June 24, 2015
Ephesians 3:14-19
(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)
It reminds me of a slogan describing Peter Paul Mounds (now made by Hershey). In 1955 Leon Weiss of Gary, Indiana submitted the best two-word description of the candy bar and won – $10! His entry? “Indescribably Delicious”! That slogan was used for over 40 years!
It also reminds me of what Paul said in Ephesians 3:14 through 19:
…I bow my knees…that…[God] 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 all knowledge; that you may be filled with all the
fulness of God.
We have already talked about Searching The Unsearchable and Unsearchable And Unspeakable in the last two blogs. Continuing with this theme, let’s look at the gospel as being Indescribable! First, let me say that through all the Apostle Paul’s writings – at least thirteen epistles! – no one has done a better job describing the Indescribable! I remember my theology professor telling his class, “If you master just the book of Romans, you will pretty much master the Christian faith!”
So how does Paul describe what is Indescribable? Well, he doesn’t! No one can ever reach the bottom of God’s mind! And only God could come up with such a plan of redemption that was accomplished by the Son of God, Jesus Christ, dying in our place as a condemned sinner on the cross!
Yet it is simple enough for a child to understand. Anna Bartlett Warner wrote a poem that appeared in an 1860 novel, Say and Seal. Two years later William Bradbury added the music. The result was the popular children’s hymn, “Jesus Loves Me.”
Jesus loves me—this I know, For the Bible tells me so;
Little ones to Him belong—They are weak, but He is strong.
Jesus loves me—He who died Heaven’s gate to open wide;
He will wash away my sin, Let His little child come in.
Jesus loves me—He will stay Close beside me all the way,
Then His little child will take Up to Heaven for His dear sake.
The refrain: Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so.
So simple! And yet, so profound! God dying in our place to provide salvation and eternal life to sinful man!
After Paul had received direct revelations from God concerning the Christian faith and life (see Galatians 1:12); after thinking and writing about the subject for years (by the time he wrote Ephesians, Paul had been a follower of Jesus for about 30 years); he came up with this description of the gospel:
…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 all knowledge….
It is kind of like the little five-year-old boy who has seen an Airbus A380 for the first time. It is 238 feet, 7 inches long, with a wingspan of 261 feet, 8 inches, and a height of 80 feet, three inches! What would be his description? “It’s wide! It’s long! It’s deep! It’s high!” That’s just about how Paul describes God’s plan of salvation: “…what is the width and length and depth and height…”!
The only way to begin to comprehend all that God has done for us to experience it! – “…to know the love of Christ which passes all understanding….” Have you experienced His love? Have you received Him as your Savior? Is He Lord of Your life?
It will take all eternity to begin “…to know the love of Christ….” But you ought to start now!