Prayer: O Lord our God, your might is beyond compare, your glory is beyond comprehension, your mercy is immeasurable and your love for humankind is inexpressible. According to your compassion, O Master, look down on us and bestow on us your rich mercies and compassions. For to you are due all glory, honor and worship—to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen.
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It’s true: the mercies of God are immeasurable; the love of God is inexpressible.
In Ephesians 3, the apostle Paul would say that the love of God is so expansive and inclusive, beyond what we ask or imagine, so that it cannot be grasped without the empowerment of God’s indwelling Spirit.
It can be known, and then only in part, through revelation. And that revelation, according to Paul, will always be higher, wider, deeper, and longer than we dare conceive. It’s as if the apostle of grace dares us to try—and then assures us that Father’s love will always exceed our comprehension.
The implication of Paul’s challenge is that we can never possibly over-estimate God’s love. Sometimes we are charged with over-emphasizing grace, as if this were possible. Some even imagine that talk of God’s infinite love ‘waters down’ the gospel!
Impossible. In fact, any limitations and caveats we impose on divine love compromise the gospel, diminish the magnitude of Christ’s great gift, and make our message anemic.
