God Sooooooo Loved

Since the beginning of time, men have tried to understand and explain the magnitude of the love of God, but even their efforts seem to fall short. That is the problem with trying to express the inexpressible. Paul, who was one of the greatest exponents of the Christian faith, wrote: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38,39).

However, the small word “so” seems to convey more in a moment than could be expressed in endless lengthy orations. I remember asking a small child how much she loved her father, and, stretching her arms wide, she replied, “Sooooooo much.” When John’s gospel indicates the scope of God’s compassion, it reads, “For God SO loved the world.”

One of the greatest attempts to express the love of God was made by Frederick Lehman who lived from 1868 until 1953. He wrote:

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. 

—From Honey From the Rock, copyright © 1996 by Ivor Powell. Published by Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI 49501.