TO GRASP THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE LOVE OF JESUS

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on March 5, 2023 under 2023 |

Bethany Bible Church Sunday Sermon Message; March 5, 2023 from Ephesians 3:17-19

Theme: We need to ask that God would help us to grasp the incomprehensible love of Jesus for us.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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This morning, we take up a very wonderful subject. I feel like saying—in the words of Psalm 45:1—that “my heart is overflowing with a good theme”; because there couldn’t be a better theme for us to talk about and consider together than this one.

It’s the love that Jesus Christ has for us as His redeemed people.

We’ve been studying together the prayer that the apostle Paul described in the third chapter of his letter to the Ephesians. And among the things that Paul prayed was that God would give his readers a deeper knowledge of the love of Jesus for them. He wrote;

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:14-19).

He had asked God to give them the things that would be necessary in order for them to experience that glorious goal: “that you may be filled with all the fullness of God”. He wanted them to be blessed with all that a deep relationship with God the Father would give them. And so, to that end, he asked God to give them three things. First, he asked that God would strengthen them through the Holy Spirit in their inner man. Second, he asked that God would grant that Jesus Himself would make Himself at home in their hearts through faith. And the third thing he asked—the thing that I’d like for us to consider carefully this morning—was that they would be enabled to comprehend the love of Jesus for them … a love that is beyond comprehension.

Think of it! Paul was praying that his readers would experience something that was humanly impossible. He wanted them to understand that which was beyond human understanding. He wanted them to grasp a depth of love that which no mere human being could ever fully grasp. He wanted them to know a love that surpasses conception. He wanted them to be given the ability to “comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge”. That’s a tall order!

But perhaps we can see a marvelous order to the things he prayed for. It would only be by the enabling power and strength of the Holy Spirit that his believing friends would be able to invite Jesus Christ to dwell down deeply in their hearts and make Himself at home there. But it would only be by Him dwelling in them that they would grow increasingly to know, and understand, and comprehend how much He truly loved them.

Without that ongoing and increasing grasp of His love for us, we could never live for Jesus as He wants us to. But the more we understand how much our indwelling Savior loves us, the more we will desire to live for Him. The more of His love that we grasp, the more of His love we’ll pursue with our whole being. And so; as this passage teaches us, we need to ask that God would help us to grasp the incomprehensible love of Jesus for us. It’s a dying love that demonstrated itself on the cross; and it’s an eternal love because He ever lives to enjoy it with us forever.

Oh, that we would truly know it!

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; as believers, we’ve already had a taste of what it is that we’re asking for more of. Do you remember, dear brother or sister, when you first became conscious of Jesus’ love for you?

I myself remember it very clearly. It was at a time when I had no relationship with God whatsoever. I was in hostile rebellion against Him. For years I denied that He even existed—even though I knew that He really did. And I was so filled with sin that I could never imagine that Jesus could ever love someone as sinful as me. But when I finally heard about how God demonstrated His love for me by sending His Son Jesus into the world for sinners like me, and when the Holy Spirit helped me to understand that Jesus demonstrated His love for me by willingly dying on the cross for me, that was when I stopped resisting God. I wanted a new life. And so, I prayed a prayer to accept what Jesus did for me, and to ask God to wash me clean from my sin. And the very moment I did so, I instantly felt all of the guilt of my sin fall away from me. And—best of all—I felt the overwhelming love of Jesus wash over me.

There was a sense in which—in first hearing the good news of Jesus’ sacrifice for me—I understood something of His love for me. It was—in a very limited way—a kind of intellectual understanding. I was enabled by the Holy Spirit to put ‘two-and-two’ together; and grasp that if He would do that for me, then it must be that He loved me. But it wasn’t until I said ‘yes’ to it, and prayed to God that it be applied to me, that His dying love for me reached down into me and utterly transformed me in an instant. That was the Holy Spirit’s doing. He bore an inward ‘witness’ to me of Jesus’ love for me—and gave me just a taste of how deep that love is. I will never forget it for as long as I live. And as I have nourished my soul from the Bible, and have grown in my fellowship with other Christians, my sense of that love has only grown deeper through the years. I cannot get enough of it. And I believe I will be basking in that love with all of God’s redeemed people—in an ever-increasing, ever-growing way—throughout eternity. His love is still transforming me. I know that many of you can testify to the very same thing.

A grasp of this love isn’t for someone who refuses to place their trust in Jesus. It’s true that there’s a sense in which God does indeed love such people. He gives them daily food and breath and sunshine. He shows care for them as their Creator. But unless they place their trust in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, they have no real experience of His redeeming love. They will only, in the end, experience God’s wrath for refusing His loving gift of His Son. But for those of us who have sincerely placed our trust in the cross of Jesus for us, that experience of Jesus’ sacrificial love for us becomes an unending and ever-growing thing. His love has changed us; and has motivated us to live for Him. It’s a love that deeply satisfies us; and yet, that also makes us hunger for more, and more, and still more.

Has that been the case for you? I pray so. It’s what the apostle Paul prayed for his readers to experience. And it’s what you and I, dear brothers and sisters, need to pray for ourselves and for one another to experience.

* * * * * * * * * *

So then; let’s look into this ‘incomprehensible’ love a little deeper. And the first thing I ask you to notice from Paul’s words is …

1. OUR ESTABLISHED POSITION IN IT.

Paul began, in verse 17, by describing his readers as “being rooted and grounded in love …” In other words, before he tells them about how he is praying that they will be enabled to comprehend Jesus’ love for them, he wanted them to know how deeply they were already established in that love.

Think of the figures of speech he used. He told them that they were “rooted” in that love. That’s a figure from the world of agriculture. They were already so established by God in Jesus’ love that they were like a tree—with roots that went down deep into the rich soil of Jesus’ love, and that drew its nourishment up from Him. Ordinarily, once a tree sinks its roots into the ground, that tree is in place for good. It’s ‘rooted’ and stays put. And then, he told them that they were “grounded” in Jesus’ love. That’s a figure drawn from the world of architecture. They were so established in Jesus’ love that they were like a building—with a foundation solidly built upon Jesus’ love. Once the foundation is laid, the superstructure stays in place. It can grow.

A well-planted tree has roots that go down deep; and a well-built foundation allows for a structure that goes up high. Together, these two figures of speech show us how permanently God—by His grace—has established us in the love of Jesus. And in the original language of Paul’s letter, these are stated in what’s called ‘the perfect tense’; indicating that they constitute a once-for-all-time completed act by God. We became ‘rooted’ and ‘grounded’ in His love when we first believed; and we will never be more ‘rooted’ and ‘grounded’ in Jesus’ love than we are right now.

I love how the apostle Paul put this in Romans 8. He wrote;

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 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 (Romans 8:35-39).

We may sometimes stumble. We may sometimes fall. We may sometimes falter. We may very often prove ourselves unworthy of His love. In fact, dear brothers and sisters, let’s face it: We often do! But that does not—and cannot—and will not—change the fact that those whom Jesus has redeemed for Himself have already been fixed permanently upon His love for us. His love will never change; and our place in that love will never change either. We will absolutely be in heaven with Him, and will absolutely share in His glory, and will absolutely enjoy His love forever, and will absolutely always be loved by Him!

Paul wanted his readers to be assured of that before he went on to tell them anything else.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; that’s what we might call a ‘theological fact’. Establishing us permanently in Jesus’ love is something that God the Father has done for us by His grace—whether we feel it or not. But recognizing this ‘theological fact’ as a reality is one thing; and experiencing a growing comprehension of the truth of it is another. You and I can state it as a doctrine that Jesus loves us; and yet still not have His love impact our spirits as it should. And that’s because our minds and hearts do not yet ‘grasp’ the reality of it as they should.

And so, that led Paul to write—next—about …

2. OUR SPIRITUAL NEED WITH RESPECT TO IT.

What we need is for God—by His grace—to open our eyes to just how much it is that Jesus loves us. Paul desired for his readers to have a Holy Spirit-enabled comprehension and heartfelt grasp of the majesty and magnitude of Jesus’ love for those He has saved.

I wonder if you have ever had the experience of something like that on a human level. It sometimes happens sort of early in life. As a child in school, a boy might be attracted to a girl or a girl might be attracted to a boy. It can all happen from afar. They might look at each other from across the lunch cafeteria. But when a friend tells the boy that the girl actually ‘liked’ him all along, or the girl finds out that the boy actually ‘liked’ her all along, then suddenly the experience of attraction is deepened. What a thrill! They sit and have lunch together! Or it may happen in friendships. There might be someone that you have gotten to know and have respected as an acquaintance. There are many things about them that you admire. But when you find out—through one means or another—that they also respected you and admired you, then suddenly the experience of that mutual admiration and respect takes on a new dynamic. You find out that they enjoy your company; and you’re deeply touched by that knowledge. The actual experience of that acquaintance then deepens. You begin to spend time together and sincerely care for one another—not just as acquaintances—but as good friends.

Well; here we have been told the ‘theological fact’ that Jesus loves us. In fact, He died on the cross for us to make us His forever. And God the Father—by an act of His grace—has permanently ‘fixed’ us upon that love so that we’re rooted and grounded in it. But Paul prays for more. He prays that we will truly comprehend the fact of it—and that the comprehension of it will transform our lives and deepen our relationship of love and devotion to the One who loves us. He prays that we will know the love of Jesus for us so that we will love Him more in return.

* * * * * * * * * *

Notice, in verse 18, that Paul prayed for his readers that they “may be able to comprehend with all the saints”. He prayed that they wouldn’t have this ‘comprehension’ in isolation from each other; but that they would have it in union with one another. It’s very true that I need to understand Jesus’ love for me personally. But I won’t understand that love in the way that He wants me to unless I understand it with all of the others that He loves. Our comprehension of Jesus’ love for us is meant to be experienced in the church family—the body of Christ—as we comprehend that love together.

Jesus made it very clear that that’s how His love for us is to be known. In John 13—in the issuing forth of what we often call His ‘new commandment’—He said;

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

There is no other way for the outside world to know about Jesus’ love for us but by the evidence of our love for one another. And so, it stands to reason that we ‘comprehend’ this love “with all the saints”. It’s a mutual love that shows itself in the way that Paul described in Philippians 2:1-4;

Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others (Philippians 2:1-4).

For Jesus’ love to be ‘comprehended with all the saints’ would mean that we realize that Jesus doesn’t love one believer more than another. He loves all of His redeemed ones equally. The ‘theological fact’ of His love for us means that—in experience—all of the differences and distinctions have been taken away. All of the barriers to our love for one another have been removed by the fact that we have been established in His infinite love for us. And so, we should ‘comprehend’ His love in a way that truly is “with all the saints”. As the apostle John put it in 1 John 4;

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (1 John 4:7-11).

It’s a wonderful way that God has designed for us to learn together how much Jesus loves us; isn’t it? As we are united in one body—and we enjoy fellowship with one another in the church family—I learn more about Jesus’ love from how He loves you, and you learn more about Jesus’ love from how He loves me. You get to share with me the stories of what He has done in your life; and I get to share with you the stories of what He has done in my life. We rejoice together in the experiences of Jesus’ love for one another; and that mutual joy strengthens and broadens our comprehension of Jesus’ love for us personally. We love each other in Him so much that we help each other grow closer to Him.

Don’t ever rob yourself of the fellowship of church. It’s within the context of the church family that our Lord intended for us to grow together to ‘comprehend’ His love for us.

* * * * * * * * * *

And notice what it is that we ‘comprehend’ together. Paul went on to write, “what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ …” What a marvelous way to describe the unlimited dimensions of Jesus’ love!

Some Bible scholars believe that Paul was taking this from a passage in the Old Testament. In the Book of Job, one of Job’s three friends was a man named Zophar the Naamathite. All three of Job’s friends said a lot of things to Job that were wrong. But one of the things that Zophar said has a ring of truth to it. It’s found in Job 11:9-10. Zophar asked Job;

“Can you search out the deep things of God?
Can you find out the limits of the Almighty?
They are higher than heaven—what can you do?
Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?
Their measure is longer than the earth
And broader than the sea” (Job 11:7-9).

And I think this helps us to understand Paul’s meaning. It’s meant to show us that, as we get to know Jesus’ love for us, we discover that it is ‘unsearchable’. It is wider than the sea. It is longer than earth. It is higher than heaven. It is deeper than Hell. Paul draws the dimensions of Jesus’ love out for us in this way to show us how truly limitless it is.

Paul prays for us, then, that the love of Jesus for us won’t just be a theological fact to be accepted. He prays for it to be a personal experience for us to comprehend. He prays that it would be something that we would ‘search out’ and ‘know’—even though the dimensions of it are beyond searching, and the magnitude of it is beyond comprehending.

* * * * * * * * * *

And that leads us to one more thing that Paul mentions about Jesus’ love; and that is …

3. OUR ONGOING PURSUIT OF IT.

Paul said it plainly—but in a way that underscored its mystery. He prayed that we will know this love “which passes knowledge”.

The more we seek to know His love, the more we realize that we can never fully know it. We can never plumb the depths of Jesus’ love for us. It motivated Him to literally come down from the highest glory in heaven, to take human nature to Himself, and to reach down to the lowest depths of our need by dying on a cross for us. The more of His love that we think we know, the more of it that we soon realize that we don’t know. The more that His love satisfies us, the more of His love we yearn for and desire. The more of it we grasp, the more of it we want. Because He rose from the dead and forever lives for us, we will always be reaching forth to comprehend His love for us joyfully; and to our joy, we will always be finding ourselves reaching forth for more.

How can we come close to ever understanding such a love? It will never be by human ability. An understanding of it can only be given to us as a gracious gift of God. As Paul put it in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10;

But as it is written:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).

The ongoing pursuit of an understanding of this love is a life-transforming endeavor. We are changed by it, because whatever it is that we pursue with all our being ends up transforming us. And so; Paul prayed that his readers would be given the ability to know this love that is beyond knowing.

We also should pray the same thing for one another.

* * * * * * * * * *

I believe that King David—in his day—had been given a glimpse of God’s love. And as a result, he yearned for more of it. In the opening words of Psalm 63, he wrote,

O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips (Psalm 63:1-5).

That was David’s longing. But in our day, we have been given the clearer evidence of God’s love for us in a way that David could only have seen from afar. God has demonstrated His lovingkindness to us by sending His Son Jesus to die for us. He ever lives in order to indwell us and reveal the depth of His love for us. We have an even greater reason to seek Him, and thirst for Him, and long for an even greater experience of His love.

Dear brothers and sisters; let’s pray for each other that we may truly grasp this incomprehensible love! And let’s let the pursuit of this incomprehensible love transform our lives.

AE