Prompted by our church motto verse for this year (1 John 3:1), last Sunday we paused with the children to think about what it means for God to have lavished us with His love. (If you missed that illustration you catch-up here , about 34mins in.)
Thinking about the extent of God’s love, I’m reminded of an old children’s song I learned in Sunday School and still sing on Beach Missions with simple but profound words:
Jesus love is very wonderful (x3)
So high you can’t get over it,
So low you can’t get under it,
So wide you can’t get around it,
Oh wonderful love!
All of that is to say that His love for us in Christ is beyond our comprehension!
We know of course that He has loved us enough to bear the punishment of our sin on the cross and in rising from the dead to guarantee us living hope forever. It’s amazing!
Yet there is another aspect to His love that we moved onto last Sunday morning from Galatians ch 4 that is likewise amazing: The love He gives us, He gives freely; we contribute nothing. By putting our faith in the Lord Jesus we are recipients of His love not because of anything we have done but because of what He is like. As Paul described it to the Galatian Christians: we are ‘children of promise’ as He fulfils His promises in us.
Whatever the next year confronts you with, trusting in the Lord Jesus you can be sure of His love which none of us deserve…
Spencer Shaw