In 2021, my December article was about peace, and in 2022, it was about joy. To keep the Advent-themed streak alive, this year let’s talk about love! Similar to peace and joy, the world has its own version of love at Christmas time. Typically, it is the warm fuzzies of gathering around the fireplace and exchanging gifts with family and friends, or putting on a friendly, happy face for all those Christmas parties and events. Rarely does the world’s version of love at Christmas come close to the sacrificial agape love of Christ, demonstrated by His humble entrance into our world, where He took our sin upon Himself so we could be redeemed and restored to the Father. Now that is love!
If I were to rank my favorite hymn lyrics of all time, “The Love of God” would have to be near the top. The song wasn’t in the hymnal we used at the church where I grew up, so someone had taped a copy of it inside the back cover of every hymnal. The third verse was my favorite:
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song
(Frederick M. Lehman 1917).
Oh, to be able to fully grasp and lay hold of the wonderful love of God! In Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church, he said:
“…And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:17b-19 NIV).
God longs for us to grasp and lay hold of His love! He wants us to taste it, to experience it, to be immersed in it, to live our lives out of the overflow of it. For the sake of space in this article, let’s consider only one of the adjectives Paul used. How wide is God’s love?
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Jesus did not say, “For God so loved the Americans, the self-sufficient, the well-behaved, the sober, the ones who have their lives together.” He did say, “For God so loved the world!” Is the person halfway around the world, whose religion and value system are entirely different than yours, included in the world? Then they are loved by God! Is the person across town or down the street whose lifestyle, political convictions, and beliefs are diametrically opposed to yours included in the world? Then they are loved by God. Sometimes the hardest thing to believe is that you yourself are loved by God. We may sometimes find ourselves outside of the will of God, out of touch with God, or out of sorts with God, but we are never outside the reach of His love.
I would like to offer a challenge: In celebration of the wide love of God, demonstrate His love to someone outside your normal circle of warm, fuzzy relationships this Christmas season. I’m not talking about making cookies for your mailman or doing something nice for someone who provides a service for you. I’m talking about demonstrating love to someone who rubs you the wrong way. That’s what Jesus did: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8b).
