Comprehending God's Love

READ: PSALM 139:6-12; EPHESIANS 3:14-21

We try to comprehend a lot of things in life. And the fact is, God created us with the ability to learn. Knowledge and discovery are gifts from Him. He invites us to explore this vast universe He has made, and He calls us to dig deep into Scripture so that we can understand more and more about who Jesus is and what it means to live in relationship with Him. But can we ever really understand just how much God loves us? Can we ever really know just how much He cares about us? Can we ever wrap our minds around the fact that He never stops loving us, no matter what we do?

Ephesians 3:19 says that God’s love “surpasses knowledge.” And yet, throughout the Bible God gives us glimpses of how amazing His love is. God created us and was happy with His work. From the beginning, He loved us. He loved the first humans. He loved humankind.

Even though humans rejected God, His love for us did not change. In the Old Testament, we see how God led generations of individuals, caring for each group and helping them through struggles. He loved them even when they continued to reject Him and go against His good ways.

In the New Testament, we see how God came and lived among us. Jesus is fully God and fully human, and He revealed the depths of God’s love by giving His own life to save us. Jesus went to the cross and let Himself be killed…but then He rose from the dead, because nothing—not even death—can stop God’s love (Romans 8:38-39). Jesus defeated sin and death once and for all, so now everyone who puts their trust in Him is forgiven and restored to relationship with God, and they will live with Him forever.

God’s love is eternal. We deal with humans every day who love and then stop loving. God is not like that. We will always be loved by Him. There is nothing we can do that will take us so far away from Him that His love won’t reach us. We will always have a place with Him if we just turn back. He will welcome us home with open arms (Luke 15:11-32). • Emily Acker

• Consider taking some time to reread Ephesians 3:14-21. What do you think it means to “know this love that surpasses knowledge” (verse 19)?

• If you want to come home to God’s love, you can, right now. You can find out more on our "Know Jesus" page.

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. Psalm 103:8 (NIV)