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The Bible is the greatest way that we can be assured of God’s love! How much does he love you? Can you quantify his love, weigh his love, or somehow put it into an excel document? The only thing we can measure his love by is the cross. His love knows no bounds. Wherever you are, he loves you – and he is pursuing you. Will you stop running, and turn towards your savior?

Welcome to Redemption Church in Plano Tx. We gave gathered to do 3 things. Everybody worships, everybody receives the Word of God, and everybody talks to God.
My name is Chris Fluitt I am thankful for everyone in the room and everyone online. God Bless you all.
Please turn with me in your Bibles to Ephesians 3:16.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Guys I hope you remember your valentine today. It is always a good idea to show your love for one another.
In Ephesians 3 Paul prays for us and the people & Ephesus. Paul prays that we would all receive from God. Let’s look at this prayer together.

Ephesians 3:16-21 (NIV) I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, 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. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

I want to bring your attention back to verse 18 where Paul prays we would grasp… we would comprehend… we would understand…
Understand

Christian Paul prays that we would understand. It is not enough to know facts or to be able to quote scriptures. Paul prays that we understand. Anyone can know information, the real skill is understanding information.
I see on the early news show the Dow-Jones numbers and stock trading numbers scrolling at the bottom of the screen. I know the information, but I don’t really understand it. The person who understands it is the one who will really profit on Wall Street.
I was told about a polar vortex back in January. Yet in February I am shocked at how cold it is… I knew the information, but I didn’t understand it.

I know about my automobile. I can tell you the make, model, and color, and yet when that check engine light comes on I have no idea what is wrong. I take the car to someone who understands the car.
Paul prays that we would understand. Understand what? – The love of Christ.
Christian do not just settle for knowing the fact that Christ loves you. Don’t just sing a few lyrics about the love of Christ. Don’t just quote a scripture that says Jesus loves you… actually UNDERSTAND the love of Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 3:18 (NIV) …to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,

Today I want to talk to you about the width, the length, the height, the depth of the Love of Christ
The width, the length, the height, the depth of the Love of Christ
In Sunday school I sang this song… if you know it sing it.
“Deep & wide, deep & wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep & wide”
I learned from a young age that God’s love is wide and deep… yet I think Paul would like to add a second verse to this song.
“Long & high, long & high, there’s fountain flowing long & high”

Paul talks about 4 dimensions to the love of Jesus. Wide, long, high, and deep. We are used to thinking about 3 dimensions. We know from math class that height x width x depth = the volume of an object. Those three dimensions will give you the volume, but Paul adds one more dimension to this math problem… and Paul prays that we understand it.
Let’s try to understand it!

The Width
Can someone help me measure the width of this box?
Do we understand how wide God’s love is?
My arms are _ long. If I were to try to hug all the people in this room at one time would that be possible? Are my arms wide enough?
No. My arms are barely able to hug my 3 young growing boys, William, Hudson, & Joshua. One day they will be bigger than the width of my arms.
How wide do you think God’s arms are? Could God hug everyone in this room with the width of His arms?

John 3:16 (NIV) 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.

Who does God love? The World! How wide is the world? If you tried to walk the width of the earth (the circumference)… to walk all the way around the planet, you would walk 24,901 miles. What a wide love!
The Greek word for world is KOSMOS… It is also used to mean universe. His love is as wide as the universe.
Not only is the love of Christ wide enough for everyone in this room, it is wide enough for everyone in this city, this state, this country, this continent, this world… this universe.
His love is wide enough for everyone throughout all of time.
Do you understand that God’s love is wide? You have never met a person that Christ does not love? His love covers the width of the entire universe.

Ephesians 3:18 (NIV) …to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
Can someone help me measure the length of this box?

The length

Do we understand the length of His love?
John 3:16 (NIV) 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.

God’s love was willing to go the length of giving His only son for us.
God’s son, Jesus Christ, carried the cross for us.
God’s only son was nailed to the cross… his hands and feet.
Jesus Christ died for us.
Do we understand how long His love is?
Love is patient, the Bible says. Is His patience long? Is His kindness long?
We are sinners. We have thought the wrong things, done the wrong things, and said the wrong things. But Jesus’ love for us is so long that He has removed our sins from us.

Psalm 103:12 (NIV) as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

How far? Well, how long a distance is the East from the west?
Notice scripture does not say the North from the South? Earth has a North Pole and 12,416 miles away is a South Pole. If you walked north, eventually you would reach the North Pole, and if you kept walking you would no longer be walking north. You would start walking south.
We could measure the distance from the north and the south… but what about the East & the West?
If you walked East you would keep going east forever. If you walked west you would walk west forever. There is no East or West poles.

Psalm 103:12 (NIV) as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
God has taken your transgressions, your sins, your wrongs… and He has removed them so LONG from you… Say “so LONG to your sins.”
How long is His love? It is immeasurable and infinite.
His love is so wide and so long… But how high?

Ephesians 3:18 (NIV) …to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,

The Height

Can someone help me measure the height of this box?
How high is the love of Christ?
John 3:16 (NIV) 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.
The height is how far up the love of Jesus will carry you.
Because of the love of Jesus you can be raised to new heights.
He will raise you from the dead.
He will pick you up.
One day we will rise with Jesus Christ… how far high? All the way to heaven.

Ephesians 2:6 (NIV) And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
His love is so high that He will raise you all the way to heaven and have you sit in His throne.
How high is that? That is the highest place of all. It is higher than Buckingham palace of the queen of England. Higher than the oval office of the president. Higher than the greatest mansion. Higher than the most popular You-tuber, popstar, or actor in a movie.
His love is high enough to give you eternal life. His Love is wide, long, and high.

How deep is His love?

The depth

Can someone measure the depth of this box?
How deep is the love of Jesus Christ? Do we understand?
His love takes us to new heights, but the depths of His love caused Him to be brought low. He was willing to go to low and deep places because of His love for us.

• Jesus was enthroned in Heaven… but he stepped down to Earth…
• Jesus stepped down and was born into a poor family in a country that was under the control of a tyrant who took away their freedoms.
• Jesus stepped down and cared for the sick, hungry, lost…
• Jesus stepped down deeper and was called a sinner.
• Jesus stepped down and was executed on the cross.
• His body was laid in a deep dark tomb.
• Was that deep enough? He went deeper.
• Jesus went into death itself… He went to Hell (Sheol, 1 Peter 3:18) and rescued those who had died.
• He stepped all the way down from the throne of heave… to hell – the lowest place. This is how deep His love is. The width, the length, the height, the depth of the Love of Christ
• We need more than facts and figures. We need more than mathematical equation that gives us a number.
• We need to understand the limitless measure of His love.
• Ephesians 3:18-19 (NIV) to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge…
• His love surpasses all knowledge.
• Do you know Jesus loves you? He loves you more than you know…
• Do you know Jesus love is wide? His love is wider than you know…
• Longer, Higher, Deeper than you know.

If you are not blown away by his love… if you are not amazed at his love… then, I invite you to measure again.

We are going to come talk to the Lord in this altar. Let us come worship him. Let us make our love wider, longer, higher, and deeper. You have never worshipped Him enough… so let’s worship Him beyond measure today.