“That you … may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.”
Ephesians 3:17-19.
As we saw in the first post, the Apostle Paul’s prayer for believers in Ephesians 3:18 prompts us to comprehend the dimensions of God’s love – the breadth, the depth, and the height. Having explored the ‘length’ of God’s love in the previous article, which signifies the eternal nature of it, we now delve into the other three dimensions that further illuminate the complexity and enormity of His love.
The ‘breadth‘ of God’s love represents its extensive reach. God’s love is not reserved for a select few; instead, it encompasses all of humanity. Revelation 7:9-10 paints a vivid image of the immense multitude from every nation and language who have been recipients of God’s love. His love is not confined by geographical borders, cultural differences, or historical eras; it reaches out to everyone, everywhere:
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Revelation 7:9-10
Even today, here and now, God still is inviting people everywhere to come and be a part of His family. In John’s vision in Revelation quoted above, the great multitude represented people who had washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. This represents the great exchange that happens when we place faith in Jesus Christ: He exchanges our sins for His righteousness, typified by white robes. If you have yet to experience this transforming power of the blood of Jesus, I invite you to invite him into your life today. He stands ready to wash away all your sins and clothe you in His righteousness like this holy choir that John the revelator describes.
The ‘depth‘ of God’s love is reflected in the lengths that Jesus Christ went to demonstrate His love for us. The Apostle Paul, in Philippians 2:5-8, illustrates Christ’s humility and sacrifice, from setting aside His divine grandeur and putting on humble humanity, to experiencing a criminal’s death on a Roman cross:
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6. who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7. but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
(Philippians 2:5-8).
When C. S. Lewis contemplated the miracle of the incarnation, he wrote:
“In the Christian story God descends to reascend. He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity; … But He goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world with Him. One has the picture of a strong man stooping lower and lower to get himself underneath some great complicated burden. He must stoop in order to lift, he must almost disappear under the load before he incredibly straightens his back and marches off with the whole mass swaying on his shoulders. Or one may think of a diver, first reducing himself to nakedness, then glancing in mid-air, then gone with a splash, vanished, rushing down through the green and warm water into black and cold water, down through increasing pressure into the death-like region of ooze and slime and old decay; then up again, back to colour and light, his lungs almost bursting, till suddenly he breaks surface again, holding in his hand the dripping, precious thing that he went down to recover.”
Lewis beautifully captures how the King of Glory stoops low, stepping down from eternity into time, just to draw us up with Him to sit with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). Isaiah 53:2-5 further illustrates the profound depths of this love, as Jesus bore our iniquities, suffered, and died to offer us redemption.
Lastly, the ‘height‘ of God’s love indicates the transformative power of His love. We, once sinful and estranged, are now adopted as His children, seated in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). We have become fellow heirs with Christ, raised from the miry pits of sin (Romans 8:17). As 1 Samuel 2:8 (cf. Psalm 113:7-8) declares, God “raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes…“
Exploring the breadth, depth, and height of God’s love offers us a profound perspective on His character and His relationship with us. The vast reach of His love, demonstrated in the breadth, invites us to pursue His heart for our world, and to be unrelenting in our efforts to share the good news of His love to a world that is lost, broken and hurting, and in desperate need of salvation.
The depth of God’s love, mirrored in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, calls us to a deeper understanding and appreciation of His grace. It is in the depth of this love that we find forgiveness, redemption, and the promise of eternal life.
The height of God’s love, finally, symbolises the transformative power of His love. We are elevated from our sinful nature to become His children, who are adopted into His family and are filled with His Spirit (1 John 3:1-2). This serves as a powerful reminder of our worth in Christ: we are the people He purchased with His blood (Acts 20:28). We are loved and accepted in the Beloved! (Ephesians 1:6).
In our daily lives, these dimensions of God’s love should guide our actions and interactions. Having received such great love, we should extend the same love, compassion, and grace to those around us, mirroring the divine love we have received.
