the world in the rain, and adorns the heavens with a rainbow of promise. As a bonus morning and evening He emblazons the sky with the glory of sunrise and sunset.
The supreme revelation of God's love is in His Son Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:1ff.), and the apex of that supreme revelation is seen at Calvary and the empty tomb. If you would trace this redeeming love to its source, you must go back behind Calvary. You must go back beyond Bethlehem, past the thundering fires of Sinai, beyond the pristine morning of creation -- back, back, back into the council chambers of eternity. There you must place your ear to the bosom of God, and listen to the beat of His heart in eternal love.
It was in His heart, broken by sin yet to be, that God in Christ was "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8). The atonement for your sin was made in eternity within the heart of God before it was wrought out in the arena of history."
Listen to God's Word.
(Eph 1:4 KJV) "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:"
(1 Pet 1:18 KJV) "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
(1 Pet 1:19 KJV) But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
(1 Pet 1:20 KJV) Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,"
Dr. Ralph H. Elliott has said in his book, "The Message of Genesis," "Man knows, believes, and lives by the fact that God loves us because something happened in history to demonstrate His love." That "something" we all know, was Calvary.
As Dr. R. C. Campbell has said, "The zenith of God's love blazes and burns on Calvary." "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" How may we discern the meaning of that cry? Surely if ever man should take off his shoes to stand upon holy ground, it is now. For we are in the very Holy of Holies of a suffering God. The Son of God, forsaken by God? That is what He said. We cannot understand it. We can only declare it, but somehow, for that moment, the loving Father turned His face from the Son of His love. He, who knew no sin had now become sin for us. All of the abiding wrath of God against sin was focused upon Him.
(Isa 53:1 KJV) "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
(Isa 53:2 KJV) For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
(Isa 53:3 KJV) He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
(Isa 53:4 KJV) Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
(Isa 53:5 KJV) But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
(Isa 53:6 KJV) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."
This is how far Jesus was willing to go for us. This reveals the true length of God's love.
III. Depth - "That Whosoever Believeth In Him Should Not Perish"
Let us linger a little longer at the cross upon which our Savior hangs. It stands between two other crosses. For Jesus is "numbered with the transgressors." One of the thieves cries out, "Lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." Can the Savior's love reach down low enough to lay hold on this polluted son of the devil? Hear Jesus, "Verily, I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise."
Someone might say, "I have sinned till I am beyond redemption." Another says, "I have sinned against special light and privileges and have been even more sinful than the murderer, the blasphemer or the drunkard. Can the love of God reach down to me?"
That dying thief of long ago would tell you that God's love can reach down to the very gates of hell and lift up the vilest of sinners.
Nansen, the Norwegian explorer, tried to measure an extremely deep part of the Arctic ocean. The first day, he used his longest measuring line but couldn't reach the bottom. He wrote in his log book, "The ocean is deeper than that!"
The next day, he added more line but still could not measure the depth, and so again in his record book he wrote, "Deeper than that!" After several days of adding more and more pieces of rope and cord to his line, he had to leave that part of the ocean without learning its actual depth. All he knew was that it was beyond his ability to measure.
So too, we cannot plumb the depths of God's love, because our human measuring line is too short. God will take all eternity to show us the fullness of His love.
IV. Height - "But Have Everlasting Life"
It has been said that Jesus is able to save from the guttermost to the uttermost and it is so true. Jesus tells us why He came in;
(John 10:10 KJV) "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
A German said, "If I were God the sorrows of the world would break my heart." That is exactly what happened. The sorrows, sins, depravity and wickedness of this world did break the heart of God.
In southern Mexico they have a word for love which means, "to hurt in the heart." This translation of John 3:16 is, "God so hurt in the heart that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
The Love Of God
The love of God is an ocean, and no line can sound its depth. It is a sky of unknown dimensions and no flying machine can reach its height. It is a continent of unexplored distance and no survey can find its boundary. It is a pole of attraction, which no explorer can discover and the love of God is a forest of beauty, and no botanist can find and describe its variety and glory.
Thus you see the four dimensions of God's love. As one described it, it is as "wide as the limits of the universe; long as the ages of eternity; deep as the abyss from which it has redeemed us; and high as the throne of God itself."
Alexander Maclaren said, "What is the breadth of the love of Christ? It is as broad as mankind; it is as narrow as myself."
Jesus said, "Whosoever will may come to Him for salvation.
Whosoever means everyone and also you and me. Have you accepted Him as
your Savior? You can have salvation today if you'll believe in Him.
