INTRODUCTION
My wife and her brother inherited some land in the United States after their father died several years ago. I can tell you some facts about the land… it’s about 180 acres… about half of it is forest with a stream running across the property… the rest is pasture land for raising cattle… but that doesn’t really give you much understanding of what the property is really like. To really understand, you would need to go there yourself… walk the fence lines… walk across the fields… experience crossing the stream to the back part of the property… after you walk all around and through the land, you begin to really comprehend what a special place it is.
In Genesis 13:17, God tells Abraham to “walk the length and width of the land I have given you”. In Joshua 1:3, God instructs Joshua to go into the Promised Land and tells him… “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses.”
God wanted Abraham and Joshua to comprehend (understand) the incredible magnitude (or size) of His promise to them.
Today, we’re also going to take a walk…
Our main passage tonight is Ephesians 3:17-19…
17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
How wide… how deep… how high… how long is the love of Christ? How can we possibly comprehend something that cannot really be measured?
Creation/universe attempts to show us how to comprehend the measure of Christ’s love for us. Which of us can measure the length, width, height, and depth of the universe? We can’t even measure the universe, yet it is just a created thing… So how can we possibly understand something like the love of Christ which is so vast… so huge… that it cannot be measured?
Yet the Apostle Paul prays for us that we can comprehend the immeasurable love of Christ along with all the saints (or the believers/followers of Jesus Christ). So let’s do our best to walk the width, the depth, the height, and the length of Christ’s love we can truly understand the magnitude of His love for us.
HOW WIDE IS THE LOVE OF CHRIST?
First, let’s try and understand how wide the love of Christ really is. To begin to understand this dimension, let’s think of it in terms of North/South/East/West just for illustration. If I handed you a compass and asked you to go North, you would eventually arrive at the North Pole… The compass would indicate at some point that you were traveling South because you had gone too far and passed magnetic North. Same if I asked you to go South… You would eventually reach your destination.
But what if I asked you to go East? Would you ever arrive? No, the compass will continue to indicate that you are traveling Eastward forever… You would circle and circle the earth forever without ever reaching a specific point called “East”. Same if I asked you to go West… Now imagine that East and West is the measurement of the width of Christ's love for us… It extends forever in both directions… It encompasses (includes) the entire world.
Christ’s love for us extends around the entire world… His love includes all people, all nations, all tribes, all tongues…
Luke 24:46-47…
46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Romans 10:12-13…
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
Revelation 7:9-10…
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
We cannot truly measure the width of God’s love, but we know the love of Christ is wide enough to reach all people… including each one of us here today… and our families… and our friends and neighbors. As we walk the width of Christ’s love, we begin to understand how wonderful… how amazing His love is for us.
HOW DEEP IS THE LOVE OF CHRIST?
Next, let’s explore the depths of Christ’s love for us. Did you know that there are still deep places in the ocean that people have never seen or explored? We have put men on the moon… We have begun exploring Mars… We have sent spacecraft out to photograph the outer planets of our solar system… Yet scientists estimate that we have explored less than 5% of our own planet’s oceans. Did you know that we are still discovering new types of fish and plants that we never knew existed?
How deep is the love of Christ? Even the depths of our own oceans we are still trying to understand… and the love of Christ is incredibly deeper than the ocean.
Jesus’ love is deep enough to reach down from heaven to the depths of our sin to rescue us…
Philippians 2:7-8…
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Romans 5:6-8…
6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
We can never fall so deep into sin and darkness that Jesus can’t save us. The deepest parts of the ocean are as black as night even under the bright noonday sun. If you were to sink into those black depths, there is no human who can rescue you. But Jesus can rescue us no matter how deep in sin we have sunk.
Luke 15:4-6…
4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’
His sacrifice… His death on the cross… pays the price for all sin… He offers forgiveness that we don’t deserve… His forgiveness is an expression of His great love for us…
Psalm 103:12…
12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
How deep is the love of Christ? Words fail to express the depths of His love for us… The depths of His sacrifice… as He pulls His creation out of the grip of Satan… and restores us to a place of honor as His children. Oh how deep is the love of Christ!
HOW HIGH IS THE LOVE OF CHRIST?
How high is the love of Christ? With the Hubble Space Telescope, we can see far into the known universe, but we still cannot see where the universe stops… It continues to extend infinitely beyond our ability to see or detect. Even as immense as the universe is that we’ve seen so far, it is only a small fraction of the immense size of the universe. It extends far beyond our ability to measure, and yet the universe is just a created thing…
Even as huge and immeasurable as the universe is, it is nothing in comparison to the heights of God’s love for us!
Ephesians 4:8-10 says…
8 Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” 9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
We already discussed the depths of His love… How Jesus descended to earth to rescue us from darkness… But then He also was raised from the dead on the third day, defeating death and the grave, and has “ascended far above all the heavens that He might fill all things.”
And it’s also His desire to have us join Him in the heights of heaven…
Ephesians 2:4-7 …
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
John 14:2-3…
2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
How high is the love of Christ? His love is higher than the heavens… beyond the heights of the known universe… And He extends his hand to each of us… and asks us to join Him and experience the glory of His presence for the rest of eternity. Oh how high is the love of Christ!
HOW LONG IS THE LOVE OF CHRIST?
So far, we’ve explored the 3 dimensions of width, depth, and height… With those 3 dimensions, we can describe or draw any geometric object… which is what the term “3-D” implies… being able to see or experience something in 3 dimensions. But the love of Christ is beyond description in just 3 dimensions… there is a 4th dimension to consider… length… this 4th dimension adds the dimension of “time”… We cannot have a complete understanding of the fullness of the love of Christ for us without also including the dimension of “time”.
If you look at a number line… it extends infinitely (forever) in both directions… Same with time… It extends infinitely (forever) in both directions… God has always existed… If you could explore eternity in both directions (past and future) you would always find God to be there.
Hebrews 13:8 says that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
But what does this tell us about the length of His love for us?
Jeremiah 31:3 says “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.”
Everlasting love… That means that His love for us extends into the past… Extends so far back that His love for us existed before even the creation of the universe…
Ephesians 1:3-4…
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love
His love for us is eternal… And it is unchanging! Even before the foundation of the world, he loved us… Even knowing all the bad that we would do… all the things that would break His heart… He still chose to love us… He still chooses to love us today… He still chooses to love us tomorrow and for the rest of eternity…
John 10:27-28…
27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
And nothing can ever separate us from His love…
Romans 8:38-39…
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
How long is the love of Christ? It extends forever into all of eternity!
CONCLUSION
I want to conclude by looking one more time at our main verse in Ephesians 3:17-19…
17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Verse 19 says “to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge.” As we have walked together and explored the 4 dimensions of the love of Christ tonight… We have seen how His love cannot be measured… It is without limit in every dimension… It is too great for our limited minds to understand… But it is not too great for us to “know”… to experience… to live. Oh, that we may know the love of Christ!
But what truly amazes me is the last part of verse 19… “that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Don’t miss this!!! A God without limits… with a love so amazing that it cannot be measured… where words fail to capture the glory and splendor of His love for us… “filled with the fullness of God”!!! How can we possibly contain something so immeasurable… so big… And yet, we are to be filled with the fullness of God! Wow! What an incredible, amazing thing! How can we possibly contain the joy, the excitement, the incredible news of this great love? How can we possibly be silent? When we truly comprehend (understand) this great love, then His love will spill over out of the excess of our hearts and flood the world around us!
Oh, may His glory be seen in this generation in all of Southeast Asia and throughout the world!
