And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. Ephesians 3:18
For some, considering God as their Father is difficult because of a strained or absent relationship with their earthly father. For others, considering God as Father is difficult because they have good, even great, earthly fathers, and it's hard to think of calling anyone else "father." I am in the second category. I have a great dad who has always loved and cared for me. Even though my dad is a great father, as I grew up, he knew that the most important thing he could do was point to me God, my perfect Heavenly Father. He took me to church, taught me the Bible, and helped me grow in my relationship with God. You see, my dad knows that even though he is a great father, I have an even greater Heavenly Father who loves me with the fiercest love imaginable.
It is only because of His loving-kindness and grace that God allows us to call Him "Father" and relates to us as our Heavenly Father. Throughout our study of God as our Heavenly Father this week, we have seen that, because of our relationship with Him, we have access to Him, we are His heirs, He will tell us the truth, and He will discipline us. All of these things are true, but more important than any of these things is the truth that because He is our Father, we are loved.
A good father fearlessly loves his children. He would even give his life for any one of them. If an imperfect father on earth is capable of demonstrating this kind of love for his children, how much greater is our perfect Heavenly Father's love for us, His children?
Paul writes about God's love for His children in Ephesians 3. In these verses, Paul writes a prayer for believers. In this prayer, one thing he prays for is that believers will grasp just how much God loves them. He prays that they will have the strength to grasp how wide, long, high, and deep God's love is (vs.18). Understanding this, Paul writes in verse 19, will allow a believer to live fully in the power of God, rooted in God's love.
My prayer for you today, my friend, is that you, too, would know just how much God loves you. His love is genuine, not-superficial, and it is deep. His love caused Him to go to great lengths to rescue you. He not only tells you of His love in Scripture, He proved it when He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for you in order to rescue you from your sin. Today, rest in His love for you.
There is such peace that comes from knowing the great love of God. Is there someone you know who needs to hear about God's love for them? Tell someone today just how much God loves them. Tell them that God did not even spare His own Son in order to bring them to salvation. Be sure to invite them to church this weekend!
Read Ephesians 3:14-21 (NLT)
When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.
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